Colored stacked birch bark handled knife

Well, I finally finished the colored stacked birch bark handled knife that I started last summer (see this post http://knifedogs.com/showthread.php?32849-Which-spacer-positioning-makes-knife-look-more-balanced).


It is has a Mora laminated steel blade with 1/4" brass butt and finger guard. The handle is finished with tung oil and beeswax. Total length is 8.25"









Here are some pictures of the build:



To keep the butt from spinning, a rectangular punch the exact size of the tang was made from an old drill bit and hammered through the hole to create locking corners. The butt was also countersunk (after this picture was taken) to allow more room for the peened metal to expand into.




Here is a link to how I made the birch bark blocks:
http://knifedogs.com/showthread.php?35625-Making-colored-stacked-birch-bark-blocks-for-handles




Blocks bandsawn into a rough shape




Blocks removed from tang, then glued with slow set epoxy one-by-one into place...

... then capped with the brass butt, which was immediately peened into place.




Here we see the peened butt half ground down to check if the steel has properly expanded into the countersunk hole.




And finally we see the finished handle half covered in tung oil to display the color difference the oil makes.




Sorry for the long delay in completion

Very nice.

Thanks Roger.

love it

That's a fine job.....I like it!

Thanks guys

One of the most interesting handles I have seen. I absolutely love it. I wish we had some birch here in the piney woods of East Texas!

Nice job!

Very nice!

God bless

Thanks for documenting the step by step building of your knife, I'm also glad to see a guard on the knife. Great looking knife! Dan

That's the first stacked handle made of wood I've ever seen. Marvelous!!