Blue Mammoth BOWIE

Don Hanson III

Don Hanson III

Joined
Oct 3, 2002
Messages
12,297
Hi guys, it's seems kind of quite here so I thought I would show a bowie I just finished. It has a 9'' blade of 500 layer 1080/15N20, damascus fittings, blue mammoth ivory and gold pins. The steel has that 3D shimmering look that's hard to get in a photo. I'm hoping to bring this one to the NY show in a couple of weeks. What do you think?

Thanks, Don Hanson lll sunfishforge.com

P.S. I apologize for the poor photos :(
 
me thinks I'm in love. :eek: That is some beautiful mammoth and damascus, and the design brings it all together.
 
Not bad, not bad..... :)

Seriously, this is awesome. Did you make the damascus?
 
I knew it wouldn't be long before we saw a damascus bowie from you Don - and another beauty at that! Have you cornered the market on outstanding and vibrantly coloured ancient ivory, or what? :eek:

Just terrific.

Roger

PS - Anytime you want to liven this place up by posting knives like that, please don't hesitate. :D
 
Joss said:
Not bad, not bad..... :)

Seriously, this is awesome. Did you make the damascus?
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Yes Joss, I make all my own damascus.

And Roger if ya'll don't mind, I could post more knives I have ready for the NY show :)

Thanks everyone, Don
 
Great looking Bowie Don! I'll see you at the show and please post more pics, I always enjoying looking at your knives.
Chuck
P.S. Been making any steel lately?
 
sunfishman said:
And Roger if ya'll don't mind, I could post more knives I have ready for the NY show :)

Thanks everyone, Don
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I'd sure love to see them and I know I'm not alone. I'm constantly after makers to put up pics of their show knives, particularly for the benefit of those not fortunate enough to be attending.

Cheers,

Roger
 
Boy, that's nice looking, as usual.
Bring on the others wouldja. :)
 
Guys, no doubt this bowie looks impressive in the pictures, and that ivory, well, Don obviously was busy last night with his magic markers again, :), but you have to see his fixed blades in person to realize how amazing they really are, I believe I now own 3 of his fixed blades and to say his workmanship, F&F is MS quality, frankly does him a slight disservice, it's better than many, or even most knives I have seen from various "accredited" smiths, very few JS and MS's are as consistantly flawless as Don, and his stuff just keeps getting better. Personally, I am buying every knife of his I like that I can afford, actually, Ive been buying more than I can afford, and am thrilled to have them, and, as is the case with just a very few knives of mine, whenever I pull one of his out of its case, the phrase that comes to my mind each time is: "Wow, what a freakin' gem". Best materials, best workmanship, amazing damascus, and his stag and ivory is just stunning.

I know I'm gushing, but I give credit where it's due. Don's a perfectionist, works hard I'm sure to keep it that way, and deserves any praise I can give him.

Just a recent Sunfish convert... :) Besides, who needs a Mastersmith, when you have a Masterfish... :)
 
An exceptionally fine piece. The mammoth ivory has tremendous colouring, and the damascus is top class. Your pieces have a distinctive appearance - "grace and danger" - like a fine woman ..... a combination that commands respect!

Stephen
 
Megalobyte said:
I believe I now own 3 of his fixed blades and to say his workmanship, F&F is MS quality, frankly does him a slight disservice, it's better than many, or even most knives I have seen from various "accredited" smiths, very few JS and MS's are as consistantly flawless as Don, and his stuff just keeps getting better.
Just a recent Sunfish convert... :) Besides, who needs a Mastersmith, when you have a Masterfish... :)
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Well, not everyone who is an MS is an awesome maker (though I'm not trying to downplay the difficulty of becoming one), and not everyone who isn't an MS is a bad maker of knives. Not everyone wants to become a Master Smith either, but Don would have to tell us why he isn't one yet. :)
 
Well, that's very true, I can think of several MS' that turn out mediocre quality knives, and several non ABS smiths, like Don, who turn out incredible stuff, but, since Don forges all his own damascus, carbon steel blades, does his own heat treating complete with his newish vivid "Hamons", I guess the answer is, he is satisfied being a Masterfish. :)

For those of you who for whatever reason didn't know, at the Chicago show recently, Don won "Best Bowie" against some stiff competition, guys with fancy initials after their names too. :)

Don Hanson III (M.F.)

I took the liberty of tweaking the picture above, this is one sweet bowie.

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Methinks you won't be bringing that one home from New York. And, that's if Megalaknifebuyer even lets you bring it TO New York! ;)
 
Danbo said:
Methinks you won't be bringing that one home from New York. And, that's if Megalaknifebuyer even lets you bring it TO New York! ;)
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Danbo you are more right than you know ;)

OK guys, I have a whole lot of respect for the ABS and the JS and MS makers. For the last 10 years I have been forging damascus and making folders and was not interested in making fixed blades, I liked them, just didn't want to make them, so the ABS didn't have much to offer me although I have been a member for several years. I started forging / making fixed blades early this year(thanks to Danbo) and I like it. So now it's time to rethink the JS / MS thing and decide if I want to go there. BTW I have already passed the perforance test for JS at Hank Knickmeyers shop, so we will see where this goes. ;)

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. Don Hanson lll
 
"Crackerjack" work again Don. I would love to get my hands on that. My knife museum ,pending Lotto, will have to have a Don Hanson wing. ;)
 
Don, we'll see you at the Blade show, where you'll be picking up your J.S. stamp.
 
I suppose Don does have to be a Journeyman Fish before he can be a Master Fish. After all, you need to learn to crawl, before you can wal...er, I mean swim... :)

Don, whatever you decide is fine with me, long as that bowie makes its way down south. :)

Dan, how did you know? :)
 
Megalobyte said:
Dan, how did you know? :)
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I know you, Ari. I know what you like. I knew if you could afford it, this bowie was going to be yours.
 
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