Mistwalker
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 19,053
Some of you guys here may be familiar with Mathew Tackett of Tackett Custom Knives, and some may not be, as Matt is relatively new in the knife making scene. I met Matt briefly at the Becker gathering back in the autumn, though he wouldn't remember it as I have a tendency to just quietly observe makers I am unfamiliar with at first. He was delivering some knives and I got to check one of them out later on that day, and I liked what I saw. Matt has a style that was a bit different than most of what I had been seeing around, so I started watching his work in the Backwoods & KFU forum where he posts his work. I saw that he was doing some really nice contours, and doing some nice bolster work as well as hamons. Later I contacted Matt about doing a specific knife for a project I had in mind. We talked it out , discussed the uses I had in mind for it, and we settled on a variant of what he refers to as his general utility model... Matt, I think it needs a name man...with a full flat grind, a hamon, black micarta bolsters, cocobolo handles scales, and stainless pins and lanyard tube.
The specs are:
Overall Length..............8.75 in / 22cm
Blade Length................4.00 in/ 10cm
Blade Steel..................Aldos 1095
Blade Thickness............3/16 in / 5mm
Handles Scales.............Cocobolo
Bolsters.......................Black Micarta
Fittings.......................Stainless
Matt picked out a cool piece of nicely featured cocobolo for the handle that has an X in it, I thought that was really cool
He did a nice job on the fit and finish.
I also think he did a really good job on his grinds, and I really like the hamon he went with.
He also did a nice job of putting an edge on the knife.
The knife has actually seen a lot more use than is represented in the photos here, and I have found it to be very comfortable in use over long periods with no hot spots that I have found so far. The handle is nice and smooth, but contoured for a secure purchase. The balance is just behind the first finger so just a little handle heavy, which is actually fine for me for a knife for more utilitarian type uses, but once he starts tapering tangs he's really going to be onto something! I am not sure what the RC is on it, but it has held an edge well through a good bit of cutting and whittling, and showed only minimal damage from several strikings of fire steels. What damage was done was pretty easily taken care of with a small stone in the field. All and all I really like the knife a lot, and am really happy with Matt's workmanship. I will definitely be keeping a close eye on his work in the future and look forward to watching him progresses in his craft.
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The specs are:
Overall Length..............8.75 in / 22cm
Blade Length................4.00 in/ 10cm
Blade Steel..................Aldos 1095
Blade Thickness............3/16 in / 5mm
Handles Scales.............Cocobolo
Bolsters.......................Black Micarta
Fittings.......................Stainless
Matt picked out a cool piece of nicely featured cocobolo for the handle that has an X in it, I thought that was really cool
He did a nice job on the fit and finish.
I also think he did a really good job on his grinds, and I really like the hamon he went with.
He also did a nice job of putting an edge on the knife.
The knife has actually seen a lot more use than is represented in the photos here, and I have found it to be very comfortable in use over long periods with no hot spots that I have found so far. The handle is nice and smooth, but contoured for a secure purchase. The balance is just behind the first finger so just a little handle heavy, which is actually fine for me for a knife for more utilitarian type uses, but once he starts tapering tangs he's really going to be onto something! I am not sure what the RC is on it, but it has held an edge well through a good bit of cutting and whittling, and showed only minimal damage from several strikings of fire steels. What damage was done was pretty easily taken care of with a small stone in the field. All and all I really like the knife a lot, and am really happy with Matt's workmanship. I will definitely be keeping a close eye on his work in the future and look forward to watching him progresses in his craft.
.
Thanks for sharing. 
