Brut de Forge?

[Kohai999]

I like this look on Joe Humphrey's work. I think it comes down to individual taste, but somewhere deep down, I think we all think about how cool it would be to be like one of those frontiersmen or a ranger in the French and Indian war (think Darby's rangers).

Not me...not never....infection, disease, starvation, loneliness and boredom followed by sheer terror.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[betzner]

I like this look on Joe Humphrey's work. I think it comes down to individual taste, but somewhere deep down, I think we all think about how cool it would be to be like one of those frontiersmen or a ranger in the French and Indian war (think Darby's rangers).

Such imagery does not compute, at least for me. Reminds me of sweat, stink - and a time without deodorant. Gimme shiny things, not dull, pitted ones. But as with all things, each to his own.

Bob

 

[Bigfattyt]

I really like the look of many knives in this style.

The flared/mashed guard area is one that used to be unappealing to me, but has grown on me over time.

Knives without this feature (flared forged integral guard), but with rough forge look left on areas of the blade/spine etc usually do appeal to my eye.

Antiqued/aged finishes are also appealing to me. It is the same reason I don't polish my carbon steel blades, but let them take a patina. Some day, they will look as well used and "aged" as the knives I saw my Grandfather use all the time.

 

[Matt River]

Another aspect to that type of look is finish time and selling. A good smith can reduce his time and costs into a piece, and at the same time, for many buyers, it will become more desirable in this world of machine made, sterile, uniform, repetitive products. As a long time framing carpenter/sub, the demands of producing perfectly straight, square, and monotonous homes, over and over, created a desire to build with logs and stone. Many clients do not have the skill or knowledge or even desire to appreciate grinding and polishing skill - they want unique and handmade. With good forging skill and a hammer finish, the price point can be very different. Selling knives to knife fanatics may be a large part of the business, but making a living with what you have and meeting a market demand involves getting out of the box and trying to sell to people who nobody else sells to.

 

[Rick Marchand]

Pulling off an aged/rustic/forge finish is not as easy as it may seem. Some may think it is as simple as "not finishing the piece". I can only speak for myself, but have little doubt that most bladesmiths spend a lot of time achieving the "Brut de Forge" look. As for the "antiqued" look... if you aren't nailing the fit and finish prior to aging, it will show. In many intances, I have put in more time than I would for a clean "shiny" knife.

 

[navasky]

These are both gorgeous Rick. If it's not a trade secret would you mind talking about how you get the directional texturing?

 

[John M Cohea]

Since my name and work have been brought up in this thread,I would like to add my thoughts.99 percent of the knives I make have this feature,and it is something that has become associated with the style of work I do.Most of mine are a combination of forge texture/antique finish,while a few ,such as the warhawk Roger posted are mostly all forge finished.
While it may seem easy to simply leave areas unfinished,it's not that simple.As Roger pointed out,it looks best if there is the same amount of texture left on each side,and sometimes too much can be removed frome one side or the other.I have had to back track and add more forge texture to an almost finished blade because too much was removed from one side.
In that case,thermal cycles and various other steps must be repeated again,so it's really not as simple as simply not finishing areas of the blade.Here are some recent examples of work with this feature.

And a couple by Daniel Winkler,who is the master of this look,and my inspiration for getting started with this style.