Bone knife

[Lucasade]

Been away for quite a while - life got in the way big time. I'm now trying to finish off some projects before starting anything new. This is a knife I made for use in our camper van to go with the set of birch spoons I already made. The blade is cow bone, handle is laburnum cut in my village fixed with bone pins and birch pitch, finished with mix of beeswax and tallow. The entire process done only with hand tools from end to end. It's my first ever knife so any pointers for the future would be very welcome.

[Hawkdancer]

Wow!!  That is very nice!  Gives me ideas for the elk leg my granddaughter found!  Very good craftsmanship!
Hawkdancer

[Pappy]

Very nice work, that should work just fine.
 Pappy

[Lucasade]

Thank you - used it yesterday for the first time. I think I may re-profile the cutting edge to a more gentle taper for easier cutting.

[stuckinthemud]

I'm just learning to work bone, didn't know it was strong enough for a knife blade, thanks for posting this.

[DC]

How well does it hold an edge? I'm thinking you couldn't carve wood with it much but would it last for butchering meat?

[Lucasade]

So far it's cut lettuce and cucumber just fine  I understand a bone blade can cut anything up to but not including wood, and it's much easier to process than metal! Experiments will continue...

[Zuma]

Very nice looking and cool right down to the pins.
Zuma

[Ryan Jacob]

Lucasade
That’s inspiring. Any tips for cutting out bone?

[Lucasade]

Thanks guys. Ryan, I use a hacksaw for rough cuts then a metalwork blade on a fretsaw for the more detailed cuts. If you go slow it doesn't throw up too much dust but I usually wear a dust mask anyway. Others who know much more will correct me but I've found gently simmering a freshly stripped bone for about 5 minutes removes enough oils that it doesn't gum up the tools without removing so much it becomes brittle.

[selfbow joe]

Cool looking knife

[silverfox]

Wow that looks great