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15" fighter/bowie? Clay hardened, scupted bolsters and ironwood. Dialup beware!

David Schott

David Schott

Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Messages
3,041
Hey everyone!

Here is my latest...

15" OAL
10" 1095 differentially clay hardened blade with active hamon
Nickel silver sculpted bolsters
Exhibition ironwood scales, bookmatched and offset for grain flow across spine

I love how this came out...it feels great and balances very nicely. Blade was clay treated and has all kinds of action if viewed from the right angle, but I focused on the overall knife here. The ironwood is amazing....best I have had. Bolsters were sculpted and flow nicely. I modified the spine to have positive forward grip, as I did with the handle shape.

Let me know what you think!
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In truth I think the bolsters are a bit over the top – adding confusion to an otherwise clean and beautiful shape. Handle is otherwise great and looks very comfy and the blade is simply gorgeous. Hope you don’t mind my being totally honest :)

Regards
Jan
 
No offense taken whatsoever!
For the hamon lovers, here is what lurks below the surface...the finish is less etched and more polished now....that crazyness was to fragile a finish for a knife intended to be used:
hamon3.jpg
 
I prefer the current finish to the old one; from the second picture of the new finish you can just see the hamon but it doesn't distract from the lines of the knife, whereas I think it was almost too much before.

Have you considered doing something with more of a guard?
 
I am so glad you said that....that was exactly my feeling as well...just didnt fit.....

I will be moving into guards very soon....just never got up to speed on them and have always had some kind of silly aversion to cutting slots for guards....I have another two sets of scales cut from the same block of ironwood and about 10 more feet of 1095 and no plans for the next knife, so quite possibly my next knife will be a sister knife to this one with the same clay hardened blade and handle shape, except with a 1.25" ricasso, choil and a guard. Perhaps even a japanese-style guard, but I dont want to bite off more than I can chew. I have to read up on guard fitting....my guess is itll be no more difficult than some of the work i've done...i have just avoided it.
 
Really love the book match on the iron wood!!! The grains flow through perfectly, very nice job.
 
The way to get that look the way it should be is a subtle but easy trick. If you have bookmatched scales and put them evely, it wont look as good. Take the thickness of the spine, and shift your scales that much offset before drilling/shaping. That way, you effectively replace the distance that would naturally occur if the grain was continuous.
 
Very nice, i like everything, I usually don't care for mosaic pins but that on is fascinating, great wood, great hamon, great everything
 
Nice knife...I really like the handles. Like another poster the bolsters are a little too overpowering for my taste. (no offense meant!!!) Beautiful work overall. The hamon is simply stunning.

What type of clay are you using? Im gonna get some....
 
That blade shape looks nice 'n' versatile, and I really like the way you've contoured the handle. I bet the three dimensional shapes feel great in the hand. As far as the bolsters go, I'm personally more concerned about 'em from the functional standpoint than aesthetics. Did you hollow them out underneath? If not, it seems like it adds a big chunk of weight in the exact spot where it will do you the least good.

From the aesthetic standpoint, the size of the bolsters is not my main concern; just that they currently seem to overpower the wood, and that big straight slanted line doesn't jive with the curves of the rest of the handle. Do you think it would look better if you subdued them a bit with a satin finish? Otherwise some tasteful engraving would help balance things out with the wood quite a bit... But, you're the artist here, so ya gotta do whatever you think looks right.

If you're worried about slotting guards, have you considered a single guard? That way you'd really only have to worry about getting the sides to fit instead of all four surfaces.
 
He bolsters on this one were not hollowed out. In hindsight, that is a fine idea. The tang was fully skeletonized which still leaves the balance point forward of the ricasso, but Its hard to gauge where the point should be on a long blade that is not designed to be a chopper. I have since found agreement with the bolster shape. All agree it should be some sort of curve or less aggressive. I've never been a fan of satin finished bolsters, but thats just me.

I whipped up a second model of this with a full length false edge. I have not decided on a handle design but I am going to experiment and possibly make a few different versions of this as an experiemnt in designs with future models being:
1. Hidden tang with guard
2. Subhilt
3. Simple micarta scales with a small front and rear bolster
4. Simple one piece scales

I am playing with my clay coating and varying shapes and designs. I should have up another in a day or two....
 
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