Natural Sgian Dubh, Scottish knife, skene dubh, 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 knife or dagger for “Sgian” and black for “Dubh”.
This knife is part of my well established range of Natural Antler Sgian Dubhs. The antler came from a stag that roamed the hills above Lairg, Sutherland. This is an extremely rugged part of Scotland and I’m sure it makes the Stags and their antlers extra tough! Antler is one of these materials that is a joy to work, approximately the working hardness of Oak, it responds well to careful working with both machine and hand tools. My wood Sgian Dubhs tend to be very exacting in their shape where as antler, due to its flowing curves can offer a more natural handle which is exactly what has been achieved in this knife. I have been getting more and more requests for a more natural finish on my Antler Sgian Dubhs. For this new range i have done as little finishing on the antler handle as possible to keep the natural look but, enough sanding to remove any harsh edges or lines and make the knife ergonomic to hold and comfortable being worn. Colour-wise, Antler tends to be predominately creamy white, sometimes with tones of pinkish brown and even some green.
I have capped this antler handle with some Surinese Snakewood, one of the hardest and most expensive woods on the planet. It is the heartwood of a relatively small tropical tree and is reddish brown with black markings running throughout that resemble snakeskin. The iridescence on this super exotic wood has to be seen to be believed, when the sunlight hits it it it looks like its on fire! The amazing pattern of this wood also gives it its other name of Letter wood. Its almost unsurpassed hardness gives a finish like glass. I sculpt the wood until in joins perfectly and seamlessly with the antler and again smooth off any sharp edges.
For a professional finish i have used some local Scottish Wych Elm as a centre to lock the knife tang and the outer scales together. This particular piece came from a tree that grew near Forres, East Coast of Scotland. Wych Elm is the highland cousin of European Elm, ranging from light to mid and dark browns, often with streaks of green and a golden iridescence. This piece is particularly dark making an eye-catching contrast with the Antler.
To finish and protect the handle I could not use polyurethane varnish as this would turn the antler yellow. So in this case i first apply a sealer of Shellac and Cellulose Thinners only to the wood centre, this brings out the colour. Then i apply two types of industrial wax, the same as used on my antler kilt pins. This gives a hard wearing finish and an attractive sheen not dissimilar to a polyurethane finish. The blade is Stainless Steel and measures under 3.5″ to comply with UK knife 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 28mm x Depth 19mm
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.