Another Rose

ferguson

ferguson

Joined
Feb 21, 2001
Messages
4,238
It was my good fortune to pick up a blem Cherokee Rose on 11/10. They had been calling me for a while, but other "real life" priorities have taken precedence. But when I saw this one and how it held it's own against the new Udhha that Bura came up with, I knew this was the one. When it arrived, I thought I had made a mistake. The scabbard was even redder than the picture, and the sarki had drawn lines in ink on the leather, then changed his mind. The guard was rough, with a lot of file marks. The mirror polish of the blade seemed oddly wrong. I love a mirror polish, but on this blade it just seemed out of place. It was tossed aside, to be sold later.

But it was a Bura blade. And the blade is the soul of a knife. The next day I picked it up. The balance is wonderful. The hilt is big for me, I can get both hands on it. But it felt good. Either choked up next to the guard, or near the butt, it felt secure and good in my hand. So I started tweaking it, making it mine. Used denatured alcohol to take some of the red and the ink off of the scabbard. Then dyed it with medium brown Fiebings leather dye. Some black Edge Kote on the edges. The guard was sanded to take out the file marks and the blade given a convex edge. 320 then 400 grit sandpaper brought the guard and blade to a nice satin finish. They were then etched with Ferric Chloride diluted 4:1 with distilled water. Then a little cold blue on the guard made a nice contrast. Nothing done to the wood, as it was just fine as is. She's mine now, and I'm hers.

After taking the pics, to honor Munk, I raised her over my head and yelled "By God, Life's cheap out here on the Brazos." Now I live in the suburbs, and my neighbors are great folks, but they've always thought me a bit odd. I think I can get this posted before the SWAT team arrives. ;) Thanks for looking.

Steve

RoseOverall.jpg

RoseTip.jpg

RoseGuard.jpg
 
Dayumed nice job Steve!:D

The handles and guards on the last few have been disappointing to me to say the least.:(
The guards should be angled more and just a tad longer. The handles should be wider than the guard and more rounded and the shape has been distorted from the first ones. The first ones were dropped a bit more at the rear.
Getting that handle just so took up most of the design time I spent on the CR. I designed it too be comfortable and too have the weight almost disappear when held close too the guard and too be tip heavy when grasped at the back of the handle for better chopping.
 
Uhg! Steve! Ya ruined that nice blade! Tell ya what, why don't you just send it to me. tell ya what I'll do... I'll even cover the shipping;) swell guy aren't I?

Seriously, great work:)

Jake
 
Thanks guys. Bura did the good work. I just made it mine. :)

Aardvark, Of course! :D

Steve
 
You know, when I get out of debt and obligations for more debt, I was planning on an AK Bowie. I'm not sure I shouldn't just move right up to Big Meat Metal, and get the Rose. I like the look of the AK better, but until they make a straight edge AK Bowie there isn't going to be a lot of difference in the use of either. A straight edged Bowie could be a Meat Cleaver around the Kitchen. A small change and the usefullness would go way up. Until that time, I'll just wait until I can throw the Rose thing over my head, glistening in the Sun, and yell, "By God, Life is cheap out here on the Brazos."


munk
 
There's no comparison munk...the AK has a slab sided handle. The Rose has a *grip*

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Explain further, if you could Hollow. I can take a wide variety of grips, though generally prefer slightly thicker ones to slender. I do notice that a slender grip tends to make the blade faster. The AK grip seems fine to me. How does the Rose grip feel? Better?


munk
 
If I am, you gonna slice my gizzard with one of those them thare Rose's?!! Hey- I'm talking to anyone who owns a Rose and and AK Bowie.

Nasty- I don't know why I thought you were Hollow- forgive me and spare my life. By God Life's cheap out here on the Brazos.


munk
 
hehehe...

I think they are very different animals. I have a great appreciation for both, but these are more different than a 16" AK and a 24" Sirupati. I think you'll have to handle both and see if it is so for you munk. To *my* taste, the AK is a middle aged Germanic hausfrauwhile the Rose is a Las Vegas dancer (strong & sturdy but plodding vs. sexy & lithe but with a dangerous sharp edge). Like most men in life, I want one for at home but the other on the road...so I have one AK and two Roses. The AK is a worker that can fight, the Rose is a fighter that can work.
 
The AK is a worker that can fight, the Rose is a fighter that can work.>>> Nasty

That was my impression too. The Rose is stylized, and knife guys seem to want at some point art vs function. The 'function' of the Rose would seem to be splitting a gizzard on a Arkansas sand bar ..here it comes folks..By God, Life is cheap out here on the Brazos....

Midnight and dark alleys..

Anyway, Nasty, thanks for talking. Just because you're real real smart doesn't mean I don't listen to you, you know.


munk
 
That is beautiful work, really.
I havent even seen mine yet, but I planned on doing a few mods.
I hope mine ends up looking like that.

Munk, have you ever been to the Brazos ?
I have, the only thing that's cheap are the women.
Soft drinks are 1$ and the speeding tickets are 125$
 
Followed this thread with great pleasure and interest. I've got a Rose blem on the way (would've been here today, had not the USPS gotten lazy and left the delivery notice in my mailbox rather than driving up to the house, as I was home today) and I'm looking forward to handling it. My first (brief) thought was to either blue or Parkerize the blade and guard, wrap the handle, and otherwise reduce its signature, as it's intended for use in the field and at work. On second thought, this would be a travesty. I'm not sure just what I'll do to make it my own but it won't be that.

Munk, my one (and only) complaint about the AK Bowie is the handle. (It wasn't sharp enough for my liking either but that's since been fixed with some file work and a bit of time on the Sharpmaker. It now shaves easily.) It was too narrow for chopping in my large hands. I couldn't get a good grip on it when applying large amounts of force; also, it tended to slide forward, slamming the butt against the edge of my hand. I fixed that but my fix can only be considered a field expedient method. I'm proud of how it looks but it doesn't look as good as the original grip did. I don't think that the Rose will have this problem. A guard would be desirable for the AK Bowie but really isn't required -- tool first, weapon second, as others have said.
 
I think the best time to go to the Brazos was when there were neither soft drinks nor speeding tickets.

Also, my experiences in life have shown that no woman is ever cheap...

.
 
Danny, it's a line out of Lonesome Dove, though I may not be repeating it precisely, I have the idea down.


munk
 
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