#6, 1st sale, Rawhide content

Josh Dabney

Josh Dabney

Joined
Nov 23, 2008
Messages
437
My #6 with Rawhide sheath & 1st sale

Here's my 6th knife completed. It was designed to specifically target folks into Cowboy Action Shooting. I designed and made my first rawhide sheath at the request of the customer and just finished it up.

As always critiques, critisizms, and comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Specs- 6" cutting edge, 11 7/8" OAL
-1080 steel, edge quenched. The darkest part of blade shows the first quech line which I wasn't satisfied with. It's hard to get a good pic but there is a second quench line that runs mid blade all the way through the ricasso.
-Home dyed cowbone scales
-Brass bolsters & pins
-Scrubbed the dark out of the makers mark but it is deep and crisp otherwise
-Tapered tang and distal taper
-False clip

Sheath- Rawhide over veg-tan (saddle stitched) (Thanks John Cohea !)
-All antiqued brass hardware Tacks, Beads, Cones with horsehair)

cowboy1001.jpg

cowboy1002.jpg

cowboy1003.jpg

cowboy1004.jpg

cowboy1006.jpg


More pics to follow...
 
Josh,

Most (sorta-new) knife makers that I have met seem to want to dive head-first into making a "blade", then try to figure out how to make the rest of the package.

I may be wrong here, but it seems like you have been working on things like scrimshaw, sheaths, handle materials, and the "rest of the package" before you actually tried to sell a knife.

I personally think that your approach will pay off in the long run. I admire your work and encourage you to keep it up.

You have a very bright future ahead of you. If I can ever be of assistance, please let me know.

Robert
 
Josh , you must thank Robert for his straight forward and well put honesty. One craft at a time .
 
:thumbup: Great job Josh..... heck much better than I do :(

One thing if I may.... and this is purely a personal thing, the angle of the groove in the bolster distracts me. It could be the angle of the photograph, is it a matching angle to the plunge in relation to the spine? I dunno.... :confused: Does it take anything away? HECK NO!!! it's just something for me and only after staring at it for a looonnnnggg time!

GREAT GREAT JOB ON EVERYTHING!
 
69 knives, Thanks. I wanted to stick with something at least semi-"period correct" for the mid 1800's and I had these scales on hand. The white-ish areas just didn't seem to take the dye but instead of soaking I kinda liked the character of the color variation so I just went with it even though the white is much more pronounced on the one side.

Greg, Thanks, and kudos to you on the integral... NICE !

Paul, It sure does feel good :D . I may differ from alot of newer makers in that I'm excited to see her go to a good home. This may be weird but when I finish a knife, handle and look at it for awhile, it fades quickly into the past as thoughts and plans for the next one take it's place.

Next up is to finish a slippie thats about 80% done then onto a 7" 1095 crown stag bowie.

Robert, I think you've nailed my M.O. I just figure what the heck, give it a shot ! A couple things Ed Fowler told me at Blade- "Don't be afraid to experiment" & "Make what you want to make" (thanks out to Ed for the advice he gave me) I don't really try to rack up the numbers and try to focus on putting my all into each knife and sheath.

I surely appreciate your comments and offer of assistance and won't hesitate to take you up on it if the need arises.

Thought you might also like to know that the knife pictured in your sig line was the inspiration for putting 14 pins in this knife (4 in the bolsters). I really liked that one and had it in mind while designing this one.

Will, Thanks for commenting and thanks for the advice given when I was a "Green" newbie, LOL.

I studied the pics for a bit and here's my GUESS as to whats going on. None of the pics are a true profile shot directly from the side. The back of the bolsters and filework are parallel and 90 degrees to the spine. The plunge angles toward the tip of the blade. The filework is also round in the bottom which may or may not make matters worse when the pic is angled from the front or back.

I am guilty of spending all my money on tools, materials, and other supplies and haven't devoted any time or funds towards a lightbox or figuring out how to get consistantly decent pics. It's on THE LIST though, LOL

Thanks again for taking the time to comment guys, I really appreciate it !

-Josh
 
Josh: Very obviously you made your knife, it is an original and I enthusiastically congratulate you, it is obviously your dream and one that I can appreciate.

You learned a lot by etching your blade, it is only through the etch that the blade smith can see the results of his heat treat and with each one you learn a little more. Add the information you can see with some realistic testing and it comes together in a great package for the maker and client.
 
Ed,

I try to keep my mouth shut and ears open as much as possible, LOL. Although I didn't go through a railroad tie, I did sharpen this blade up after HT, put a paper towel and duct tape handle on it an do some cutting and the brass rod test. Obviously I didn't do a destruction test on this one but That is going to be in my near future as well.

After chopping on a Palm stump and chopping 80% through an oak 2x4 she was still shaving and took no edge damage.

Could be my newbie status but I was suprized and VERY pleased with it :D

Thanks also to Mace for telling me to test my blade right out of heat treat before finishing. Sound advice and a great feeling while finishing the knife to know it's gonna be a great knife for someone.

Thanks for your input Ed, Josh
 
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