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I enjoyed Phillip Patton's year-end review thread a lot- enough that I thought I'd post my own thread about my work in 2014. I'd like to invite you to peruse these selected pictures of my work, and comment if you wish- critique absolutely welcome.
Like Phillip, I believe that 2014 was my best year yet, as a maker. Early on I resolved to try to learn or try something new on every knife I made, and to attempt to swing for the fences as a rule. I was able to largely follow this wish throughout the year (although certainly swinging for the fences often means striking out or getting a single, too...)
It was my first year of making knives almost entirely on spec, the only orders I took being those for friends and family, and a limited few for kitchen knives. Things got financially very challenging several times this year as a result, but in the end it worked out well, and I'm glad to have added some decent work to my portfolio.
A quick disclaimer: I do apologize to anyone who feels tired of looking at some of these, as a few have been posted twice due to pro shots having been taken of them. Speaking of pro shots, many of my pictures leave something to be desired, and I apologize for that as well- it's something to work on in 2015! I've tried to post 1-3 shots of any given knife, just enough to show pertinent details.
That's enough preamble. Let's have some pictures!
I made just a few big knives this year. This one, Antonina, was my first go-round with keyhole handle integral construction. I began to use a lemon juice etch for hamons, (thanks Nick Wheeler) improving the activity visible in my blades and getting the frosty look that I love.
On this one, the Shinjuku Scounrdel, as named by the buyer, I came up with the idea of a faux-full-tang integral, which actually is a frame handle made to look like an extension of the tang. How else to put a guard and coined spacers in the middle of it?
My last big knife of the year, Anjuli, featured several new things for me. I thought up a new type of integral fitup, including an added tang which is a headless grade 8 bolt screwed into the drilled and tapped inside of the bolster; I tried my hand at some beginner relief carving, and tried fluting a bolster for the first time as well.
I made my first facon this year- the style of knife, as well as the construction method, is a homage to one of my greatest heroes, R. Sfreddo, MS. This is probably the knife that I most wanted to keep of any in 2014. My first try at double keyhole construction, and the first time I've made that little butt nut/bail/bleed knot lanyard finial. The hamon, while simple enough, had some nice clouds in it and some very interesting grain showing through in the W2.
I hadn't tried an opposed tang integral before this one, Flipside, and to make it harder on myself I curved it, too. I did like the end result. Greg, a member posting in Shoptalk here on BF, gifted me a box of Gilmer blackwood and I just had a field day with it all year. Thanks, Greg!
The success of the Flipside integral encouraged me to try one in damascus. I don't know why I also chose to try multibar explosion damascus for the first time on it, though- this knife had me sweatin' it, I'm not gonna lie. In the end I was very happy with the damascus, and reasonably satisfied with the fit and finish. This is Firecracker.
The 2014 Seattle knife show happened in late April, which was a total blast. At Dave Lisch's prefunk event, Adam DesRosiers brought me down some CruForgeV bars from Alaska for a most reasonable price (thanks Adam). I began to experiment with it in pattern welding, trying several patterns that were new to me. The above knife was one, as is the next- my first crushed W's, which being so coarse, actually ended up looking more like an EKG to my mind. The crazy handle wood was gifted to me by Bill Akers, (thanks Bill) and I sure wish I had a whole pallet of that stuff.
I made several kitchen knives with that same style of western handle this year; it's a synthetic one piece bolster fit up like a guard to the ricasso, and mated to spacers with either a two piece routed handle, or a one-piece block. I include this 10 version because I like the hamon shot.
I promise these are the last of that style you'll see in this thread. I include them since they were the first knives I made in AEB-L stainless, which I anticipate using extensively going forward.
2014 saw my first santoku- this one was made in a laddered w's pattern, which I used a lot this year, trying to refine my results.
This gyuto was an experimental piece, featuring some firsts. It's the only split-wa handle I've made, necessitating mortised 410 stainless end caps to insure the handle integrity. I decided to try lightly forging and heat coloring the caps for added appeal. By this time I'd picked Cody Hofsommer's brain about crushed w's (he makes the pattern very well, thanks Cody) and got my best results yet.
Another 9" gyuto from this year found me experimenting with a curved wa handle, as well as scalloping the bolster fronts to improve pinch-grip performance. I like how the steel came out on this one as well- it, like all other pattern welded steel I made this year, is CruForgeV and 15n20.
I made a second gyuto, with a similar handle, experimenting this time by layering the steel up to 1040 layers, my highest count to date. It was interesting to etch, and quite subtle, but it cut well.
I made only two folders this year- I like to keep my hand in with them, looking forward to a time when I'll concentrate more upon diversifying my designs. These were my first two hidden-pivot liner locks.
A quick additional note on the knife below- this is another first, the Torch-in-Circle mark that my damascus blades will feature from now on.
I made a few conventional belt knives this year; this one is a wood-grain pattern hunter with burl, also featuring my new mark. (I'll add that this mark will also be useful on some of my work that lacks the right spot for my main logo.)
Here's a fighter with burl and wood-grain damascus- my first guard with w's, as well as scalloped sides.
It's also my first pin domed by the Wheeler method, which he was kind enough to share in Shoptalk.
I thought I'd try to close this thread with a bang- these were some of my best-received pieces this year, and the most challenging to make. If I didn't fully love daggers before, this is the year I fell head-over-heels for them. This one has a bunch of firsts: fluted-core chevron wire-wrapped grip (thanks Kevin Cashen, for steering me in the right direction in emails), copper wire turk's head knots, 2 double hollow grinding, 2-bar explosion pattern ground way down into, and more. It gave me fits.
This one was the result of a crazy idea about a basket-twist handle- it's the first time I tried piercing a guard, and my first attempt at Warenski-style dagger grinding. I really enjoy making knives of all-ferrous materials throughout! It features full takedown construction with 320 layer twist steel.
And last but not least, Vandimion. This one drove me crazy too, especially finishing the fittings. It's all forged solid from one chunk of W2, the only added pieces being the blackwood scales. This knife had perhaps more firsts than any other; double hollow grinds with a fuller, trying to achieve a hamon (with limited success) on that geometry, integral fittings that complex, a fair amount of machining on a forging, and fitting side-scales with both ends curved. Did I mention it drove me nuts?
That's all I have to share. If you have followed this far, I thank you for reading this shameless attempt at self-promotion, and for being patient with my sometime penchant for prolixity, my delusions of grandeur, and my amateur photos. I also want to humbly thank everyone who has helped me along my journey this year, most especially my great customers!
Here's hoping 2015 sees continued growth for me, as well as for all of you wonderfully talented makers, and of course for every knowledgeable knife knut out there, without whom I could not do this thing that I love for a living.
Like Phillip, I believe that 2014 was my best year yet, as a maker. Early on I resolved to try to learn or try something new on every knife I made, and to attempt to swing for the fences as a rule. I was able to largely follow this wish throughout the year (although certainly swinging for the fences often means striking out or getting a single, too...)
It was my first year of making knives almost entirely on spec, the only orders I took being those for friends and family, and a limited few for kitchen knives. Things got financially very challenging several times this year as a result, but in the end it worked out well, and I'm glad to have added some decent work to my portfolio.
A quick disclaimer: I do apologize to anyone who feels tired of looking at some of these, as a few have been posted twice due to pro shots having been taken of them. Speaking of pro shots, many of my pictures leave something to be desired, and I apologize for that as well- it's something to work on in 2015! I've tried to post 1-3 shots of any given knife, just enough to show pertinent details.
That's enough preamble. Let's have some pictures!
I made just a few big knives this year. This one, Antonina, was my first go-round with keyhole handle integral construction. I began to use a lemon juice etch for hamons, (thanks Nick Wheeler) improving the activity visible in my blades and getting the frosty look that I love.
On this one, the Shinjuku Scounrdel, as named by the buyer, I came up with the idea of a faux-full-tang integral, which actually is a frame handle made to look like an extension of the tang. How else to put a guard and coined spacers in the middle of it?
My last big knife of the year, Anjuli, featured several new things for me. I thought up a new type of integral fitup, including an added tang which is a headless grade 8 bolt screwed into the drilled and tapped inside of the bolster; I tried my hand at some beginner relief carving, and tried fluting a bolster for the first time as well.
I made my first facon this year- the style of knife, as well as the construction method, is a homage to one of my greatest heroes, R. Sfreddo, MS. This is probably the knife that I most wanted to keep of any in 2014. My first try at double keyhole construction, and the first time I've made that little butt nut/bail/bleed knot lanyard finial. The hamon, while simple enough, had some nice clouds in it and some very interesting grain showing through in the W2.
I hadn't tried an opposed tang integral before this one, Flipside, and to make it harder on myself I curved it, too. I did like the end result. Greg, a member posting in Shoptalk here on BF, gifted me a box of Gilmer blackwood and I just had a field day with it all year. Thanks, Greg!
The success of the Flipside integral encouraged me to try one in damascus. I don't know why I also chose to try multibar explosion damascus for the first time on it, though- this knife had me sweatin' it, I'm not gonna lie. In the end I was very happy with the damascus, and reasonably satisfied with the fit and finish. This is Firecracker.
The 2014 Seattle knife show happened in late April, which was a total blast. At Dave Lisch's prefunk event, Adam DesRosiers brought me down some CruForgeV bars from Alaska for a most reasonable price (thanks Adam). I began to experiment with it in pattern welding, trying several patterns that were new to me. The above knife was one, as is the next- my first crushed W's, which being so coarse, actually ended up looking more like an EKG to my mind. The crazy handle wood was gifted to me by Bill Akers, (thanks Bill) and I sure wish I had a whole pallet of that stuff.
I made several kitchen knives with that same style of western handle this year; it's a synthetic one piece bolster fit up like a guard to the ricasso, and mated to spacers with either a two piece routed handle, or a one-piece block. I include this 10 version because I like the hamon shot.
I promise these are the last of that style you'll see in this thread. I include them since they were the first knives I made in AEB-L stainless, which I anticipate using extensively going forward.
2014 saw my first santoku- this one was made in a laddered w's pattern, which I used a lot this year, trying to refine my results.
This gyuto was an experimental piece, featuring some firsts. It's the only split-wa handle I've made, necessitating mortised 410 stainless end caps to insure the handle integrity. I decided to try lightly forging and heat coloring the caps for added appeal. By this time I'd picked Cody Hofsommer's brain about crushed w's (he makes the pattern very well, thanks Cody) and got my best results yet.
Another 9" gyuto from this year found me experimenting with a curved wa handle, as well as scalloping the bolster fronts to improve pinch-grip performance. I like how the steel came out on this one as well- it, like all other pattern welded steel I made this year, is CruForgeV and 15n20.
I made a second gyuto, with a similar handle, experimenting this time by layering the steel up to 1040 layers, my highest count to date. It was interesting to etch, and quite subtle, but it cut well.
I made only two folders this year- I like to keep my hand in with them, looking forward to a time when I'll concentrate more upon diversifying my designs. These were my first two hidden-pivot liner locks.
A quick additional note on the knife below- this is another first, the Torch-in-Circle mark that my damascus blades will feature from now on.
I made a few conventional belt knives this year; this one is a wood-grain pattern hunter with burl, also featuring my new mark. (I'll add that this mark will also be useful on some of my work that lacks the right spot for my main logo.)
Here's a fighter with burl and wood-grain damascus- my first guard with w's, as well as scalloped sides.
It's also my first pin domed by the Wheeler method, which he was kind enough to share in Shoptalk.
I thought I'd try to close this thread with a bang- these were some of my best-received pieces this year, and the most challenging to make. If I didn't fully love daggers before, this is the year I fell head-over-heels for them. This one has a bunch of firsts: fluted-core chevron wire-wrapped grip (thanks Kevin Cashen, for steering me in the right direction in emails), copper wire turk's head knots, 2 double hollow grinding, 2-bar explosion pattern ground way down into, and more. It gave me fits.
This one was the result of a crazy idea about a basket-twist handle- it's the first time I tried piercing a guard, and my first attempt at Warenski-style dagger grinding. I really enjoy making knives of all-ferrous materials throughout! It features full takedown construction with 320 layer twist steel.
And last but not least, Vandimion. This one drove me crazy too, especially finishing the fittings. It's all forged solid from one chunk of W2, the only added pieces being the blackwood scales. This knife had perhaps more firsts than any other; double hollow grinds with a fuller, trying to achieve a hamon (with limited success) on that geometry, integral fittings that complex, a fair amount of machining on a forging, and fitting side-scales with both ends curved. Did I mention it drove me nuts?
That's all I have to share. If you have followed this far, I thank you for reading this shameless attempt at self-promotion, and for being patient with my sometime penchant for prolixity, my delusions of grandeur, and my amateur photos. I also want to humbly thank everyone who has helped me along my journey this year, most especially my great customers!
Here's hoping 2015 sees continued growth for me, as well as for all of you wonderfully talented makers, and of course for every knowledgeable knife knut out there, without whom I could not do this thing that I love for a living.
