The knife started out as a basic Skinner blank. I started looking at several sets of basic scale blanks I had on hand, and then began thinking, I have done all this before.Then I remembered all the antlers my daughter had gotten for me when she was assisting the butcher down at the border during hunting season. She would help him process the deer the hunters brought in and she saw the pile of antlers they didn't want and asked if she could grab horns for me to use in knife making. He told her to pull what she wanted. About time I tried my hand. I didn't have a blank with a proper tang, but I had a grinder and some water to cool this blank as I reshaped it.
I formed the brass guard from thick brass bar stock. Once the basic shape was formed, I polished it starting at 60 grit and working to 1,500 hundred. I used the dawn for lubricant and wet sanding slowly. At 1,500 grit I switched to the dremel with wool polishing heads and used the red and white polishing compound. Not perfect, but the difference is awesome.
Once I had drilled out the antler, I clamped the blade on a pair of 123 blocks on the drill press with the hole in the tang in line with the bit. I temporarily assembled the knife and drilled thru the antler and blank in a careful pass. Disassembling the knife, I mixed the epoxy and filled the hole in the antler and then clamped the knife in the bench and assembled the components and drove the pin through. Left it to dry overnight and ground off the pin. The second hole was drilled for aesthetics. I sanded away some of the antler to improve the grip and we are good.
The next build I'll likely have a better (longer) bit and a better idea of how to proceed. I'll make a fancier guard as well.
I used a razor blade to cut the top two layers of the sheath apart, (The snakeskin,) and tossed the rest into the practice scrap basket.
It was my first Stag knife, and to be honest, I didn't like it. Some like that look, I didn't. I watched a number of videos, and got a few ideas on future builds, but also thought I could FIX this one. Yesterday, I went into the shop and cut the "Crown" off the end of the knife handle, leaving a fairly straight stag handle. I also ground down the brass guard quite a bit. I liked the new profile much better, but there was another step in the revamp.
