We hand craft beautiful, limited edition sgian dubhs in natural materials of buffalo horn, wood, silver and steel.
Natural materials and genuine craftsmanship mean that each Scottish knife is unique.
Silver.
All our silver is Sterling quality, hallmarked in Edinburgh by the Assay Office of Scotland.
Each sgian dubh has four silver bands. These are created individually by hand from sheet silver. The knotwork patterns are cut with a hand file and then joined to a plain silver backplate, which is blackened to make the knotwork designs stand out.
The rings are then shaped on a tiny anvil before being finally fitted to the sgian dubh.
Horn.
We use the horn of the domesticated Asian buffalo – commonly used in Scottish horn work. We search out horn that has slight milky streaks to add interest to our knives. Horn is collected from farm animals and air-dried for over a year before it is ready for use.
The basic shape is cut with a knife and then finished using a file, sandpaper and cloth.
Like a fingerprint, no two horns are the same so that each sgian dubh is absolutely unique in its final appearance.
Wood.
I’m currently trialling a couple of different types of wood and hope to have these available for sale within a year.
I’m excited to have found some master wood craftsmen who have great experience in cutting, drying, working and finishing Himalayan wood.
Watch this space!
Steel.
Our sgian dubh blades are cut from knife-quality stainless steel.
The top of the blades is notched by hand using a file.
Damascus steel is oil tempered approx 512 layers.
The Makers.
Jeweller to the king
Shailendra crafts all the silver-work on your knife. He’s a master craftsmen, specialising in silver work but also working in horn and semi-precious stones. His grandfather was jeweller to the King of Nepal – and his family have been crafting silver for the Kings of Nepal for centuries.
Wood Workers
We’re working with some remarkable young wood craftsmen to design and make stunning sgian dubhs in wood. They have an amazing story that we look forward to sharing soon!