A pair of bone-bladed knives

I share my makings here every so often, so here are a couple of knives I made recently with camel bone blades...

First one has a handle made from Rowan/Mountain Ash that was strangled by a vine as it grew:







And t'other has a Hawthorn handle that I carved away at a bit to accentuate grain effects







The blades are pretty long for bone at about 11 inches plus tangs - camel bones are pretty substantial and polish up lovely too. All hafted with deer sinew, plus pine glue which was my best batch yet, partly due to added beeswax. I do use a bit of epoxy on these too as I sell them and it just adds "insurance".... I've kept primitively hafted blades for years without failures but I can't expect customers to make authentic repairs if needed after a few years.

All just made with files, knives, abrasives etc. It's a joy to work bone, like tough wood in a lot of ways but fewer issues with grain.

I'd originally planned to use one as a lance blade, but once I hit the wood scraps pile to make a knife handle and found these two old bits that had already been shaped as future wands I just had to make use of them. I also got a shortish broad-spear blade out of the bone and a few bits for pendants.



They are horrible fun to prance around with

Beautiful work OP.. thanks for sharing.

a reply to: skalla

Very beautiful knives, good work skalla!

How do those knives cut? I tried some flaked stone knives I found and they're able to cut meat impressively. I never tried anything bone though.

Beautiful, I wouldnt even be able to choose between them.

a reply to: rickymouse

These have not been fully honed as I only do that on request for a variety of "protect your arse" kinda reasons.


But they can easily be honed to slice meat very cleanly although they won't bite like steel or properly worked stone will.

They are immensely stabby though - bone is wonderful for thrusting/piercing blades.

a reply to: skalla

This reminded me of a tv show i've watched a few times called Forged In Fire on the History Channel.

the one that had been strangled by a vine is truly amazing.
You could sell that for a pretty good dime I bet.
How often do you come across a natural handle that looks like a spine.

a reply to: skalla

You should make another thread documenting exactly how you end up with your finished product. From finding the perfect hilt to sharpening the bone.
A walk through would be awesome.

a reply to: Macenroe82

If you look around enough with a practiced eye there are plently saplings with vines growing up them, trouble is finding ones you can cut that are the right thickness... someone else may take them while you wait for them to mature too so there is a gamble involved.

I only started selling work just before the new year and its starting to take off, i sell more rings and sticks but it takes time to find your market and build a rep etc.

I may well do a walk through actually, i have loads of pics from various projects.. maybe in a few weeks!

a reply to: Sapphire

Forged in Fire is an epic show.

It wir kirrrr!

I'll take both please

a reply to: skalla

They are immensely stabby though - bone is wonderful for thrusting/piercing blades.

Wonderful! Do you sell these on ebay, or have a website we can purchase from?? I would really be interested in a bone knife like you have crafted.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

Cheers! I just sent you a message, but i expect it's ok to say i sell at etsy.com under the name "hedgeandcave" as i've been allowed to link the shop in my sig

And do you take requests, sir? I have been needing a good beard comb and would like to talk to you about it.

a reply to: Excallibacca
I sure do, and am most partial to the making of beard combs!




See my above post too

a reply to: skalla
im such a dummy, I was not even paying attention to your sig, sorry! I am very happy to see you listed the knife in the op. Im about to buy it right now. Could you sharpen it as much as heavenly possible
a reply to: Excallibacca
He has wonderful beard combs listed!

a reply to: worldstarcountry

That would not be a problem!

a reply to: skalla

just paid it. I will update in this thread when it shows up! Dude, IMO, your prices are very competitive and reasonable for hand crafted work of this nature. I see work like this going for significantly more at local flea markets and trade shows. But none of it hardly moves. I seen the same antler handled bone knife at a local vendors flea market for two years now. He has it at like $275, and to me its not nearly as good looking as this. Not eve that big either.

This will be a wonderful piece on my weapons wall, which is currently stocked with cheap mass produced steel that just looks nice to me. Im going to rearrange it to make this blade the centerpiece!

Keep it up!

a reply to: worldstarcountry

Cheers! A lot goes into what i make, and i know what you mean about prices but it's hard to show quality on photos and so much depends on building a reputation - and you have to get your work out there to build one of those. I am gradually raising prices to closer to what i feel my efforts are worth, but it's a balancing act.

I'm starting doing festivals and so on this summer too, and hoping to build a travelling workshop to share skills and so on over the coming years. I'm crapping myself as it's all so new but it's could be a lot of fun. May even pay off eventually!