Steel: W-2 nicholson axe file Overall length: 8 1/4 " blade length: 4 1/4 handle length: 4" blade thickness 5/32" handle material: Brown leather, with black liners, cyanoacralate finish Bolster/pommel: 1/4 " aluminum happy new year.
That's a nice handle man, I've never thought of using chrom tanned leather for a handle. Looks like it worked out good!
Thanks, Well spotted Sir. I had to go wiki chrome tanned leather. You were spot on. I raided a bag of scraps I had. The leather I used was just as indicated by wiki. The leather was kinda red brown with a pale grey underside. When I applied the CA it turned it dark chocolate brown. I used an old CD case for the liner material. It seemed to accent the look nicely.
I don't want to be "that guy" but the chrome tanned leather may give you long term issues. It is known to hold the tanning salts and chemicals forever which cause corrosion and rusting, even on stainless steels. This is the reason very very few sheath and holster makers use chrome tanned, because it will cause whatever is stored in it to eventually rust up. Probably not catastrophic but I figured I should point it out to those considering using it.
Grayzer, I was contemplating being "that guy" :/ I don't know how much of a problem it could cause bit Grayzer is totally right about the corrosion issues that may occur.
Meh, We'll see. It'll probably outlive me. If it rusts up so be it. Hopefully I used enough epoxy that a good barrier is built up around where the steel may come in contact with the leather. Can oxidation occur in a air tightly sealed handle? How can oxygen get in there to cause the rust?
I wouldn't worry about it man, I bet the epoxy has it sealed up good enough that won't rust. It's definatly not a leather you'd want to use for a sheath that's for sure. But then again, I just did some work for a friend of mine that had some cheap damascus blades with chrom tanned sheaths and the blades look fine.
