Leg bone knife

[jcmcclure]

It has been way too long since I have been on the forge and in the shop. Been on the campaign trail seeking political office all winter and spring, but now that I have won the primary election I have a few months until the Nov general election.

I forged this blade nearly two years ago from a large antique file. It is hafted to a whitetail leg bone with a poured pewter collar. Blade length is just under 9.5 inches and the overall length is just under 14.5. It is a larger knife, but is feels like an extension of the hand. It has been given a nice warm aged appearance and looks like it would have been well at home on the frontier. This blade is also wonderfully sharp...the hair on my arm just rubbed slick off!

Hope you enjoy and thanks for looking...this one will likely be coming up for sale soon. If your interested you can contact me directly.

[stubshaft]

Good looking knife!  I never thought of pouring pewter for the collar.

[webradbury]

Very nice knife. I have two questions:

What part of which leg bone do you use? It appears to be the end of the bone at the butt.

How do you get the blade dark? It looks like it was rust blued. If you rust it, what grit do you stop with when preparing the blade?

Good luck with the election, although, I'm afraid if you are elected, you won't have any time to turn out these great knives!

Will

[jcmcclure]

I do use a cold bluing to speed up the process. I rub that back to get my car is desired color. Color can range from black to grey depending on how far you rub back. The picture is a bit dark and you do not see the grey nearly as much.

This is the first I have done with leg bone, but I don't care as much for bone sections with the joint. I do not know what the correct anatomical name for this section of bone would be.

Very nice knife. I have two questions:

What part of which leg bone do you use? It appears to be the end of the bone at the butt.

How do you get the blade dark? It looks like it was rust blued. If you rust it, what grit do you stop with when preparing the blade?

Good luck with the election, although, I'm afraid if you are elected, you won't have any time to turn out these great knives!

Will

[n stephenson]

Is there any possibility of that being Kaintuck Whitetail ousik bone?  NICE KNIFE!!!!! Glad to here all is well!!  Nate

[jcmcclure]

Is there any possibility of that being Kaintuck Whitetail ousik bone?  NICE KNIFE!!!!! Glad to here all is well!!  Nate

U sir must be an Anthropologist with such a quick identification lol. Let me know when those trigger arrive. I ordered them over the weekend.

[Cades Cove Fiddler]

  ... perfect frontier rifleman's knife,... !!!! ...... I've seen your work at the shows, and must say, it is excellent,.. !!!! .... some re-enactor will have the ultimate knife on his waist,.... !!! ... well done,,,,.... !!!!

[Marcruger]

Nice looking work as usual good sir. God bless, Marc

[B.Barker]

Casey nice to see you're at work in the shop again. Nice knife.

[jcmcclure]

... perfect frontier rifleman's knife,... !!!! ...... I've seen your work at the shows, and must say, it is excellent,.. !!!! .... some re-enactor will have the ultimate knife on his waist,.... !!! ... well done,,,,.... !!!!

Thanks and I appreciate the complament on my work. I will be happy to see this knife being put to good use.

[jcmcclure]

Nice looking work as usual good sir. God bless, Marc

Thanks !!!

[jcmcclure]

Casey nice to see you're at work in the shop again. Nice knife.

Brian it is always good to be back in the shop!

[TN Longhunter]

Very nice knife. I have two questions:

What part of which leg bone do you use? It appears to be the end of the bone at the butt.

Proximal end of the right tibia. From a young (not full adult) as the diastema is not fused. Translation: upper part of right lower leg bone from a young deer where the entire bone is not fused into one to allow for growth.  See, that education paid off.

[Ian Pratt]

Metatarsus or Metacarpus depending on if it's front or back leg, in either case it's the bottom joint next to the hoof. Sometimes called cannon bone. That's where I usually cut the forelegs off when cutting up a deer, hang them in a net bag to let the bugs clean them out. Nice looking knife Casey

[LRB]

Don't know if you did or not, but it is wise to fit a wood core inside the bone. Those deer legs are more brittle than larger animals.

[TN Longhunter]

Metatarsus or Metacarpus depending on if it's front or back leg, in either case it's the bottom joint next to the hoof. Sometimes called cannon bone.

Went back and looked again. You might be right. I can't see the fused groove line (would be on the botton) of the handle, and use to seeing the metatarsus/metacarpus used with the blade inserted from the proximal end, with the distal end cut off.  Maybe a photo of the bottom side of the bone?

[jcmcclure]

Don't know if you did or not, but it is wise to fit a wood core inside the bone. Those deer legs are more brittle than larger animals.

Thanks for the advice on that! First leg bone knife so I didn't use a wood core, but that certainly would have been easier.

[Shovelbuck]

I fill all my leg bone knife handles with JB Weld. Never have had any problems with them.

[Elnathan]

I fill all my leg bone knife handles with JB Weld. Never have had any problems with them.

Another, perhaps more PC solution, would be to use cutler's epoxy (a mix of pine pitch, beeswax, and some sort of binder such as brick dust, powdered charcoal, or dried animal dung). I'm not sure what a good ratio for the mix would be for filling larger cavities such as the legbone, though - I suspect you might want a little bit more beeswax than usual to prevent it from cracking in use, but I don't know that to be true.

[Shovelbuck]

The only PC I worry about is if it's "Personally Correct" for me. 

[Tony N]

Great looking knife, beautiful work!

~Tony

[hanshi]

That certainly is one cool knife.

[Curtis Makamson]

That is a fine looking knife.