#2 Wire inlaid with inlaid and tooled sheath

Josh Dabney

Josh Dabney

Joined
Nov 23, 2008
Messages
437
PLEASE LOOK AND COMMENT !

After a few short delays.... here is my second knife and sheath. I would love to hear all comments pertaining to all aspects of this package both from the design and material choice aspect and the execution of fit and finish.

Specs. O1 tool steel hand rubbed to 400 grit
Tang tapered from 1/8" at the plunge to 1/16"
4 1/4" cutting edge
8 1/2" OAL
Curly maple slabs finished with Formby's tung oil finish and beeswax
Pinned with 3/32" copper tubing with brass core
Brass wire inlay and dots
Brass bolsters

Sheath. 9-10 oz veg tanned leather
Hand stitched with artificial sinew
Tooled scrolls front and back
Buck skin inlay
Welt triple thick tapered down to single thick

All comments are greatly appreciated - Josh
 

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Damn fine work Josh! Can't wait to see # 3.
 
Here is some more pics
 

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Looks great! I dont mind brass on knives at all but be prepared as some people get really snobby about brass on knives! I do love the wire inlay, though, as you dont see it as much with brass.

One thing I could think of would be to have used a darker wood so that the filling of any gaps would be less noticable...

Sheath looks amazing!

The blade shape is great, too, but think it may have benefitted from a swedge/false edge.

Oh..and get your name on that badboy!

Lookin' good man!
 
Can you do a wire inlay tutorial?
 
http://www.blademag.com/article/silverwireinlaypartone/

Fiddleback- I'm basically teaching myself to do it as I go. I used this article by Joe Keesler from blade magazine as a tutorial on how to make the tools needed and the general techniques involved to do the wire inlay. I think that for the most part reading this article and going for it would bring anyone up to speed with me. This is my first attempt other than one practice scroll so I've got a long way to go yet myself. I have learned a few things already though which I'd be happy to share with anyone wanting to try it for themselves. I think in the future a tutorial would be more appropriate after I've gained some more experience myself.
 
Beautiful job Josh,looks like your off and running,the inlay looks great-:thumbup::thumbup:--Regards Butch
 
Josh,
Great job on the inlay and on the overall knife. I am a big fan of wire inlay w/ curly maple. I would love to see that handle stained to a medium brown color to really make the wire pop.
Tad Lynch
 
tdl said:
Josh,
Great job on the inlay and on the overall knife. I am a big fan of wire inlay w/ curly maple. I would love to see that handle stained to a medium brown color to really make the wire pop.
Tad Lynch
Click to expand...

exactly what I was thinking
 
Definately stain the next one. The stain will hide all those small dark areas around some of the wire work where the wood did not fill in, and bring out the curl in the maple. I would suggest you try sterling or pure silver, next go at it. It is much easier to work than brass, and classier. You will have an easier time avoiding those kinks, and you can keep silver shining just by rubbing with your fingers from time to time. Did you wet it well after the wire was in? A most excellent job of fitting bolsters and grips. You get an A on that, but the wood looks totally unfinished. I thought it was until you mentioned the tung oil. I am only about 30/45 minutes from you, in, acually past, Geneva. Come see me, and I will give you a little silver to play with for some practice, and show you how I do it. You definately have an eye for design. Better than me, but you may learn a little more. You have real talent. Much beyond most beginners, but you need to whet it, if you have the desire to go with that talent. Also, your leather work is remarkable. Not my style, but I know good leather work when I see it. wickellerbe.com
 
Thanks everyone who's commented so far.

I originally had planned on doing silver wire with a dark stain but I've got to the point where my budget for getting new materials is gonna be zero for another month or so. Due to this I decided to finish this knife using the things I had on hand as opposed to leaving it unfinished for awhile till I could get some different stains and finish treatments. I kinda made due with what I had which is why I used the dark stain on the sheath body and kept the handle natural to hopefully compliment the sheath inlay color.

I didn't even buy the correct type of brass wire, I made my own wire from brass sheet stock and tin snips so it wasn't the best wire to work with as far as getting nice sweeping scrolls without kinks in them but at this point the experience is more important to me than getting an absolutly perfect inlay. In the future I'll definatly be purchasing the correct wire for this application.

LRB, I'm 100% interested in taking you up on your offer to come visit ! Let me know when you have time available and I'll do everything in my power to meet your schedule. I thought maybe I messed this handle up big time, After finishing the wire I steamed the whole thing for around a minute over the steam from the wife's teapot. This steaming caused all of the darker parts of the wood grain to turn a mucky looking grey color ???? I sanded and 0000 steel wooled the handle as much as I felt I could but it still kinda looks crappy in areas ( especially on the end grain) . Thanks for the comment about the leatherwork also. I've got a great advantage in that area having a mentor who is a pro leather man. Again let me know about getting together

-Josh
 
Nicely done Josh - metal, wood, and leather! I do agree with Wick though on the stain - done right that inlay will POP...and I would take him up on his offer if at all possible - he is one heck of a craftsman, both with knives and muzzleloaders....

I've got to the point where my budget for getting new materials is gonna be zero for another month or so. Due to this I decided to finish this knife using the things I had on hand as opposed to leaving it unfinished for awhile till I could get some different stains and finish treatments.
Click to expand...
One of the cheapest, easiest, and BEST stains for curly maple is ferric acetate - take a quart of vinegar (I like apple cider but white will work) and add some scrap iron or degreased steel wool/ Heat it up to boiling, cover and let set until the iron is dissolved or mostly dissolved - takes a week or two usually. Strain off the liquid and apply to your wood - really slop it on. Let dry, whisker if need be, and then use a good finish - I prefer REAL linseed based types like Tried & True Oil Varnish, but tung based is good too.
Done right and the color will look like this......
maple-001.jpg


or this
cr-32-4.jpg
cr-32-3.jpg
 
Very nice, I agree that the wood could be darker, but still a good job. Chuck thats a recipie I'll have to give a try when I get time.
 
Excellent job wow im impressed. I do see a few stitches out of line but other than that ide say 9.5 I hope to try something like that some time soon .
 
Very, very nice work Josh :thumbup: :thumbup:

I haven't had the guts to try wire inlay yet. Maybe when my skills are a tad more tweaked :o

You did great !!


:thumbup:
 
Everybody beat me to it. Dark brown stain will make the wire and brass stand out beautifully.
Nice work Josh. You are one to watch.
 
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