Custom Knife Help

[Deer&Ducks527]

Last year I shot my first elk. I made a poor first shot and it ran off and bedded down on a slope above a 700 foot cliff. We caught up to it later in the day and I shot it a 2nd time, upon getting hit it rolled down the slope and over the cliff. One side is in pretty good shape, only missing a brow tine. The other side is busted up pretty bad. I plan on mounting the fragments on a nice piece of wood, but today I got another idea. It might be cool to have a custom knife made with a piece of the busted up antler. Have any of you guys sent a piece of antler to a custom knife maker, to go on the handle of a custom knife? I am curious if there are companies out there that could do this for me. If you know anyone who could do this, or if you have had this done, I would really appreciate hearing about it!

 

[tobyscreams]

I’m a custom knife maker and I have made many knives as you have requested. I get loads of guys that want to commemorate a hunt but had a less than trophy worthy animal. But as for true outdoorsmen, the pursuit is what matters.

Antler is a fickle thing. Some are better than others and some can be more conducive to certain styles. IE fixed blade vs hidden tang vs pocket knife etc. Look for someone who can vary styles if needed.

 

[Seeleylakehunter]

Ruana knives. Missoula Mt . Or Bonner Mt. . amazing work. Might want to break out the pocket book though.

 

[Deer&Ducks527]

I’m a custom knife maker and I have made many knives as you have requested. I get loads of guys that want to commemorate a hunt but had a less than trophy worthy animal. But as for true outdoorsmen, the pursuit is what matters.

Antler is a fickle thing. Some are better than others and some can be more conducive to certain styles. IE fixed blade vs hidden tang vs pocket knife etc. Look for someone who can vary styles if needed.

These are the antlers, tonight I looked at them and I thought, off the busted side either a piece of the sword or the last point might work. What do you think?

I was thinking of a handle similar to these.

 

[tobyscreams]

Likely doable. The varying amounts of pith and size will determine the outcome. You’re likely familiar with waiting periods for scoring antlered animals, keep in mind that is because they are still dynamic. You’ll need to hold on to this for a while before anything can be done or your new knife will crack, chip, warp, shrink etc.

 

[TILLER]

You could make your own knife, either from scratch or from a kit. A place like knifekits.com, and many other places, sell blades that just need a handle. There’s tons of how to videos and tutorials out there. Just an idea if you would enjoy that process.

 

[tobyscreams]

Some knife makers will sell you a blank higher in quality than most at Jantz.

 

[Deer&Ducks527]

Likely doable. The varying amounts of pith and size will determine the outcome. You’re likely familiar with waiting periods for scoring antlered animals, keep in mind that is because they are still dynamic. You’ll need to hold on to this for a while before anything can be done or your new knife will crack, chip, warp, shrink etc.

I shot this bull last year. How long is the waiting period? Boone and Crockett says 60 days for scoring.

 

[Cannonball]

check out Behring-made

 

[tobyscreams]

Okay you should be good.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Wolf River Forge- Founded and owned by Army veteran, Tyler Hackbarth. He was 2-time winner of History Channel's Forged In Fire. Awesome dude and can do anything with steel. Check out his facebook page for more information. Here is my custom Rain Drop Damascus knife that we designed together including my personal hand measurements.

 

[Hikein]

There are even the possibility of making a full tang knife. I can see with a bit of work on a band saw some nice scales. There is general a run of 4-5” on an large antler that is relatively flat. Flatten on the inside, hopefully past all of the interior pith. And there you go. I’ve done it hundreds of times.

 

[sahunter06]

As a bladesmith myself, we get asked this question many times. Like mentioned early it depends on the antler. Whitetail being better to work with than elk because of the large amount of pith found in elk antlers. But with a good antler it can be made into good handle material after the drying period, 6-12 months depending on where the maker lives and the conditions. Feel free to reach out and ask questions to any of us. We are glad to help. Good luck.