Awkward silence

dogman

dogman

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Jul 26, 1999
Messages
1,105
My first knife in 24 years - the last knife I made was in 2005. I was a voting member of the Knifemakers Guild then and had fair interest in my knives. I started working overseas and that kinda drug out for a year or two or twenty.

I've had a number of false starts getting to this point. It's been humbling knowing what my skill level used to be to getting in front of the grinder again and feeling like a hack. In the end, I picked one of my simpler patterns, set ego aside, and figured my "first" knife couldn't come out any worse than my first knife in 1999.

Shook loose a lot of cobwebs on the first one. Every maker has their personal process and mine had some knowledge/skill gaps that will take some time to close. Changed makers mark and name to reflect a different era in my blades. Doggett Knives is now Redoubt Knives, named while I was still in Idaho after the American Redoubt. I'm now in Alaska but the concept of redoubt hasn't changed.

Simple kitchen/utility knife, 154CM blade, G10 scales with red spacers.

redoubt01.jpg
 
dogman said:
My first knife in 24 years - the last knife I made was in 2005. I was a voting member of the Knifemakers Guild then and had fair interest in my knives. I started working overseas and that kinda drug out for a year or two or twenty.

I've had a number of false starts getting to this point. It's been humbling knowing what my skill level used to be to getting in front of the grinder again and feeling like a hack. In the end, I picked one of my simpler patterns, set ego aside, and figured my "first" knife couldn't come out any worse than my first knife in 1999.

Shook loose a lot of cobwebs on the first one. Every maker has their personal process and mine had some knowledge/skill gaps that will take some time to close. Changed makers mark and name to reflect a different era in my blades. Doggett Knives is now Redoubt Knives, named while I was still in Idaho after the American Redoubt. I'm now in Alaska but the concept of redoubt hasn't changed.

Simple kitchen/utility knife, 154CM blade, G10 scales with red spacers.

View attachment 2749763
Click to expand...
Clearly the skills are still there mate. Nice one......... 👌 :)
 
dogman said:
My first knife in 24 years - the last knife I made was in 2005. I was a voting member of the Knifemakers Guild then and had fair interest in my knives. I started working overseas and that kinda drug out for a year or two or twenty.

I've had a number of false starts getting to this point. It's been humbling knowing what my skill level used to be to getting in front of the grinder again and feeling like a hack. In the end, I picked one of my simpler patterns, set ego aside, and figured my "first" knife couldn't come out any worse than my first knife in 1999.

Shook loose a lot of cobwebs on the first one. Every maker has their personal process and mine had some knowledge/skill gaps that will take some time to close. Changed makers mark and name to reflect a different era in my blades. Doggett Knives is now Redoubt Knives, named while I was still in Idaho after the American Redoubt. I'm now in Alaska but the concept of redoubt hasn't changed.

Simple kitchen/utility knife, 154CM blade, G10 scales with red spacers.

View attachment 2749763
Click to expand...
Redoubt: When you weren't sure at first, then you were, but now you're not so sure anymore. 😆
 
I remember you.
 
dogman said:
My first knife in 24 years - the last knife I made was in 2005. I was a voting member of the Knifemakers Guild then and had fair interest in my knives. I started working overseas and that kinda drug out for a year or two or twenty.

I've had a number of false starts getting to this point. It's been humbling knowing what my skill level used to be to getting in front of the grinder again and feeling like a hack. In the end, I picked one of my simpler patterns, set ego aside, and figured my "first" knife couldn't come out any worse than my first knife in 1999.

Shook loose a lot of cobwebs on the first one. Every maker has their personal process and mine had some knowledge/skill gaps that will take some time to close. Changed makers mark and name to reflect a different era in my blades. Doggett Knives is now Redoubt Knives, named while I was still in Idaho after the American Redoubt. I'm now in Alaska but the concept of redoubt hasn't changed.

Simple kitchen/utility knife, 154CM blade, G10 scales with red spacers.

View attachment 2749763
Click to expand...

How did you get it to float?
 
Didn't I run into you in Afghanistan back in 2006 (Bagram, as I recall...we went to that Koren place on the back of the airbase).

Good to see you back at it!
 
Didn't I run into you in Afghanistan back in 2006 (Bagram, as I recall...we went to that Koren place on the back of the airbase).
Click to expand...

Weren't you carrying an HK416 that was bringing all the boys to your yard?😆 That Korean place was awesome...until the kitchen burned down.


I like the way this knife looks. Can you give me the specs and price? No website yet?
Click to expand...

Thank you. 3-1/4" blade, 7-3/4" oal. I'm not making anything to sell at the moment. I just want to rebuild my skills and see where things go. I don't even have an idea what the market is like nowadays.


How did you get it to float?
Click to expand...

It's just laying on a duffel...optical illusion I guess.
 
Long time no talk, buddy!
Its good to see you are still around and back on the grinder!
 
Ivan! I still remember the awesome times we had at Blade.
 
It's strange having an experienced mind with beginner hands. I know how to do everything correctly mentally, but my hands don't want to listen. It's not frustrating; just interesting seeing my mind and hands trying to synch. I'm curious which knife will be the one where I'm in the ballpark of previous work.

This knife (my "second") was a bit ambitious and my brain decided it could do what my hands weren't ready for. I don't have fixtured or jigs, so the tapered octagonal handle was done all freehand. The 5.25"/130mm blade is ZDP-189 laminated between ATS-34. When ZDP-189 first became available, I ordered some from Japan and made a Gyuto style blade 2005. Paul Bos did the heat treat on the first knife (first ZDP189 he ever heat treated). That was one of the last knives I made and stayed in the kitchen. The performance has been fantastic for 20 years.

I ordered a bunch more ZDP-189 billets back then and now I've been sitting on them for 20 years. The blade looks blotchy in the pic, but that is just light. I hand sanded the blade, etched in FeCl a bit to bring out the contrast between the ZDP-189 core and the ATS-34 layers, then re-sanded. The handle looks like leopardwood with a moose antler ferrule and red spacer. The tapered handle doesn't look very tapered with the camera angle. OAL is 10.5". It's flawed, but it will join its older brother in the kitchen at home.

IMG_4770.JPG
 
dogman said:
It's strange having an experienced mind with beginner hands. I know how to do everything correctly mentally, but my hands don't want to listen. It's not frustrating; just interesting seeing my mind and hands trying to synch. I'm curious which knife will be the one where I'm in the ballpark of previous work.

This knife (my "second") was a bit ambitious and my brain decided it could do what my hands weren't ready for. I don't have fixtured or jigs, so the tapered octagonal handle was done all freehand. The 5.25"/130mm blade is ZDP-189 laminated between ATS-34. When ZDP-189 first became available, I ordered some from Japan and made a Gyuto style blade 2005. Paul Bos did the heat treat on the first knife (first ZDP189 he ever heat treated). That was one of the last knives I made and stayed in the kitchen. The performance has been fantastic for 20 years.

I ordered a bunch more ZDP-189 billets back then and now I've been sitting on them for 20 years. The blade looks blotchy in the pic, but that is just light. I hand sanded the blade, etched in FeCl a bit to bring out the contrast between the ZDP-189 core and the ATS-34 layers, then re-sanded. The handle looks like leopardwood with a moose antler ferrule and red spacer. The tapered handle doesn't look very tapered with the camera angle. OAL is 10.5". It's flawed, but it will join its older brother in the kitchen at home.

View attachment 2776420
Click to expand...

Nice job..... Looks like a good working blade to me!!👌
 
Your ost reminded me of a conversation I had with my friend Eduardo Montanaro who makes very precise traditional folders about if the grinding problems were caused by our hands, our eyes or the year we were born. 🤣
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top