Knife ready for the oil finish

Just thought I'd post a few shots of the knife now that the shaping and fine sanding are all done. As I write this it is sitting in a bath of boiled linseed oil and turpentine. I can't wait to take it out and let the drying begin!

The linseed oil finish penetrates into the wood and hardens into Linoxyn when exposed to the air. It should take about a week to dry and once ready it will protect the handle from water damage, while not inhibiting the natural aging process, and maintaining good low slip grip unlike other finishes. It'll also be easy to touch up as required. Meanwhile, here it is before the oil finish:


This first one has a blade hair shy of 4" long, made out of Swedish stainless steel.


I spent a lot of time filing, sanding and steel wooling the handle to get a shape custom fit to my own hand.


From butt to bolster the handle is made from: maple, birch bark, birch, birch bark, maple, brass.

It's taken me since May to get to this point, but then it's been an after hours project, and living as I am in a temporary rental accommodation in Vancouver I'm not really equipped with a workshop to get it done super quick!

Next comes the sheath. It'll take a while I'm sure, but it'll be a whole new set of skills to learn, so lots of fun!