Henry Rifle Forums

This is my first. The build took several days as I was feeling my way through it. The guard took more time than anything else, though cutting down the tang from a finger grooved skinner to the narrow tang I needed was a two session deal. 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.

Time to make a sheath.

Spent a few days playing with the layout/design of a sheath for the knife and have started cutting out and the building of the dang thing. This is the top panel of the pocket on a drop sheath that will hang from the belt. I put the first coat of dye on the leather, after cutting out the center. I glued the center to a backing, form fitted snake belly to the center and then overlayed the leather. I will build the rest of the sheath around this panel then dye the entire sheath and burnish the edges. Hopefully it will turn out decent. Thanks to handloader for the idea to finally start on the snakeskin. If the sheath looks decent I'll make the holster and gunbelt to match.

Nice looking knife. The sheath looks good too.

nicely done .... kudos on having a skill I can only admire

daytime dave wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 06, 2024 4:33 pm

Nice looking knife. The sheath looks good too.

Thanks, But That's just the start on the sheath, Dave, I have a long way to go.

JEBar wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 06, 2024 4:50 pm

nicely done .... kudos on having a skill I can only admire

Yup, You tube... teach the techniques and it's a matter of practice, and being willing to toss the failures in a bucket and call them practice.

You rock BOM. Nice job on taking on an idea and running with it. We all respect and admire your talents and courage. Thanks for posting the pics and story.

I put a lot of time into the sheath, and due to the thickness of the knife handle and brass guard, the sheath turned out thick and bulky and I hated it. I had done a lot of tooling on the upper section, and tooled the strap that would secure the handle section, but in the end was just frustrated with the design and layout. 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.

I laid the knife itself aside for a few days while I decided how to fix IT. 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.

I then built up a cocobolo and brass end cap, put that into the vise to cure after glue up, and came back out that evening to work on shaping.

This has to be done slowly, dipping the piece into cold water often to keep from overheating the section or the glue will fail. Slow and Sure. After a couple hours work I put it aside and came back out this morning for more work. The piece was taken to 800 grit on the two sanders, then I went to the dremel polisher and the rouge. It looked pretty good. You might note that I also polished the stag handle itself, smoothing it out and removing much of the roughness so that it is smoother and looks more ivory like, though I didn't take all the texture or grain out. I like it much better this way.


Between the various steps on the knife, I worked on the new sheath, with the snake scale as the base. I took my time and made sure the stitching was well done, the stain was even and dark, and was very satisfied with the outcome. I didn't try and over do the sheath, as I don't plan on using this one. I might give it out somewhere down the line, but likely it will just remain in my collection, since it was my first stag knife.


The knife actually fits pretty well in the sheath. I was happy overall, but I will still spend some time working up thru the rouges and do some final polishing and apply a coat of finish on the sheath for protection. I'll post a final picture. Give me a day or three, we have sleet and freezing rain and I may not be able to safely make it out to the shop.

Great job Marine, you definitely prettied it up a bunch

The cocobolo and brass end cap looks great. As does the entire project.

Thanks guys. I just didn't like the look or feel of the full antler with the crown on the end, at least not that one. I also made do with a knife blank not "made" for this type of use, and the tang wasn't centered. Next attempt I'll pick up a blank with a centered tang and perhaps the outcome will be more aesthetically pleasing overall. Eh, I'm learning as I go.

My next project? A full gun belt. Holster, Belt, and sheath for my Uberti Single action Birdshead .357. I have been playing with the layout in my head. It will probably be a crossdraw rig to wear around the farm when driving the UTV and/or the tractor to have the .357 handy when a varmint shows up. Knives I have, I'll have to choose a working knife and then make a sheath to match the gun belt.