Ever since we began stocking Julius Pettersson's hand-forged knife blades, craftsmen and women the world over have been sending in photos of the superb finished knives they've made using these carbon steel blanks. From the more traditional reindeer antler, right through to reclaimed bowling balls, we've seen an incredible variety of materials being used to make an equally wide range of handle styles. Shown here are just a few of the more recent submissions: [caption id="attachment_7439" align="aligncenter" width="827"] William Blake[/caption] "Here is the Julius Pettersson Knife I completed in 2013. The choice of handle materials reflects my family history: The wood is black walnut, taken from my grandfather’s ranch in Oklahoma before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flooded most of the ranch to create Sardis Lake. I am Penobscot Indian (a band of Abenaki) on my mother’s side and decided to use birch bark I gathered in Maine, which I would think also suits a Scandinavian knife very well." - William Blake [caption id="attachment_7440" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Shawn Glass[/caption] "This is my first attempt at using one of the wonderful blades from your store. I used brass for the bolster, some African wenge for the middle of the handle, and some oak for the end cap, reclaimed from part of a building that is very special to me." - Shawn Glass [caption id="attachment_7441" align="aligncenter" width="827"] Daryl Cunningham[/caption] "This was the first knife I had ever made and was inspired by Ray Mears' visit to the forge of Julius Pettersson. The blade is one of the best I own. I know it's not perfect but I kind of like that it has that real hand-finished quality. As for the blade itself, it rarely needs more than a strop and still makes me smile every time I use it." - Daryl Cunningham [caption id="attachment_7442" align="aligncenter" width="827"] Andrew Packer[/caption] "The wood (yew) was collected in my local forest on a family trip whilst camping with my wife and daughter; it was my first trip out after my kidney transplant in 2014. We dried the wood out in our woodshed and I eventually used it to handle the Pettersson blade. We now use this knife for our family trips." - Andrew Packer [caption id="attachment_7443" align="aligncenter" width="827"] Richard Eadon[/caption] "My first (but probably not my last) Julius Pettersson knife. I used reindeer antler and curly birch." - Richard Eadon [caption id="attachment_6920" align="aligncenter" width="625"] The Julius Pettersson Hand-Forged Knife Blade[/caption] Have you made your own handle for the Julius Pettersson knife blade? If so, send us a photo and we may include your knife in our next blog post.