deer hoof knife

[greytop13]

I'm thinkin' 'bout makin' a knife or two using last year's deer hooves and saw this online. Never made (or even assembled) a knife before but want to give it a try. Can someone give me advice on how to handle the area where the hoof meets the guard? It looks like a cap. If so, how do I go about casting something like that?

Thanks,
Knife Novice (greytop)

 

[tg]

That looks a lot like one dad has that was his grandfathers, I will take a look at how it was put together, I think he still has it.Did you skin out the leg and remove the toe bones and tan the foot?

 

[greytop13]

Oops. Well, you got me there tg. I tanned the hide but just let the feet air dry. Did I blow it?

 

[jasontn]

i made one of those once as a mantle peice. i used a huge old bowie blade and a very large bucks foot. i just cleaned out the marrow and poured some bleach into it and rinsed it out. the one i had was old and had dried out naturally. i epoxied the blade into it and wrapped the blade/leg junction with some buckskin thong. its about 6 years old now and holding strong. i think thats a band around the handle

 

[longshot47]

Greytop-
For what its worth; I have used air-dryed hoof/ankle sections to make gun racks. Just cut them, tied 'em back to the configuration I wanted and set 'em aside for about a year before using. No problems reported.
~Longshot

 

[gmww]

I've got about 8 of them sitting in the freezer. I'm also going to eventually make a gun rack. Knife handle :hmm:. Very cool.

 

[greytop13]

Thanks for the reassurance, guys. The legs still look fine, not crawlin' with critters or smellin' bad and the hair is on tight. I like the idea of either doin' a rawhide wrap at the top or maybe hammering a band and soldering it to fit. :hatsoff:

 

[tg]

They will probably be ok I used to clean them out like you would the toes on animals for taxidermy work the toe bones make nice necklaces, they may even be more durable with the bone left in otherwise there is just a thin skin holding the hoove to the hide, the main thing is a good drying/curing so they do not spoil.

 

[mudd turtle]

Longshot- How do or did you attach the deer leg to a board. I was thinking it could be done by drilling the leg bone out some clean out the morrow and insert a wooden dowel or maybe puter or lead and drill from the backside of the board and attach the leg bone to the board and screw the screws into the dowel . How would you do it. mudd turtle

 

[longshot47]

Mudd turtle-
I drill out about an inch and a half deep hollow in the core of the leg bone; then epoxy in a close fitting lag screw [head first in the hole]. Leave about 1 1/2" of thread extending from the bone. Once set, I drill a pilot hole in the mounting board and turn in the leg/bracket till tight and positioned correctly.
~Longshot