8 wayed W's in a fighter grind

Mike Quesenberry

Mike Quesenberry

Joined
Jun 2, 2009
Messages
1,564
This is a fighter with what I call tall W's that have been 8 wayed and tiled. The tall w's give a more swirly pattern instead of the sharp crisp w's when the folds are thinner.
7 1/2" blade
12 1/2" OAL
416 ss guard
African Blackwood handle
Tooled leather sheath, hand stitched

My one problem with this knife is the wood. I don't like the way it finished. I'm thinking of taking a hammer to it and put some other type of wood like Desert ironwood or Stabilized Amboyna. I would appreciate some words of advice on how to save it or any other criticisms. Thanks

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It's really nice just the way it is. Think long and hard before you destroy that handle!

Paul
 
I agree with Paul, just leave it the way it is I think it's an awesome knife, I like everything about it including the sheath.
 
what is it about the way that it's finished that you don't like?
 
Lorien,

Do you see the deep grain marks, they really bug me. Bill Buxton posted pics of his Blackwood fighter and his looks really smooth. I wanna be like Bill. :)
 
Mike, that's a fine looking damacsus pattern and very nice piece overall.
I'm not so sure there's anything wrong with your blackwood, just perhaps a little more open grain than some.
Some may even be of opinion that it adds character.
Of course you have the benefit of actually seeing it in hand, which may make quite a bit of difference.
 
Don't worry about the wood grain, Mike; that damascus, that grind, and that blade shape make this knife special. Now if you want to put on some premium ivory.....


John
 
^^^ What Bruce and the others said. There is someone who would like this wood BETTER than ironwood. Let it go.

Who else caught that sharp edge on the upper guard in deference to the lower? This is the stuff that makes me look REAL close, and often is the pivoting point for a collector to reach for his wallet.

Nice.

Coop
 
Hey Mike, great knife, beautiful steel. I know what you mean about the wood, it can be disappointing when you make a great knife and then something turns out a little less then YOU hoped, but thats the nature of the woods we use, some are more open grained then others even if there from the same board. I myself wouldn't worry with it, everything about that knife looks fantastic. What I did do with the blackwood on my knife was, sanded to 2000 grit, buffed, then applied 4 coats of clear johnson paste floor wax, that really brought out the shine and patterns in the wood and helps seal any open grain, it doesn't fill them but it does seal them that will help keep the wood more stabile.

Very Nice work,

Bill
 
Who else caught that sharp edge on the upper guard in deference to the lower? This is the stuff that makes me look REAL close, and often is the pivoting point for a collector to reach for his wallet.

Nice.

Coop[/QUOTE]

Coop,

Thanks for noticing.

Brian Thie was kind enough to email me a remedy for deep grain which I'll try in a couple days.

John,

Just finished a really big dagger with ivory and starting on another frame handled dagger w/ ivory today. I think I'm ivoried out.

Thanks for all the kind words, but it wont leave the shop until I'm happy with it.:mad:
 
It's a beautiful knife. The handle looks great, it just doesn't look like blackwood.

I see what you mean about the blackwood, the grain is unusually open. It might have just been a strange piece of wood. The other possibility is that it overheated and the natural resins filling the grain leached out. I sand and polish blackwood entirely by hand. This process has given me very good results. I start with standard wet-dry paper to 220x and then move to 3M finishing paper from 400x progressing to 8000x. I finish with a very light coat of danish oil. That's all there is to it.

My first blackwood handle:
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I'd say that if you don't like the handle, replace it with another piece of blackwood. Make it into the knife you originally envisioned.

Phillip
 
Very nice Mike. I like the way you ground the Blade. Top edge sharp? The handle looks good. Nice shape. Seal it with Superglue and Buff it?:thumbup:
 
Nick Wheeler is one of the best knifemakers I have ever seen work from. Not all of his designs knock it out of the park, but at the very least, the knives are excellent, and at the very best, they hold their own against just about any maker.

This knife reminds me very much of Nick's work, and with that, one of the reasons that Nick can't make knives full time and support himself is that in addition to being ADHD, is that he is obsessive/compulsive....makes a great knife R...E...A....L slowly....been know to roundfile a piece that other makers dream about creating due to a flaw only seen through a scanning electron microscope.

Know when to let it go and move onto the next one....or you too, could be the next Nick Wheeler, the greatest knifemaker around....who doesn't actually make knives.


That's a pretty fine knife you got there.

PS...It does NOT look like blackwood to me, it looks like some kind of rosewood.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
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Mike,
As a couple people have pointed out, there are ways to seal the grain if it bothers you. Danish oil works well for that.

It IS a nice looking knife as is.

Peter
 
How about using some filler, if needed and then hitting it with an oil finish. My limited experience with blackwood is that if you oil it up, it will get much darker over the course of a week. I have turned streaked dark brown wood into the jet black stuff that I wanted with a little bit of boiled linseed oil and some time.
 
Philip,
That is the look I'm going for. The finish on that handle is exquisite, nice job.

STeven,
Being compared to Nick is a huge compliment, thank you. Nick is busy with school and that's where his focus should be. The man can a fine knife and when time is not a limited commodity for him I'm sure he'll produce more. I am one of the few folks lucky enough to have a job that pays me to stay home. The knives are just icing on the checkbook so I can spend more time on them and not worry about making the mortgage payment.
 
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