I started this project a little over a year ago (oh how time flies). They are gifts for a good friend who got married last May. Unfortunately I have had a lot on so things kept going on hold for months at a time. That coupled with the odd material set back (such as initially moulding the sheath in leftie) is my excuse for it taking so long.
Anyway, here are the finished products:
Enzo Trapper in O1 tool steel with hickory scales & a modified cold steel trail hawk
The trapper is only my second attempt at handling a full tang, and I am really happy with the result. I made the scales from the end I had trimmed from the trail hawk handle so it all matched up nicely, but I rogered those and ended up using the handle on the other trail hawk I'm modding for myself. But alas I buggered this up too and it was third time lucky (although it has left me with a ridiculously short handle for my remaining trail hawk). One of the big issues was sawing down the middle to make the scales with just a standard saw - very difficult to get nice and symmetrical, and lots of sanding to get it smooth thereafter. When it came to final sanding & polishing I found the wood grain absorbed any metal that was polished off making it look dirty, resulting in some meticulous sanding round the edges of rivets etc. In the end there are still black accumulations of metal in little nooks and crannies where the glue hasn't filled. I've also found that after treating the wood with beeswax/linseed/turps mix that the white liners have taken on a yellowish tinge.
The sheath is also only my 3rd ever knife sheath, hence my newbie error of making it back to front first time round. It's also got a fair number of flaws in it, but it should do the job and doesn't look too bad in my opinion. The axe sheath is the second one I've made (but the first had no attention to aesthetics as was a temporary cover for this very same trail hawk). It's also got lots of little flaws, such as being back to front to what I had intended (the button and the mosaic pin were meant to be on the same side), but again I don't think it looks to bad, and its a nice secure fit and should do the job.
All in all, it's a bit ridiculous how long this has taken me to finish and it's all far from perfect, but in the end of the day I hope that my mate is going to use this stuff, and it should work and last well.
Thanks in advance for any comments.
Colin
Anyway, here are the finished products:
Enzo Trapper in O1 tool steel with hickory scales & a modified cold steel trail hawk
The trapper is only my second attempt at handling a full tang, and I am really happy with the result. I made the scales from the end I had trimmed from the trail hawk handle so it all matched up nicely, but I rogered those and ended up using the handle on the other trail hawk I'm modding for myself. But alas I buggered this up too and it was third time lucky (although it has left me with a ridiculously short handle for my remaining trail hawk). One of the big issues was sawing down the middle to make the scales with just a standard saw - very difficult to get nice and symmetrical, and lots of sanding to get it smooth thereafter. When it came to final sanding & polishing I found the wood grain absorbed any metal that was polished off making it look dirty, resulting in some meticulous sanding round the edges of rivets etc. In the end there are still black accumulations of metal in little nooks and crannies where the glue hasn't filled. I've also found that after treating the wood with beeswax/linseed/turps mix that the white liners have taken on a yellowish tinge.
The sheath is also only my 3rd ever knife sheath, hence my newbie error of making it back to front first time round. It's also got a fair number of flaws in it, but it should do the job and doesn't look too bad in my opinion. The axe sheath is the second one I've made (but the first had no attention to aesthetics as was a temporary cover for this very same trail hawk). It's also got lots of little flaws, such as being back to front to what I had intended (the button and the mosaic pin were meant to be on the same side), but again I don't think it looks to bad, and its a nice secure fit and should do the job.
All in all, it's a bit ridiculous how long this has taken me to finish and it's all far from perfect, but in the end of the day I hope that my mate is going to use this stuff, and it should work and last well.
Thanks in advance for any comments.
Colin
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Wish I'd invited you to my wedding mate. All I got was loads of heart shaped "love" things for the house 
