Galgael Sgian Dubh

[Hawkeye The Noo]

I wanted to come up with something to mark the birth of my son and came up with this idea.
I was going to design a knife that I could have made for him to give to him on his
18th birthday. (He is now 7 months)

His name is Somerled but is known to all as the diminutive form of Sorley.
This is an old Scottish name. It is a fusion of Scots and Norse. The people of the west
highlands of Scotland who had this fusion of blood were known as the Galgael (the foreign Gael)

I therefore came up with the idea of a fully functional Sgian Dubh. A sgian dubh that
could be used as a bushcraft knife. I contacted Rob Millar of Castlekeep in Skye to make a
prototype of this for me. I wanted a full tang with a scandi grind, it had to look like a sgian dubh,
be functional and asthetically pleasing.

It was the fusion of scandi grind on a sgain dubh that inspired the name of Galgael.

Here are five pics, on of the original drawing and description, one with the Galgael next to a
plastic handled decorative sgian dubh and an F1 for scale and three of the Galgael.

I have already had a fine shower of sparks from it. Rob made it to fit in a sock so it is slightly
smaller and lighter than the dimensions I gave him. I guess I have to decide now that it will
not be small enough or light enough to be worn in a sock with the alterations that I want to
make it more functional. It will be a primarily a bushcraft knife with a Scottish identity. The
blade Rob has used is 3 mm, I would prefer 4mm. The handle is too short for comfort at the
moment and would need to be about 15-20 mm longer. The grip on the final edition will be dark.
However it is a beauty to look at and I am pleased with the progress so far. Enjoy the pics
despite my low quality photos and feel free to make sugestions.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f97/HawkeyeTheNoo/Galgael1.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f97/HawkeyeTheNoo/IMG_3984.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f97/HawkeyeTheNoo/IMG_3976.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f97/HawkeyeTheNoo/IMG_3988.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f97/HawkeyeTheNoo/IMG_3985.jpg

[BorderReiver]

What a lucky lad.:)

The sgian is beautiful.

EDIT:

Aye too much waist would not make for comfortable use.The colour though really suits the knife,does it have to be dark?

[Hawkeye The Noo]

I suppose it could stay light, I will think furhter on it.

cheers

Jamie

[Joff]

Hi Jamie

Great idea! I'm in 2 minds whether lighter or darker for the handle though the lighter colour does look good. Have you thought about having a tapered tang to lighten the knife a little and help it balance?

Cheers

Jon

[Draven]

Well, "sgian dubh" does mean black knife, though as far as I'm aware it's taken to refer to a knife that is hidden away, as opposed to literally...
It looks gorgeous to me mate, I love the infusion of Scottish/Scandi and the name is really fitting!

[British Red]

Lovely. My thoughts would be, if its for sock carry, then lose the lanyard hole since you would be unlikely to carry it in a sock with a lanyard.

I would go to a useful size on the handle and make two sheaths - a plain sock carry and a belt sheath - then it can do "double duty" (then leave the lanyard hole since its more likely to be used)

I cant see more than 3mm would be needed on so small a knife - a Mora is less than 3mm and works fine! 4mm would start to make it thick and heavy which is likely to make it less and less able to be sock carried. If he needs a big knife - how about a dirk for his 21st :D

A truly lovely idea

[firebreather]

Great looking knife. I would not bother with the 4mm as 3mm is more than enough for a fine kinfe such as that one.
Great gift I am sure he will look forward to getting it. I know i would.

[PWork]

That is a beautiful knife.

I've been kicking around the same thought, as I am of Orkadian ancestry. I plan to eventually build the knife myself.

I have handled 2 of Rob's blades, neither of which could be called bushcrafty...A 2 hand Claymore and a custom short sword size dirk. His workmanship is incredible.

[beowolf762]

That's a beautiful knife the way it is.:)

[sam_acw]

It's awesome. A truly traditional bushcrafter