silver
All the non-blade metal in a Real Sgian Dubh is Sterling Silver, hallmarked by the Assay Office of Scotland. Each sgian dubh has four silver bands. These are created individually by hand from sheet silver. The knotwork patterns are cut with a hand file and then joined to a plain silver backplate, which is blackened to make the knotwork designs stand out. The rings are then shaped on a tiny anvil before being finally fitted to the sgian dubh.

horn
We use the horn of the domesticated Asian buffalo - commonly used in Scottish horn work. Most horn is pure black with a rather uninteresting appearance but occasional horns have white streaks or ‘milky’ white patterns that result in a stunning finish. This is what we search out and use for the handles and sheaths in a real sgian dubh. Horn is collected from farm animals and air-dried for over a year before it is ready for use. The basic shape is cut with a knife and then finished using a file, sandpaper and cloth. Like a fingerprint, no two horns are the same so that each sgian dubh is absolutely unique in its final appearance.

wood
Our rosewood comes from the lowland forests of Nepal. The wood is carefully dried by air and then over a small fire. Our Ash comes from sustainably managed woodlands in Scotland and is sawn and kiln dried by Scottish Wood – a community business. The handle and sheath are carefully shaped with a large knife and finished using a file and sandpaper. We buff the wood with a natural wax polish to bring out its beautiful character.

steel
Our sgian dubh blades are cut from knife-making stainless steel. The top of the blades is notched by hand using a file. Damascus steel is oil tempered approx 512 layers.

box
Our quality hand made leather presentation boxes are fairly traded and made by a group of people with various disabilities.