This is as far as I've come with it. Right now, the finish is curing on the handle, so I can't do any more. Kind of frustrating, as I'd love to just have it done. Perhaps I'll find time tomorrow, though.
A trial fit-up in the open position. I chose a good piece of maple to make the handle scales. I know that antler is the most common for these knives, but I don't really trust a material that is so porous on the inside and potentially rather brittle. Maybe on a future folder.
And in the closed position. The blade won't contact the steel spacer, so the edge is preserved inside the handle. The scrolled tang does hang out rather far, but I think it is pretty, so I'm not going to be too worried about it.
This is part of what I meant when I mentioned the blade telling its story (see previous post). The scroll shapes can only be made with blacksmith techniques. I mean, sure, you could hypothetically laser-cut the shape from flat stock, but on a practical level, this is a detail that announces the hand forged nature of the blade. I personally love seeing that.
Up close, here's a shot of my maker's mark. It is hot stamped into the steel during the rough forging stage. You can also see some of the surface pitting that tells the story.
My mark is the rune Wynn (that's the Anglo Saxon name - the Norse name is Wunjo). It is kind of fun because it looks like an angular P, but the sound it makes is the same as the English W. In this way, I get both my initials with one mark.
Once the oil finish cures on the maple scales, I will carefully peen over the brass pins to permanently assemble this knife. The tricky bit is to spread the pin heads at the blade end enough to hold everything solidly together without locking the handle scales against the blade so firmly that it won't open and close. This next step is the step where either I get a cool knife done or I get to start over on the handle. Since I like the handle right now, I hope to get it done right. Maybe as soon as tomorrow!
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