Cholla handled skinner

jonathan creason

Well-Known Member
Just finished this one up for a member of another board. Blade is forged out of 1084 steel, quenched in canola and tempered to a nice deep straw. Worked a nice convex edge onto it last night and it pops hair with ease. Handle is cholla, filled with putty epoxy. The tang goes through it and is peened over. The bolster and butt caps are poured from lead-free solder. Not sure I like the texture on them yet, they might get a little more work.

chollaskinner.jpg
 
Nice work! I agree, some more texturing on the pewter might help. Looks all right, but a more solid texture would look better, I think.

I've liked the idea of cholla handles since I saw them on Tai's work years ago. I even picked some up from his back yard when I was out there a few years ago. Never did put it to use, though. A lot of it got crushed to pieces on the rest of the trip. :(
 
A lot of it got crushed to pieces on the rest of the trip.
James just hit on something that I've wandered about. How brittle are these cholla pieces before ..and well after they are filled with epoxy?
Are they stabilized in any way? Thanks
 
They were riding around in the bed of the pickup with things like firewood and a five gallon jug of water, and we went offroad a few times. As a knife handle, supported by epoxy, should be no problem. I know I saw a picture of Tai with a machete-length blade handled in cholla many moons ago.
 
Yeah, I think once you get that void in the center filled it should hold up just fine. The cholla skeletons are fairly tough without any extra support, but doubt it can withstand a lot of crushing forces.
 
Nice work! I agree, some more texturing on the pewter might help. Looks all right, but a more solid texture would look better, I think.

I've liked the idea of cholla handles since I saw them on Tai's work years ago. I even picked some up from his back yard when I was out there a few years ago. Never did put it to use, though. A lot of it got crushed to pieces on the rest of the trip. :(

The more I look at it, the more I agree with you. I think I'm going to hold off on sending this one and do some more work on the bolster and cap.
 
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