warthog knife

[Bladepeek]

It seems like a lifetime ago now, but my two sons and I went to South Africa where, among other animals, my older son shot a one-tusked warthog. He asked me to make him a knife with the tusk as a handle. I planned to section the handle with spacers between the tusk sections and shaped in a "normal" fashion. My son was horror stricken and said "nobody will recognize it as a warthog tusk" and said to use the whole tusk. I removed enough of the root to get a clean end, used a piece of walnut to plug the open end and stuck the whole darned thing on. I tried to get an "S" curve out of the knife and he's happy with it. I find the handle very awkward, but he says that's because I don't know how to hold a knife (at least he was smiling when he said that). He's a culinary arts trained chef and learned to hold a knife by the spine so the handle is only necessary for balance. He can use an 8" chef's knife as a paring knife so I won't even try to argue with him. I wish his photography skills equaled his chef's skills as the knife got into the mail before I had a chance to photograph it. When it's not in use, he keeps it in a little wall niche with the photo album of our trip behind it.

   

   

[coaster500]

Cool!!!

[D.Ellis]

Can't blame him for wanting to keep it intact. Pretty cool. What's the sheath? Croc?
Darcy

[Bladepeek]

Actually, Darcy, it's cheap, dyed alligator from Tandy but it sort of fit to the theme if you don't look too closely  

[tomsm44]

That's awesome.    

[jpsowers]

What a cool way to keep the memory.

[D.Ellis]

Originally posted by Bladepeek:
Actually, Darcy, it's cheap, dyed alligator from Tandy but it sort of fit to the theme if you don't look too closely      

Looks the part anyway and pretty tough stuff(I have a chunk of that here too).
Darcy  

[Steve Nuckels]

Ron, great job on the whole package!

After seeing the second photo the display brings the design together and is very appealing.  Excellent you could go to Africa with your sons.

A very good friend and mentor made two trips to Africa and enjoyed very good success hunting.  He gave me a Wharthog tusk, but I have not been able bring myself to alter it.

Steve
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Potomac Forge
Member, W.F. Moran Jr. Museum & Foundation.
ABS

[Lin Rhea]

That knife will be cherished for so many reason. Good work Ron.

[Bladepeek]

My boys each have several of my knives and I have none. Now, there's just something really wrong with that picture. Going to have to correct that soon