'Blue Bowie' by Burt Foster MS

brightred

brightred

Gold Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2004
Messages
472
as i am not a native speaker of english - just the facts:

- hand-forged 8.5'' 52100 blade, hand-rubbed satin finish on the flats, mirror polished spine and choil
- hot blued damascus guard and ferrule made of 1075, 15n20 and pure nickel with fileworked nickel silver spacers
- blue giraffe bone handle with domed nickel silver pins

the knife can be disassembled by removing the two centre handle pins - no epoxy to keep everything in place!

the knife comes with an excellent sheath, also hand-made by burt.

i picked up that knife today at the post office. i am very, very impressed and more than happy! the knife is extremely well built and seems to be simply flawless. and burt is such a great person!

brightred

of course you would like to see a picture but - arrgh - how can i post a picture? :confused:
 
Nothing short of stunning. Congratulations on a fine aquisition.

attachment.php


attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • burt_foster_01.jpg
    burt_foster_01.jpg
    32.1 KB · Views: 313
  • burt_foster_02.jpg
    burt_foster_02.jpg
    33.1 KB · Views: 298
As per usual, Burt nailed every aspect of that knife. Congrats on the new piece and thanks for sharing the pics with us.

Roger
 
Coop does not have anything to worry about :D, but Burt takes a pretty darn good picture (for a knifemaker :)). I love the subtle touches that are usually evident in his work.
We don't get to see many of his knives around here.

Thank you for showing this to us!
 
I love everything about this knife, except for the giraffe bone. Somehow, I just can't become fond of giraffe bone. ???
 
I must say, this is a damn fine looking knife!

I don't like giraffe bone either, especially the funky dyed stuff, but the colors in this one really work, and it "flows" wonderfully. Is is stabilized, and how much does that REALLY help?

Proportions are top notch, and the finish looks finely done in the pictures.
Are the fittings heat blued or salt blued? I do not care for heat bluing at all. It has the durability of anodizing on titanium, maybe less.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I think Burt has a real eye for the handle materials he selects for his knives. Giraffe bone would not be high on my list of handle material choices, but this piece looks good on this knife and having seen it, I wouldn't change it if I could. Same deal with sheep horn - generally not among my top choices - but that S-guard bowie that Mr. Bad Example has looks great and the horn was a perfect choice.

I keep coming back to have another peek at this knife. Sure wish we got to see more of Burt's stuff. And yeah, he's pretty good with the camera too. :)

Roger
 
Well I have become more and more fond of giraffe bone. And I am a big Burt Foster fan, so I really like this one. Excellent Burt! Thanks brightred
 
Just the right amount of guard color to enhance it. That, and the simple and clean filework. That, and the nice pins. That, and the nice natural cracks on the bone. That, and the really fine blade finish. That, and the shape of the blade. That, and the good photo work. That, and.....

;)

Coop
 
That is a very fine piece indeed - I particularly like the colour and detail in the guard and ferrule. The shape of the handle has a visual appeal whilst seemingly retaing a very practical and ergonomic design. For me the Giraffe bone really works well here.

Very impressed.

Stephen
 
Anthony Lombardo said:
That is a super sweet knife,
would be extra super sweet knife with ivory....
Click to expand...

It most certainly would. My preference would be mammoth or ancient walrus over elephant.
 
I think the color of this bone handle is really nice.
A lot of knife people seem not to like giraffe bone very much, including me, and I'm not sure why.
 
That is a beautiful knife. The guard really grabs me, and the giraffe bone is muted and subtle. Burt really does fantastic work, and he is picky about handle material. He has a great eye for it.
 
ditto what most of you have said - that is probably one of the most aesthetically pleasing knives I have seen, and we have seen many on this forum! For some reason, the lines and proportions on this one seem to just naturally result in the finished piece - now that's how an artist works!

Okay... I also have to agree with the prevailing attitude towards using bone like this on a big knife: on this piece, it works... I dunno, either it's the color, orientation of the "grain" in relation to the overall blade or in it's proportion to the rest of the knife... but it actually looks good on this knife.

Now, as to why I personally don't care for the bone is that it just feels cold in the hand... not really temperature cold, although I do love the feel of a wood handle after I've held it for awhile - it seems to give back my body heat, so to speak... Micarta doesn't, but I still prefer the "hand" of micarta over bone... Bone just leaves me kind of 'cold'... hard to explain...

But... If I had had the opportunity to score this knife, I would probably be extremely satisfied with it, bone handle and all!!! :D

Now, if we could just get Burt to visit the Great Northwest and the show in Eugene so I can actually see his work... oh well...
 
thanks a lot for your comments! that's an interesting discussion. the giraffe bone question seems to split the community... well, needless to say that I love it :) . but as i am not chosen to decide whether you shall like it or not, i quote oscar wilde:

"Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital. When critics disagree the artist is in accord with himself."

thanks again! i appreciate your oppinion! :)

brightred
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top