silverbullets:
Slate Mistress? Not mine, but here's one (rather used).

I'm still working on the thing, it will get more "LE" as I grind more to make it all polished. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Rainwalker:
Yeah, I could probably make a cord sheath for it. I'd like to try the birch bark first, I've never done anything with it other than burn it. I'll probably cheat and use modern glue. Some day I'll get around to making pitch glue!

Thank you for your offer of leather scraps, but I think for now I'd prefer to only make it with material I already have. That's part of the coolness, is the "make do" factor. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Regarding "know enough to be dangerous... to myself", I hear knapping is rather on the hazardous side, joking aside, because of all the chips you make. Every piece you flake off is just as sharp as the edge you're crafting. Imagine doing this kind of thing barefoot. You would only forget about policing your waste chips once, I think!

REM762:

I've minorly cut myself on my slate work, but only during the snap and bash stages when there's a lot of force involved. For some reason it seems like the stone breaks to sharper edges than it can be ground too. That's why I think I may just be missing some critical information about the technique. My ground edges will cut veggies, and meat with some sawing, but nobody would ever mistake one for a steel edge. Especially since you chip the stone by trying to cut too aggressively.