Thread: 9/8 Chopper in Black Horn

I haven't posted here in awhile and have quite a bit of work I've been meaning to show, but I couldn't hold off on this one.

I bought this 9/8 Jackson Stacey & Smith Sheffield 1/8 hollow quite awhile back on eBay for a good sum and finally got around to restoring it. The blade itself was in great shape and I only hit the back, spine and tang starting with 240 greaseless and left it at a satin finish. I didn't touch the front because of the blade etching. The tang stamp was a little worn, so I think I hit that area only with 600 greaseless.

The original scales were heavily flea bitten, so I fashioned a new pair out of black horn. I must have made 3 or 4 different designs to try and fit a pair of scales on one piece of horn to no avail because of the size of the blade. I finally resorted to eyeballing an arc through the horn on my scroll saw to make a set of scales that essentially used the whole piece. Fortunately it worked well and I was able to fashion a pair.

I must thank Brad (Undream) for the idea to get bone material from your local pets mart. I cut a cow bone dog knuckle I got from there and sanded it into a wedge. My garage stunk for 2 day! I do like how you could see some of the grain of the bone in the final product as well.

Anyway, the pinning was done with triple stacked brass washers to imitate the original bullseye pinning (I couldn't salvage the originals as there were only 3 remaining), and brass rod.

I really liked how this one turned out, but wish I had a slightly longer horn blank so that I could have made the wedge extend further from the wedge pin.

Something about big blades really appeals to me and I love the 1/8 hollows over the wedges as I think they shave better, and also leave a much smaller bevel, which is nice as it doesn't eat into the frosted etch.

This one is a keeper and I have a couple other choppers that I'm most definitely going to do something similar. This one shaves like a champ though!

Any comments/criticism is more than welcome.

Joe

Excellent work, original looking and understating...one problem - why do you keep finding these giant blades when I can't! Enjoy her, I bet she's a keeper.

Joe,

Nice work! I think your wedge looks great, and I completely agree about the stench from the bone as it's being cut. It's very powerful and peculiar. Your scales look awesome.

Stunning. That is one nice hunk of steel. The wedge is perfect for the scales. What a great job.

Woooooow Joe . She looks reaaaaaaal nice . Great job...I love the front etching. She's HUUUUUUUUGE!!!!!

I think I remember this one from ebay. Excellent job. She looks fantastic. I do like to see a wedge with some personality.

Nice.

Beautifully done. Excellent job imitating the original beehive washers. They look fantastic.

Nice work, I like the satin look. Plus, keeping the etch and the triple stacked pins are nice touches.
I've been looking for something similar for awhile. Finding these big blades isn't easy and then you gotta fight off the hordes that are bidding on it.
It sure looks lopsided - how hard was it to hone?

...Ray

Originally Posted by Sando

Nice work, I like the satin look. Plus, keeping the etch and the triple stacked pins are nice touches.
I've been looking for something similar for awhile. Finding these big blades isn't easy and then you gotta fight off the hordes that are bidding on it.
It sure looks lopsided - how hard was it to hone?

...Ray

It actually isn't lopsided - the end view just shows how the original grind shaping the spine on the toe was uneven. It actually was a breeze to hone and I show no issues of eneven bevels on each side or anything of the sorts.