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 knife or 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. It makes for a stunning contrast and the sapwood has its own tones of iridescence. The green really pops in this burr and has a pearlescent sheen to it.
For a professional finish i have used some local Scottish Sweet Chestnut for a centre to lock the knife tang and the outer scales together. This piece came from the Black Isle, just North of Inverness. Sweet Chestnut is aesthetically a very pretty wood, a mid golden brown, similar to Oak but with darker streaks running throughout. It is a wood workers dream as it is one of the most stable woods out there keeping its shape perfectly. The lovely tones of brown going on in this piece of Sweet Chestnut work perfectly with the Burr Wych Elm.
To finish and protect the wood I first apply a sealer of Shellac and Cellulose Thinners. This brings out the colour and provides and stable base for the next finish. I then apply 3 coats of a tough polyurethane. From my experience this is the hardest wearing finish available for wood. 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 174mm x Width 26mm x Depth 11.5mm
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.