I started another new knife and thought I show some of the steps involved in making it. I am donating this knife to the Horicon Marsh Bowmen. Each year, they hold a Wisconsin Bowhunters Association banquet with the proceeds going to the WBH. This one club donates tens of thousands of dollars to the WBH annually and this banquet is a big part of where those dollars come from. They invited me to attend this year's event but do not know about this knife. Since I can't sing for my supper, I thought I'd give in another way.
I went back to the good folks at Two Finger Knife LLC and bought another forged Damascus Steel blank made from 1095 and 15N20 steels.
I also bought a set of Amboyna burl knife scales because of their beauty and the numerous, captivating swirls.
Amboyna Burl wood is extracted from the jungles of Southeast Asia and often transported (at least initially) via elephant. It is a favored wood used by folks that make knife handles and pens or bowls. It starts out reddish in color and over time and exposure to light, it turns a warm brown/red. The photo below gives a false impression of the color and exaggerates the red.
I won't use just Amboyna for the handle. I want to dress up this handle with a few different woods.
The woods I'm using are
1. South African, Bloodwood
2. South American, Cocobolo
3. Good old Wisconsin, Hard rock Maple
4. Sotheast Asian, Amboyna
This knife handle will have an impressive global pedigree
After laying out the pattern I wanted, I cut the pieces to size and rinsed 1, 2 and 4 in Acetone to remove the oils so the epoxy would give a better hold. Here they are waiting for the slow cure epoxy to do it's thing.