- Joined
- Jan 3, 2004
- Messages
- 14,767
- Reaction score
- 313
I'm a fan of small knives to fit in my shooting bag rather than hanging round my neck or larger knives on my belt. I use them for cutting patches, but a lot more, so I don't call them patch knives.
Hiking the hills a year back, I stumbled across the scattered bones of a young brown bear. Figuring they might be good for something I picked up a femur (thigh bone) and a forearm bone, maybe the ulna. After dragging them home and looking at them for a year, it occurred to me that the ulna might make a great grip for a small knife. Dunno any historic precedent for it, but it's kinda personal for me after over 40 years sharing the woods with the critters. After making the knife I'm gonna be hiking back to the spot and on the lookout for a big skeleton wherever I go. Overall length is just under 6", almost exactly the same as my open pocket knife I also use for cutting patches.
Wasn't ready for it on such a young bear, but I got a real nice surprise when I sawed the bone in half. The core is tiny and the walls are thick and virtually as hard as ivory. Makes me real anxious to collect bones from a biggun.
Ran a drill down into the core for a pilot, then set to work with needle files to enlarge it and fit the tang of a 2 3/4" blade I picked up from TOW. Took about an hour of futzing around, so not bad.
Decided to pour a pewter bolster. Easy job of pouring, but deciding on a final shape is harder. I'm not there yet, merely hacking it down far enough so I can use the knife for a while and get better acquainted. Views from both sides.
Turns out that wide flat grip is the best I've ever tried on a small knife. Grip is really secure, and being short I can drop my little finger off the butt to really lock it into my hand. Views in the hand.
Took about half an hour to cobble together a quick center seam sheath from a scrap of leather. No belt loop cuzz it's gonna live in my bag. Someday I'll get inspired by a more elaborate sheath, but for now I'm just looking for practical function.
This stuff is so much like ivory, that big femur is going to visit my bandsaw to become scales for more knife projects. Anyone spending time around black bears (We don't have them) might want to take a much closer look at the bones. I'm real curious how they compare. If they come close, it's likely to be one of the better bones/horns you've ever worked with.
Hiking the hills a year back, I stumbled across the scattered bones of a young brown bear. Figuring they might be good for something I picked up a femur (thigh bone) and a forearm bone, maybe the ulna. After dragging them home and looking at them for a year, it occurred to me that the ulna might make a great grip for a small knife. Dunno any historic precedent for it, but it's kinda personal for me after over 40 years sharing the woods with the critters. After making the knife I'm gonna be hiking back to the spot and on the lookout for a big skeleton wherever I go. Overall length is just under 6", almost exactly the same as my open pocket knife I also use for cutting patches.
Wasn't ready for it on such a young bear, but I got a real nice surprise when I sawed the bone in half. The core is tiny and the walls are thick and virtually as hard as ivory. Makes me real anxious to collect bones from a biggun.
Ran a drill down into the core for a pilot, then set to work with needle files to enlarge it and fit the tang of a 2 3/4" blade I picked up from TOW. Took about an hour of futzing around, so not bad.
Decided to pour a pewter bolster. Easy job of pouring, but deciding on a final shape is harder. I'm not there yet, merely hacking it down far enough so I can use the knife for a while and get better acquainted. Views from both sides.
Turns out that wide flat grip is the best I've ever tried on a small knife. Grip is really secure, and being short I can drop my little finger off the butt to really lock it into my hand. Views in the hand.
Took about half an hour to cobble together a quick center seam sheath from a scrap of leather. No belt loop cuzz it's gonna live in my bag. Someday I'll get inspired by a more elaborate sheath, but for now I'm just looking for practical function.
This stuff is so much like ivory, that big femur is going to visit my bandsaw to become scales for more knife projects. Anyone spending time around black bears (We don't have them) might want to take a much closer look at the bones. I'm real curious how they compare. If they come close, it's likely to be one of the better bones/horns you've ever worked with.