My Bladed Valentine

Last night I came home from work to find an unusual sort of pre-Valentine’s gift waiting. My son (known here as Tesla) had taken a broken-handled kitchen knife and re-purposed it into a pretty fantastic little utility knife.

The results of his handiwork:

Basically, he removed the broken handle and wrapped the tang with nylon rope. But he didn’t just wrap – he taught himself to actually do this properly, and the result looks and functions great.

A closeup on the wrap:

He even burned the ends of the rope to prevent the wrap from fraying.

He left the ends long for aesthetic reasons. For a first attempt, I’d say it’s more than good.

People sometimes ask me why we homeschool. I think this effort pretty much speaks for itself. Some kids drown their free hours in TV or video games. My son goes on the Internet and learns a useful skill.

All things considered, I’ll call that a win.