Call it a letter opener

[geocash]

Letters should be afraid. Very afraid. The blade is store-bought SS to which I added wood handles. A first for me. Also, my first knife sheath.

[Steve Warden]

Nice!

[philco]

Nice work on both.

[edge213]

I like it!

[ken98k]

Great job!

[terryl308]

Nice, is the wood dyed curly maple? Good job, Terry

[geocash]

Nice, is the wood dyed curly maple? Good job, Terry

Thanks, Terry (& Steve, Phil, David & Ken),

I'd call it curly maple or tiger-stripe maple & finishing it was my motive for the job. Basically, after all the sanding I wet it with a solution that is mostly nitric acid, but it probably has iron, too, then held it over a flame to get the blush. Then an oil finish. There's a lot more to it than that & there are a lot of ways to screw it up. I know several. I want to finish a longrifle of curly maple, hence the practice on smaller things like this. It's less traumatic, but still fun.

[Quick Steel]

You are off to a great start.

[terryl308]

the old time muzzle loader makers used aquafortis, don't ask me what it is? and I might not have spelled it correctly. But I believe it is some kind of acid. Terry

[#goldpan]

Nice work! The finish on the handles is fantastic!

[doglegg]

Great work geocash.

[geocash]

the old time muzzle loader makers used aquafortis, don't ask me what it is? and I might not have spelled it correctly. But I believe it is some kind of acid. Terry

Terry,


You did spell it correctly. That's the stuff I used. The label says "Ye Colonial Aquafortis Reagent for coloration of Sugartree curled". Quaint marketing.

And thanks, QS, goldpan & doglegg. If I'd started doing this 40 or 50 years ago I'd have it down by now. But I'm smart enough now maybe I can get it in only another 10 or 15 years. In other words, they don't regularly turn out like that, yet.

[jmh58]

Nice one gc!! Kudos!!!
John

[eveled]

Beautiful knife. Good luck with the rifle.