Back from the Blade show

[Tom Carey]

I did not find anything to buy at the show but did take delivery on a knife. Here are a few shots of what I call "Dad's reject". It's a neck knife by Peter Del Raso. Terrill Hoffman was kind enough to ferry this and a few others back to the states from the Australian Guild show.

Here is a link for a large view of the knife.


http://blackjack.0catch.com/images/rasoneck3pg.jpg

Here is a link to a pic of the sheath.

http://blackjack.0catch.com/images/rasologoneckshesm.jpg

Regards,

Tom Carey

 

[richard rosvall]

That is a gorgeous knife, Tom! Very tasteful engraving, beautiful lines. I'm curious about how that sheath is constructed? Thanks for sharing.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

That really is a very nice knife. The grind work on the blade is excellent and the handle is a very nice ivory.

 

[Tom Carey]

The sheath consists of 6 layers. The top layer is of course ray skin. The bottom five are good ole leather. It appears that all the layers are double stitched together. There are loops formed with a single piece of leather on each side of the sheath for the neck strap. If peter sees this hopefully he will add to this description. The construction of the sheath is first class as are all of Peter's sheaths. My scans really do not do the knife justice. You just can't go wrong with a knife from this top notch maker. For those who are interested I suggest keeping an eye on knifeart.com. I know Larry recently brought back a few of Peter's knives and they should be added to the site soon.


Regards,

Tom Carey

 

[Peter Del Raso]

Hi Tom, glad you like Dad's reject. The description of the sheath you have given is spot on. The only thing you left out was the pain in the "A" it was to make and the nights I layed awake trying to figure it out. The ray skin is on the front only, for a reason. Glue up your sheath, trial fit the knife and if ok, glue on the ray skin. I recommend you cut the skin on your bandsaw, glue it on and then grind it to match the rest of the sheath. Yes it does smell like fish. The back of the sheath will allow you to mark your stitch spacing. Drilling your stitch holes from the back will stop the drill bit from deflecting. The nodes are really hard and you will hear them snap, crackle and pop as the bit hits them. Once you have finished stitching you will have to stain the odd spot that is left white where the node has come off. The two side loops were fitted after the sheath was profiled and before the stitch holes were drilled. The loops fit into gaps I left in the welt on either side of the sheath. Hopefully we are now all thoroughly confused.

Have a knife day, Peter.

P.S. the knife comes free with the sheath.