Chinese Dragon Hunter

R

RonNewton

Joined
Aug 2, 2000
Messages
340
Many are familiar with California engraver, Gil Rudolph who engraves some of the knives for the Solvang Invitational show every other year not to mention the guns and many other knives he is commissioned to work on. I commisioned Gil to do a Chinese Dragon theme on this upscale hunter that will be going to a collection in China.

This hunter has a 6 bar tight Turkish twist damascus blade I forged freom 15n20 and 1095 steels. My signature metal handle, and a Paul Long sheath hidden inside a handmade curly maple display case.

This will be on my table at the Arkansas show this weekend. Thanks for looking.

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Ron this is an unbelievably fine piece. The innovation and skills required to make it and embellish it are extremely rare. I'm hoping to see it this weekend.
 
Great attention to every detail Thanks for showing it Ron I look forward to seeing it at the show.
 
Ron,
Amazing piece with super presentation.

Looking forward to seeing this in person in Little Rock.

John
 
Inspiring Ron. Love the shape of the inlay and engraving on the handle. And speaking of handle, can you tell me a little more about what it is? Almost looks like enamel.
 
I'm always blown away by your wire handle knives and this one is no different. I love that box with the drawer for the sheath as well, you were quite right in that being a rather nice final touch over a standard box. :thumbup:
 
Thanks a lot guys for the very kind compliments.

Peter,I wanted to do the engraving on this piece but I have not learned to do the raised gold yet, I only do flush gold inlays. The raised gold can be very tricky according to Gil. I like it because you end up with twice as much gold on the work.

Patrice, there's no enameling here. My "wire handle" is a technique I was utilizing 35 years ago when I was an 18 year old youngster making bits,spurrs and other western accessories. I started making knives about 30 plus years ago and incorporated the wire technique into some of my higher end knives. I don't know of any other maker who has incorporated this technique into knives and it is a signature handle for me that I do only on rare occasion. I think it's cool for every maker to at least have one "signature" technique that is known to their work.

The dragon hunter handle has "Everdure" wire (which is in the family of the silicon bronzes) and it is mixed with stainless steel. It's about a two week process for me to construct the raw unfinished handle. I've only accepted class tuition from one maker all these years and taught Jimmy Chin a class on how I do this handle a few years ago. He has not made a wire handle as of yet but I think he'll have one at Blade this year. Below is an example of a wire handle (my engraving) I did back in 2010 that shows a different variation of the options incorporated into one of my wire handles.

If you come to Little Rock this weekend swing by my table for a closer look at the dragon hunter. The one below is long gone.

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Thanks Ron for sharing this. My mind is reeling with thoughts on how to do this and ways to incorporate it in knife designs. (I love the Persian style and that would work great I think). Pushing the boundaries is what I try and love to do. Seeing others do it and inspire me to push even farther is great. You sure made my day. :thumbup:

Sadly I live too far to attend the show but I thank you for the invitation and you can be sure I WILL make it someday.
 
Spectacular piece.

Unusual handle. Beautiful damascus.

I like the box as well!

Great work.

Kind regards,

Jos
 
Absolutely jaw dropping! Wire handles, fantastic. Thaks for sharing it.
Cheers Keith
 
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