Sgian Dubh, Scottish knife, Scottish gift, Wedding gift, Groom gift, Best Man gift, mens gift

The Sgian Dubh is a ceremonial dagger that is traditionally worn (tucked into the sock) as part of Scottish Highland dress along with a kilt. The translation in Gaelic is dagger for “Sgian” and black for “Dubh”.
I have made the primary outer handle of this Sgian Dubh from some beautiful, highly figured Scottish Burr Wych Elm. One of my favourite local woods, mid browns, tones of cream, yellow and green with a golden iridescence and an incredible burr grain pattern. I harvested the burr that i used for this particular knife from a tree in Balmacara, West Coast of Scotland beside the Isle of Skye and have been waiting for it to dry for a few years now. I have used perhaps over a hundred burrs in my time and this one stood out due to the very clearly defined lighter sapwood to darker heartwood, quite a rare thing indeed.
I have used mostly the lighter sapwood on this knife, just a little too light by itself for the main handle so i have used some industrial black colour fast wood dye. Most people are familiar with wood stain, perfect for many wood applications but it does tend to hide the grain. Burr Wych Elm is renowned for having a beautiful and intricate grain, something i try to show off in every piece i do. This particular wood dye allows this stunning grain and some other colours to still be clearly visible yet make the overall colour a rich black. The dye is also colour fast so won’t fade with time. I have intentionally hand brushed the dye on instead of dipping the whole handle as i wanted the inside of the burr ‘eyes” not to be dyed. This shows up as brown colour making a nice contrast and giving further depth to the overall piece.
For a professional finish i have used some local Scottish Olive Ash for a centre to lock the knife tang and outer scales together. Olive Ash is actually the heartwood of an Ash tree and gets its name from its darker streaks running throughout its grain similar to that of European Olive. It has a vibrant golden iridescence and always goes so well with Burr Wych Elm.
To finish and protect the wood is first seal with Shellac and cellulose thinners, this protects and gives a stable base for the next step. I then apply the dye and to finish i hand brush a coat of micro gloss, this leaves a hard wearing relatively glossy sheen not too dissimilar to a polyurethane finish. The blade is Stainless Steel and measures under 3.5″ to comply with UK laws. I have left the blade unsharpened as Sgian Dubhs are mostly ornamental. It comes complete with an attractive embossed black leather sheath and a black presentation box.
The Sgian Dubh measures:
Overall Length 175mm x Width 29mm x Depth 13.4mm
Blade Length 85mm x Width 25mm
As with all my pieces i have applied my company logo “UBC” with pyrography, in this case on the bottom rear of the handle.