First of all, I need/want a legitimate sgian DO, not a sgian DON'T. I am not looking to field dress a moose, but I do use knives regularly in typical days. I have enormous hands to go with my relatively average frame and weight, a problem with a knife to be carried in a sock.

Second, making a sgian is way harder than making a kilt pin.

Just imagine some new user comes along, basic workshop skills, no knife making experience, what are the links and tips you have to make something that works?

I am pretty much down to full tang stainless blade blank and wood scales.

For me to trust the thing is has to be well built, and reach diagonally across my hand. I can work with a 3.5 inch handle but I really want 4.5 inches (8.9cm minimum to 11.5cm optimal). Plus it has to be light enough to carry in a sock. And I want good circulation to my right foot, so cinching up the right garter is a non-starter.

The internet is flooded with wooden knife scale blanks, but my google-fu gets me jack-doodle for "stainless full tang sgian dubh blade blank".

Question one is Where can I buy an inexpensive (stainless?) full tang sgian blank? while I learn to make these.

I do think it is possible to make a sgian DO from a stick tang with an antler tip handle and poor man's pewter. However, poor man's pewter is heavy; when I take that on next I'll be drilling antler pith twice at stick tang thickness and connecting the holes with a file. Drilling the antler pith at stick tang width was mistake number one on prototype sgian number one.

Once I have a working tool in a light enough weight to carry in a sock, the next hurdle is I require the thing to stay put while I sprint up flights of stairs. My requirement is it has to stay put up two flights to meet expectations, to exceed expectations it will have to stay put while I sprint up three flights.

I think I found the answer. If I could copy/ paste the responses from this old thread forward into this thread I would :
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...th-grip-63303/

and then delete that thread into here so future search button users would end up here.

I think the sheath answer that requires a traditional sgian handle profile, and fits MoR's parameters, and works like cavscout's, and should hold while sprinting up stairs, is this one:

http://www.knives.com/knivslida.html

Note how the knife handle shown on that page features two bellies on perpendicular axes, just like most of the traditional sgian handles shown by google images for sgian dubh.

I have been working with vegetable tanned leather for years, but wet molding is going to be new for me.

Question two is I want to wet mold vegetable tanned leather for function, not appearance. Boiling water for two minutes or warm water for twelve hours? What else do I need to consider?

Finally, I have never joined metal to wood before. The pin holes with a drill press and epoxy seem pretty straight forward, but how do I shape the wood down to the profile of the metal tang without ruining a perfectly good wood rasp?

Thanks. Imagine you have no experience, handtools, a vise, a drill press and a VISA card, and you want to make a sgian of your own.