That is very cool! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Well, I decided the knife kind of sucked the way it was. The handle wrap didn't fit that well, it wasn't comfortable to hold, the end of it was ugly and still had traces of the cold chisel, the edge was irregular...

So!



I took off the handle wrap (I still think it's completely amazing how this pine stuff behaves... when it's dry it's wood, when it's wet it's rubber!) and worked on the blade. I ground the heck out of it on my aggressive abrasion boulder, just to get the edge down to smooth. Which left really ugly burrs because copper doesn't really CUT so well, you just end up pushing it around. I then re-hammered the edge, this time with smaller tools and much more meticulously, to thin and harden it. Finally I sharpened the knife on a stone. It isn't really any sharper, but it looks a heck of a lot better, and it's a little easier to use because when you pull it through a slice you don't hit "bumps". The point got a lot more useful too.

Then I turned my attention to the pommel and handle.



First I smashed the pommel with my hammerstone aggressively, both to thin it out and to get rid of the modern tool marks. Then I shaped the tang to have indents at the front and back. The first time around, when I wrapped the cord it left uncomfortable bulges at the ends of the handle because of the knots. I hoped giving some place for that bulk to go would make it more comfortable to hold.

The pommel was too hard to work further, so I built a small fire and annealed it before using a flake of stone (and a stick as a guide) to saw the decorative notches in it. It's a small embellishment but I think it goes a long way!

Then I wrapped the handle with a strip of wet leather, and then the pine cord. I don't really have any logical basis for doing it this way instead of the other way. I just like the way the pine cord looks and feels. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> You can just catch a glimpse in the picture of a sliver of wood I shoved under the wraps on the side facing the camera, since the other side of the wrap had the length of cord underneath it. Between the leather, the under-cord and sliver of wood, the handle has a much more rounded shape and is comfortable to hold. Still not up to modern ergonomic standards, but we're dealing with 6000 BCE technology here.

I started work on a sheath, but the dye is drying and I don't want to mess with it right now... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for reading my thread and putting up with my odd projects, all.

Looks great to me! Keep up the good work! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />