Here it is I'm finished.
The pesky hole was filled with Hornady 50 grain V Max hand loading bullets.
A lanyard was also installed with a corkscrew braid.
I ground a clip point on it last night.
Blood weeds beware. :twisted:
I use this thing to chop weeds and brush it is a lot easier than a silly weed whacker sometimes.
It isn't ornamental.
Worth
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Very fine work. Using the shell casings was clever! I especially like the checkering.

very nice.

Thanks guys.:)
If I had to do it over again I would have used the walnut or mesquite wood.
I took it out for a test run yesterday and found out real quick I had to modify it.
I had cut the notch in the one side for my thumb and the other side for my index finger.
All worked well.
BUT on the right hand side on the back where it is sharp started eating the bottom of my palm and it hurt.
Last night I filed this away and rounded it a little to take away the sharp point.
So if I had it to do over I would have made it longer.
Maybe even something like a hatchet handle or the end of a baseball bat.

Worth

Our youngest son (Who turns 26 tomorrow) just read this thread. He liked it all. He talked about having to order parts online now, and the bags come with 50 pins in them. He enjoys building knives and all sorts of things like that.

It does look nice and very useful Worth.

I wondered about the sharp edges, but thought you could adjust after a test drive, that's the beauty of working with wood, you can always take some away.

But for this >> So if I had it to do over I would have made it longer.

You mean the handle, right? But then how could it (the wood scales) be longer than the tang? Would you start them higher up on the blade (towards business end), or extend them past the end (handle side) and add a spacer of some type to replace/extend the end of the tang (as commonly done for some light duty table/Kitchen knives?)

[QUOTE=AlittleSalt;507838]Our youngest son (Who turns 26 tomorrow) just read this thread. He liked it all. He talked about having to order parts online now, and the bags come with 50 pins in them. He enjoys building knives and all sorts of things like that.

It does look nice and very useful Worth.[/QUOTE]

Salt when I make my order from Jantz supply I'm scared to death of what I will get.:lol:
Rivets will be top of the list.

[QUOTE=taboule;507844]I wondered about the sharp edges, but thought you could adjust after a test drive, that's the beauty of working with wood, you can always take some away.

But for this >> So if I had it to do over I would have made it longer.

You mean the handle, right? But then how could it (the wood scales) be longer than the tang? Would you start them higher up on the blade (towards business end), or extend them past the end (handle side) and add a spacer of some type to replace/extend the end of the tang (as commonly done for some light duty table/Kitchen knives?)[/QUOTE]

Yes I would extend the handle without taking away from the blade.
There are several options to do this.
One would be to weld on a longer tang which would be easy to do without ruing the temper with a TIG welder.
You simply put the blade in a vise and it acts as a heat sink and you take your time.
Or you could just slot the handle on a table saw and cut the rest out by hand it need be.
Then you could drill your holes get the tang set properly and do as I did this one and glue in the spacers on both sides.
This way the rest of the handle would be solid.
Or you could weld up the sides of the tang to where it was all the way to the edge of the handle.
Just set the tang on a piece of steel and trace it out like I did the walnut.
cut it out to length and so on.
Any of these methods would work fine it would just be the way you wanted it to look.

Worth

Here are two other ones I am working on, on and off.
the one on the left is going to be a dagger the one on the right I have no idea yet.:lol:
Im not a knife fanatic I just like doing stuff with my hands.
Worth
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Okay folks I would really appreciate some help here.
What I have is a huge mesquite root I got from the side of the road a few years ago.
I have sanded on it a bit to see what the grain structure was like.
What on earth should I do with it I can't make my mind up?
It is around 3 feet long and a little over a foot tall.
Worth
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How about the Base for a lamp..?

[QUOTE=Zenbaas;508283]How about the Base for a lamp..?[/QUOTE]
It is funny you should say that.
In my random pictures thread I have put this there too asking for help.
In it I stated my original idea was a base for a lamp and it still isn't out of the question as that is why it is standing on three legs as it is now.
If it becomes a lamp it will be a floor lamp with a pole going up like the one from the 60's.

Worth

[QUOTE=Worth1;508287]It is funny you should say that.
In my random pictures thread I have put this there too asking for help.
In it I stated my original idea was a base for a lamp and it still isn't out of the question as that is why it is standing on three legs as it is now.
If it becomes a lamp it will be a floor lamp with a pole going up like the one from the 60's.

Worth[/QUOTE]
Well there you go :D I think it could look really nice with the necessary love put into it.

[QUOTE=Zenbaas;508289]Well there you go :D I think it could look really nice with the necessary love put into it.[/QUOTE]

What stopped me was my indecision on the pole.
Wood which would be a pain to get a hole through that fare.
I could split it on my saw gouge or saw out a groove and glue it back together.
Then I thought of copper the dropped it.
This happens to me all of the time.
I can say if I do it right I could sell it for a ton of money if I wanted to.
A small table lamp goes for around $400.00 and I could get way more than that due to the finish I put on wood.
I have spoken to many dealers at art shows and they just about all use some sort of cheap varnish.
They will go to all of that work and then do that it baffles me.

Worth

I won't lie it would be a tricky affair. But you are handy with your hands (no pun intended) so I'm sure you could do it.

I know what you mean about dirilling a hole that far... no easy task.:no:
You would probably have to make yourself a custom bit to get 1 1/2 ft from either end. As you say, splitting and gluing back together would be the faster approach, even if you made yourself a monster drill press.
Maybe the long drill setup could be done by adapting a wood lathe?

Making or acquiring the tools for that job would be well worth it if you were planning to make lamps as an ongoing thing. I've thought about it myself, as a lamp could be a nice, high end product if it's done right.

One thing I've noticed, root wood is incredibly hard and fine grained. It's the highest density wood part of any tree, afaict. :yes: So whatever you do with it, it will likely be super stable and strong.8-)