Finished up the carcass splitter. It'll be on my table at the Blade Show. 17 1/2" blade, 20 1/4" handle, forged from 2" x 1/4" 5160. The handle is paracord over leather, with a three-strand paracord Turk's head knot, all impregnated with epoxy.
My buddy and fellow knifemaker Tobin Nieto of Stonehaven Knifeworks made the lined rawhide sheath for it. One of the avenues that led him to making knives was an interest in movie props and replicas of movie props. He perfectly captured the vibe that I envisioned for the overall project: something that would be carried by a boss character in a zombie video game or the antagonist of a slasher movie.
I had my hand in the sheathwork, though. Namely, the "blood splatters".
They're actually brick red India ink.
The chain is a shoulder sling. It originally was part of the mechanism for opening and shutting a heavy door in a huge slaughterhouse that my landlord's father worked in. I don't know what position he had, but he told me there were 600 men working under him, and he supervised when the slaughterhouse was torn down. The hooks are forged from a high-carbon farm implement tine.
The blood splatters look pretty authentic, huh? Like something Leatherface would have hanging above his bed. :devilish:
Here's one of the ways of wearing it with the sling.
"Forth, minions!"
One of the things I like about it is that although it is large and has plenty of power, it's still light and lively enough to wield one-handed.
I have some materials gathered for a little cutting demo video later on in the week, weather permitting.
Oh, Tobin plays guitar, too.
