T.C. Albert Knife and Sheath

Here on the prairies of Illinois, waiting for spring is more of an occupation or ritual, and it seems we are still "thinking green" and praying for it until May. But thinking green also means recycling what we can these days too, so whats a better spring bench project than a knife made from 100% recycled materials? The blade is fashioned from a large, old and worn out "Keen Kutter" file. The thick brass hilt is recycled from the rollers salvaged from an old junked steam shovel, with the matching brass ferrule coming from an old scrap gas fitting. The jigged bone handle with its silver pommel cap is reclaimed from an antique broken butchers steel, and the sheath is made from leather that came from a roll of old buffalo hide overhead drive belting I found in a junk shop and riveted together with lead rivets made from a few inches of the discarded ends of machinist lead.

Copy and photos by T.C. Albert.