J. Doyle
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2008
- Messages
- 8,174
This knife has a story. It's been around before. 
Quite some time ago, I got a bar of Mike Quesenberry's ladder damascus. I finally got a blade made with it and dressed it up with some really blue mammoth ivory, some hot blued damascus bolsters and gold screws. I thought it looked pretty good but evidently, it was a complete failure. The knife went to 5 different shows over a year and was posted for sale on various forums twice. I lowered the price about 3 times, something I normally don't do, until I felt it was almost giving it away. Still no sale.
I had been thinking about doing something different with it anyway but when I got it back from shipping from the last show, the ivory had started to warp and pull away from the tang. So that settled it. I went ahead and pulled the ivory and bolsters off it, re finished the blade, brightening it up some and put some really nice curly maple scales on it to lighten the whole look of the knife.
Well I guess it was the right call because about an hour after I finished it, this morning, a local guy walked into my shop and bought the knife after 5 minutes of looking at it. I don't know what it is about some knives that just aren't appealing. The fit and finish was as good as I could do and I thought this one looked good but I was wrong. It's safe to say that it bombed the first time around.
Anyway, here are the specs and pics, both new and the before pics
Mike Quesenberry's Ladder Damascus 1080 and 15n20
8 1/2" overall, 4" of actual cutting edge, .180" at the ricasso and tapers to both ends
Tapered Tang
"Twisted Steel" filework all the way around the spine and butt end
Stabilized curly maple scales
German silver pins
This first pic, the blade looks darker than it really is. I suspect the shadow from the large spruce tree in the back yard.
This is what the knife used to look like before I refinished the blade and changed the scales:
Quite some time ago, I got a bar of Mike Quesenberry's ladder damascus. I finally got a blade made with it and dressed it up with some really blue mammoth ivory, some hot blued damascus bolsters and gold screws. I thought it looked pretty good but evidently, it was a complete failure. The knife went to 5 different shows over a year and was posted for sale on various forums twice. I lowered the price about 3 times, something I normally don't do, until I felt it was almost giving it away. Still no sale. I had been thinking about doing something different with it anyway but when I got it back from shipping from the last show, the ivory had started to warp and pull away from the tang. So that settled it. I went ahead and pulled the ivory and bolsters off it, re finished the blade, brightening it up some and put some really nice curly maple scales on it to lighten the whole look of the knife.
Well I guess it was the right call because about an hour after I finished it, this morning, a local guy walked into my shop and bought the knife after 5 minutes of looking at it. I don't know what it is about some knives that just aren't appealing. The fit and finish was as good as I could do and I thought this one looked good but I was wrong. It's safe to say that it bombed the first time around.
Anyway, here are the specs and pics, both new and the before pics
Mike Quesenberry's Ladder Damascus 1080 and 15n20
8 1/2" overall, 4" of actual cutting edge, .180" at the ricasso and tapers to both ends
Tapered Tang
"Twisted Steel" filework all the way around the spine and butt end
Stabilized curly maple scales
German silver pins
This first pic, the blade looks darker than it really is. I suspect the shadow from the large spruce tree in the back yard.
This is what the knife used to look like before I refinished the blade and changed the scales:
. The previous combination IMO had too much dark texture overall. Still a very nice knife no doubt!
