Practically Finished

I say practically, because I need to burnish the edges of the knife sheath and the roping cuffs. And I need to emboss the family brand in the cuffs and sheath. And I need to add snaps to the wrists of the roping cuffs.

But the hard work is done.

The knife is one I forged from a lawnmower blade in 2009. It's a "boucheron", which is French for "butcher knife". They were very popular amongst the French in the 1700s, but the design is one that looks as if it could have been crafted by any Louisiana boy who knew his way around a forge from the 1700s up to today. Probably because it was! Lol. Actually I can't take all the credit for the forging. My blacksmithing Mentor, a French-Canadian named Marquito walked me through the whole process, and actually did most of the rough forging.

I branded the handle of the knife with a bent paperclip back in 2009, and it's holding up well.

I hope this setup will serve my Pawpaw well.