Thank you Horicon Marsh Bowmen

[Rancid Crabtree]

I started another new knife and thought I show some of the steps involved in making it. I am donating this knife to the Horicon Marsh Bowmen. Each year, they hold a Wisconsin Bowhunters Association banquet with the proceeds going to the WBH. This one club donates tens of thousands of dollars to the WBH annually and this banquet is a big part of where those dollars come from. They invited me to attend this year's event but do not know about this knife. Since I can't sing for my supper, I thought I'd give in another way.

I went back to the good folks at Two Finger Knife LLC and bought another forged Damascus Steel blank made from 1095 and 15N20 steels.





I also bought a set of Amboyna burl knife scales because of their beauty and the numerous, captivating swirls.

Amboyna Burl wood is extracted from the jungles of Southeast Asia  and often transported (at least initially) via elephant. It is a favored wood used by folks that make knife handles and pens or bowls. It starts out reddish in color and over time and exposure to light, it turns a warm brown/red. The photo below gives a false impression of the color and exaggerates the red.



I won't use just Amboyna for the handle. I want to dress up this handle with a few different woods.



The woods I'm using are

1. South African, Bloodwood
2. South American, Cocobolo
3. Good old Wisconsin, Hard rock Maple
4. Sotheast Asian, Amboyna

This knife handle will have an impressive global pedigree



After laying out the pattern I wanted, I cut the pieces to size and rinsed 1, 2 and 4 in Acetone to remove the oils so the epoxy would give a better hold. Here they are waiting for the slow cure epoxy to do it's thing.



I am also making the pins from a variety of materials such as aluminum, brass, copper and maple. They will also be held together with epoxy.







Once all the components have time to cure, I will assemble the parts and shape the wood into what is hopefully a comfortable and attractive grip.

After the epoxy cured, I use the blade as the pattern to outline the shape of the handle and then cut it to size leaving a little extra material all the way around for cleanup. I also decided to add 1/16 thick Cocobolo spacers.



The spacers go against the metal of the handle and give another layer of color. Here it is assembled for a dry fit-up test.



Fast forward past sanding and applying 8 coats of super glue as the finish and this is what you have.







I think the cocobolo spacers give a great look to the handle.



Since the center of the pins is maple, prior to applying the finish, I held a red Sharpie marker against the wood and let it soak up the red ink.



Fast forward a little more and I have a sheath.



Flash forward again and you see the display base I made from bubinga.  I used the same red/brown stain that I used to die the leather for the sheath to make the wood a little more red. I added a small antler and a WBH lapel pin and a gloss lacquer finish. I hope this knife helps in their fund raising effort.






 

[Rancid Crabtree]

Here are some pictures from the 13th annual Horicon Marsh Bowmen, WBH benefit dinner. It took place at the community center in Juneau, WI.



I arrived a bit early to give the knife and to look around since this was my first time attending and I wanted to get pictures before the room filled with people.

I saw an impressive display of prizes including about 3 dozen guns and a variety of bows, a gun safe, ground blinds and many other prize to numerous to mention.







As well as a make a deal raffle with an assortment of prizes worth $4,500.

Before the guests arrived, Pat Buhr went over the duties of all the hard working volunteers.



The doors opened at 5:30 but there was already a line forming outside.



And in short order, the place was packed with about 350 folks looking to open their wallets and buy chances at the long lists of prizes.



After a great meal, Chairman Ken Metzdorf (white shirt on the left) began the drawings. Everything was going smoothly until Loyd Lechner dumped all the early Bird tickets on the floor. 



Not to worry, I was there to capture it for historical reasons and a few guys rushed to his aid.



With all the prizes awarded, the grand finale was a bit of a game show to see who would take home the $4,500 bounty that included a gun and bow and Gas powered ice auger and pop-up blind and treestand and a long list of other prizes.

4 names were drawn and each contestant was handed a briefcase. One case contained the grand prize, One contained $200 and the other two contained a pound of Limburger cheese.

The contestants were then offered $100 to sell their case and then $200 all the way up to $500 at which point one contestant took the money and another name was drawn to open her case.



That was a smart move on here case because the gal that took her place opened a case containing the stinky cheese and well as the chap on the far right. The luck guy in the tan shirt holding the grand prize certificate took home the bounty.



It was a great night for everybody and the WBH was the biggest winner of all. Here is the jumbo check from last years event that was presented to the WBH at our annual convention. Look to the lower left corner.



Thank you does not begin to cover it. This club has been such a great supporter of the WBH and I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of their efforts.

This event is so popular that there is a waiting list as the attendance is capped based on the size of the venue.