J. Doyle
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2008
- Messages
- 8,212
Here's another hunter for my show next weekend. This one, I think, was cursed from the beginning. 
While polishing the blade, I laid my finger wide open and had to get 6 stitches. Then I went to put a buckeye burl handle on, got it all fit and shaped and found a huge bark inclusion in the handle that made it unusable. I changed that to an ironwood handle, got it all fit and shaped and during final polish, I split the handle completely in half. So I went to my old standby.........blackwood and tried it a third time. One could draw the conclusion that I might not know what I'm doing...........and they would be right. Maybe I just should have started with blackwood in the first place.
Anyway, the specs:
Hand forged from 1075 steel, clay quenched
8 1/4" overall, 3 1/2" sharp, .195" thick at the ricasso
Nice distal taper
Heavily rounded spine and ricasso edge for comfort
Bronze guard and fittings
Blued and coined spacer
African blackwood handle, carved and textured with line cut rings
All comments and discussion welcome.
While polishing the blade, I laid my finger wide open and had to get 6 stitches. Then I went to put a buckeye burl handle on, got it all fit and shaped and found a huge bark inclusion in the handle that made it unusable. I changed that to an ironwood handle, got it all fit and shaped and during final polish, I split the handle completely in half. So I went to my old standby.........blackwood and tried it a third time. One could draw the conclusion that I might not know what I'm doing...........and they would be right. Maybe I just should have started with blackwood in the first place.Anyway, the specs:
Hand forged from 1075 steel, clay quenched
8 1/4" overall, 3 1/2" sharp, .195" thick at the ricasso
Nice distal taper
Heavily rounded spine and ricasso edge for comfort
Bronze guard and fittings
Blued and coined spacer
African blackwood handle, carved and textured with line cut rings
All comments and discussion welcome.
