Any fellow walnut-lovers out there?

Jon - I remember that terrific Ferry piece, but did not remember it was walnut - thanks for adding it.

Don - just do it!

butcher_block said:
Roger it seems to me what you need is a full set of matching kitchen knives out of that block
maybe W2 integrals
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Interesting concept Lloyd. I wish my kitchen skills warranted such a fine set as that. Plus I know my mother-in-law would end up putting them in the dishwasher sooner or later. Ask me how I know this. :mad: ;)

But maybe a three-knife set of some kind. I've never done that, though I've commisioned a number of two-knife sets over the years. Bowie, camp, hunter?

Nice razor, by the way.

Roger
 
I was thinking 3 matching bowies by different makers.
Like maybe, Foster, Wheeler, Andrews?
or....Hanson, White, Bump?
Toss in a Quesenberry integral and a Tai Goo whatever you call his knives and you'll be set.
 
^^^ That's not a bad idea either Mark - take single design theme / style / set of dimensions - and have three different makers render their interpretation with a block each of the walnut board.

It's kind of like the trio that Lin Rhea, Karl Andersen and I did a while back - except there the materials were the same, but we could each build whatever style we wanted. Turned out that we all built camp knives anyway.

Anyone else with suggestions, please chime in. Fantasy knives are fun. :)

Roger
 
well then for safety sake SS dammy blades and stabilized handles
knife skills get better with use and great knives make you want ot use them more :)

my wife to be is seeing how that works as she was prepping a salad and ended up going on a chopping spree cause she was having fun
 
I too am a Walnut fan. There have been some beautiful knives posted here!

Here's a knife whose handle I made myself from a block of Walnut crotch wood. It's a Syperdco Mule with M4 steel. It's obviously not a custom knife but the handle is.

Keep the Walnut coming out of the woodwork!,

Brett
P1020684.JPG
 
RogerP said:
Sean - very nice pieces. I haven't heard of Bastogne walnut, but I guess the name is self-explanatory.

Matt L. - that looks great - show us the rest of the knife.

Check out the tight curl on the claro walnut sides of this guitar:

orig.jpg


Would love to see that in a handle with some equally tight ladder damascus.

And I wouldn't mind having the guitar, either.

Roger
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Roger, if this hasn't already been mentioned, Bastogne walnut was an accidental hybrid of claro and English walnut that self developed in the California groves. Luther Burbank identified it as such. It happens on its own in about one in every 100 trees where the two are growing together and produces a wood that is denser than either of the parent species.
 
Thanks for the info Joe - I was assuming Bastogne referenced the place where the trees grew.

Roger
 
Walnut has always been one of my favorite woods. Seems great for many things, furniture, plaques, knife handles, etc.

There is a place about an hour drive from home that specializes in "high end" wood. There are about (4) LARGE environmentally controlled buildings that customers can wander through.

Last fall, I watched them pressure washing burls the size of cars and saw various slabs in the buildings into (5) figure prices! Some slabs are SO HUGE it is hard to imagine trees that big! One that stuck in my memory was English Elm slabs 18' tall!

Great thread!

Peter
 
RogerP said:
^^^ That's not a bad idea either Mark - take single design theme / style / set of dimensions - and have three different makers render their interpretation with a block each of the walnut board.

It's kind of like the trio that Lin Rhea, Karl Andersen and I did a while back - except there the materials were the same, but we could each build whatever style we wanted. Turned out that we all built camp knives anyway.

Anyone else with suggestions, please chime in. Fantasy knives are fun. :)

Roger
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Maybe we should do it again?
 
RogerP said:
Peter - next time, bring a camera! :eek:

Roger
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Good idea Roger:D I'm due for a new camera that is small enough to carry in a pocket easily. My current one (an antique by technology age) is about the size of a traditional 35mm, and while it has a great lens and zoom, it is too big for pockets!

The times i've been there, it has been while wandering on my motorcycle. A young woman that works there saw me cruise into the gravel parking lot, chuckled and said "I guess you don't plan on buying anything".

You can get an idea of their operation from their website: http://www.berkshireproducts.com/tour1.htm

It is FUN to look around, and they have some "bargain bins" that can have some great deals.

Peter
 
3d144cd2.jpg

i saw this photo of Dr. James Batson's work a while back and havent forgotten it yet. Beauty!
David
 
Batson has a way of making yesterday come alive. Beautiful old-timey bowie.

Karl - another round would be fun, but my knifemaking is rather infrequent these days. I do have a hunter blade that needs finishing and my next project after that is a collaboration camp knife with Matthew Gregory. Those two will likely represent my total output for 2011.

Roger
 
I am also a fan. Currently I am in the hunt for a rifle stock thats 34" +, but I'm picky and it's a grail gun so I gotta have the right piece. These are some little nuggets I am sitting on right now. The blocks are already stabilized, and only rough sanded, so I think they will clean up nicely when I finish them out ;)

walnut001.jpg


WalnutABCD.jpg
 
hey guys thought I'd post this little black walnut gem for the makers. I recently purchased this product and all I can say is Whoa! :eek: amazing color and figure all through it. Each piece is large enough for 2-3 sets of large scales, or 2-3 full tang handles. This pic really is representative of what you get at... http://www.woodworkerssource.com/fig_wal_pk-p-garage_sale.html

walnut_figured1.jpg


What I got (apologise for the crappy cell pic)
168795_10150137834945242_625615241_7869348_2908735_n.jpg



Jason S. Carter
 
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RogerP said:
Thanks for the info Joe - I was assuming Bastogne referenced the place where the trees grew.

Roger
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Roger, almost all of the stuff we think of as European walnut like English, French, Circassian, etc, it juglans regia. The stuff that we grow over here is mostly one of the black walnut family, either Eastern Black Walnut, juglans nigra or some other subvariant like Claro walnut, juglans hindsii which some consider a subvariant of juglans californica. I read somewhere a while back that the "purest" strains of regia in the US are the trees planted by the Mormons in Utah a long time ago. The majority of the walnut species grown commerically are some variant of black walnut. The Claro variant is used as rootstock in gorves, even when the grafted upper part is say English. That is how they got the Bastogne or "Paradox" walnut trees. The seedlings ended up actually being a full genetic blend instead of just English trees with Claro rootstock. The gorgeous stuff we get from Don is likely some variant of Eastern black. The fun thing about using walnut for knife handles is that some of the most wildly figured stuff is considered to be too weak for the stress bearing areas of a gunstock like the girp area or the area around the action on a rifle, but it works great for us because we can use to tightly figured, small sections to great effect.
 
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