Skinner work in progress

S

Steve_p

Joined
Apr 9, 2019
Messages
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I’m working on a beaver skinner for a co worker. I think I have the design down, I cut and profiled it out of junk steel last weekend as a trial run.

XWKLOtt.jpg


Any tips or input would be welcome. I’m not sure how exactly to grind the rounded tip, I’m going to give it a try on this one before I start on the good steel.
 
Steve_p said:
I’m working on a beaver skinner for a co worker. I think I have the design down, I cut and profiled it out of junk steel last weekend as a trial run.

XWKLOtt.jpg


Any tips or input would be welcome. I’m not sure how exactly to grind the rounded tip, I’m going to give it a try on this one before I start on the good steel.
Click to expand...
 
Volkert Forge said:
What kind of handle material is it?
Click to expand...

Maple burl. I sanded to 2500 and finished with boiled linseed. The lighting makes it look more shiny than it actually is. I had a hard time getting it symmetrical and I made a few mistakes in the finishing process, but I’m overall happy with the way it looks.
 
I have skinned 100's of beaver maybe a 1000 as I trapped them and worked in the fur business for 4 years and my favorite skinning knives were almost 100% curve with no straight section. With a fully curved knife I could use all of the knife edge as I swept the knife. I would oftentimes get more beaver than I could carry out whole so I would need to skin them outside in Wisconsin and northern Michigan in January and February so a knife that would skin fast was important. One afternoon I skinned out 12 and left 8 in the whole as it was getting too cold to work without mittens.

I hope my description of my preferred knife shape is understandable.

wade
 
Steve_p said:
Maple burl. I sanded to 2500 and finished with boiled linseed. The lighting makes it look more shiny than it actually is. I had a hard time getting it symmetrical and I made a few mistakes in the finishing process, but I’m overall happy with the way it looks.
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, why did you sand so high? I have never seen much utility in sanding above 600 or so with anything but the hardest hardwoods (rosewoods, ebony, and the like)

All in all I like the design. What steel did you end up using?
 
I went with 1084 mainly because it’s really the only steel I feel confident in my ability to heat treat at this point.

I really just kept going higher in grit to see how it would change the appearance. Honestly I don’t think I saw a huge change after 800.
 
1084 makes an excellent blade, no doubt about it :)

Personally I take wood like maple or walnut to a smooth 400, then give it a light buff. The buff doesn't shine it up much at all, but for me it gives a nice look and texture.
 
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