Enrique Peña knives

[blades&grace]

Beautiful work... Your stuff is always impeccable. Do you have a shot of the top with blade open? I'm thinking the spring has to be thicker than the blade.... am I correct Enrique?

 

[ep3757]

Beautiful work... Your stuff is always impeccable. Do you have a shot of the top with blade open? I'm thinking the spring has to be thicker than the blade.... am I correct Enrique?

You are correct the about the spring being thicker than the blade. The washers are .004" think so there is a gap that size on each side. If you take the bolsters real close to the end of the spring it does not show bad at all plus it makes the knife shorter. I do not like to see a knife with a real long bolster out to the frot. I think that in that case just make the blade longer. I have always relived my liners all the way to the top to meet with the end of the spring so this is common for me to see in my knives. I do not have a picture of what you want to see since this knife has been shipped but will get one when I can.

 

[zippofan]

That is a beautiful swayback...wow! Someday, I hope to be able to order a custom slipjoint, and after seeing your jigging you are at the top of my list. Thank you for sharing your work :thumbup:

 

[ep3757]

Thanks to you all for your kind comments.

 

[ep3757]

Hello to all. Here is a build up of a knife that I really like to build. It is called a eureka cattle knife. I bought a knife like this one on Ebay and took it apart for a pattern. The original knife was made by Henry Sears and Sons. It was a whittler with three independent springs and I made it to have only two springs and therefore make it slimer than the original and also chaged the blade combination. Maybe one day I will make it in a split back whittler configuration. Below is an image of the original knife.

Here is the first photo of the knife build. Here are the basic parts just profiled to shape.

Here are the parts now surface ground. The springs are .008'' thicker than the blades as this knife will be having no blade relives and have washers.

Now we have the blades ground. I rough grind them using 120 Northern Blaze belts and then I jump to a Hermes J Flex 220 and leave the cutting edge at about .035'' thinck.

Here I'm cutting the long nail pull with a slitting saw. This is a slow process to keep your saw cutting good and make a nice clean cut.

Now I'm cutting the cresent style nail nick using a fly cutter at low rpm and using cutting oil. This is also a slow process but worth the wait to get a nice clean nail nick.

Here are the parts now with the name stamped ready for heat treating.

Now we have the liners cut out and surfaced ground ready to be machined. They are made out of 410 stainless steel in 3/16'' stock.

Here I'm maching the handle material pocket on the liners.

The parts are now harden and can still be moved some so now is the time to check for propper blade clerance. Here I have them claped to a harden template of the handle that is surface ground and flat to check for clerance between the blades. After checking ok they are ready for the tempering cycle.

Here are all of the parts after some labor intensive massaging of the parts and they have now started to work against each other in harmony.

Now a picture of me back drilling the handle material.

Here is the basic setup that I use to pin the handle pins. I use domed head stainless steel nails that I polished before pinning them. This is something that Tony Bose shared with me.

Finally we have the knife put togher for the last time and ready to be pinned.

There might be as many as a 1000 steps if not more in building a knife like this but this are just to give you guys a glimps into what and how I do things to make a knife. I have been in an endvor to put a book togher on how I make lockback knives and have realized that many of the steps after being repeated so many times become second nature to most of us that make knives on a consitance basis. Knife making is my passion and I'm so fortunate to do it for a living. This used to be my hobby and I had a good paying job as a diesel mechanic but when the economy fell in 2008 I was laid off from work which turned out to be the best thing that could have happed to me. It was really hard in many ways at first for me and at times I just wanted to go get what some call a real job which would have been possible in the economy of that time but I had 100% support from my wife to make the jump to be a full time maker and the help of all those that helped me along the way and that still help me but I mainly give GOD the glory for working things out for me and giving me the skills to make what We all love which are TRADITIONAL KNIVES.

And now the finished knife.

 

[seadweller]

That was a great read and excellent tutorial! I especially liked the domed head SS nails and the finished appearance it yields. Your knives are always so clean and crisp looking.

 

[Peregrin]

Thanks for the look behind the curtain, Enrique. That looks to be a gorgeous knife and seeing some of the steps in the building process, is very interesting. I like the domed pins myself. They make for a nice finish.

 

[Blues]

Enrique, thanks for taking the time and putting in all the effort required to show us the steps and the finished knife. That Sears "Eureka" pattern is a classic and I very much like the idea of reducing the former three spring whittler down to a two spring cattle knife. Looks like a beautiful, functional piece of work. :thumbup:

 

[MT Damascus]

Very nice Enrique, thanks for taking the time to post this. Seems like you are getting the hang of it


Kris

 

[JAlexander]

That's a great rendition of a cattle knife, Enrique, and I think anyone would be pleased to carry it.

 

[SharpNJ]

That's a beautiful knife - thanks for the work-in-progress pics.

 

[ep3757]

I just want to say a big thanks for all your comments.

 

[Blues]

I'd like to point out a couple of things that might otherwise go unnoticed in regards to how a maker like Enrique (and many of the other excellent makers we are fortunate to have here on the forum) goes about refining his work based upon his own observations as well as feedback from his customers.

Here are a couple of images selected from a past build of this pattern by Enrique. What you'll see when you compare these two images with the most recently completed version of the knife is how the current sheepfoot blade now sits lower in the frame, as does the clip blade. Notice where the nail nicks are in relation to the cover / frame as well as the other blade. This will make both for a more comfortable knife in hand and a more streamlined appearance.

The second thing to look at is the top down shot. Notice how much slimmer and tighter the current build is compared to the older version. The gaps between blades have been reduced significantly.
(One image which I didn't include depicts that Enrique has also slimmed down and elongated the clip blade giving it a more aesthetic appearance as well as a slightly longer cutting edge.)

It is the refinement of work such as this which demonstrates (to my mind) the progression of a maker who is not sitting on his laurels.

 

[jeffsaul]

Enrique,

I sincerely appreciate the WIP's and the time you devote to improving your own procedures to the better meant of not only yourself,

but for your customers. Wonderful knife, great photos and I would be first in line to purchase the book about your

version of constructing a traditional pocket knife. Not to be forgotten, I love the jigging on the bone!

Jeff

 

[Gevonovich]

Thank you very much for taking them time to show us your work processes, Enrique!!

I am intrigued by all the equipment used to make a superlative knife. It must have been quite a long road acquiring and fabricating all the equipment, tools, jigs, cutters, ect !!!

 

[Blues]

Well, now I can post that I am the proud owner of this wonderful cattle knife as it just arrived safe and sound at my home.

Thank you, Enrique, for building this beautiful knife for me. Despite your excellent photography, the knife far exceeds what is depicted...and that is yet exceeded by the precision of the build and the quality of the action.

At 3 1/8 ounces it is just right for its class.

I now am fortunate enough to own five of Ernique's knives, all of them excellent. This one, however, marks in my mind his transition into that rare territory occupied by only the very best makers of slipjoint knives. My congratulations and thanks.

 

[ken erickson]

Congrats to both you and Enrique on a fine knife! Just something about these Eureka patterns:thumbup: and a cattle knife configuration too boot!

 

[Alann45]

I've only been able to get one of Enrique's knives and it totally impressed a number of knowledgeable colletors I showed it to.
Even if I can't afford another, I feel fortunate to have one at least. I had no doubt he would occupy that "rare territory" Elliot made reference to.

 

[ep3757]

Hello to all and thanks for your kind commetns. I just wanted to let you all know that I got a new website made and I plan to have knives on it for sale from time to time.

 

[MT Damascus]

The website is very nice Enrique, somebody better grab that Remington 1306 lockback. Best wishes for you and your family for 2013.


Kris