Horsewright Knives and Leather

[CorporalChaos]

What a fascinating thread and an amazing level of craftsmanship.

In addition to the wonderful knives and leatherwork, I'm really digging the behind the scenes look at how it's all done.

Which brings me to a few questions if I may. For hardwoods like, mesquite, walnut, ironwood, osage, and so forth, do you do anything to stabilize them or do you use as is? If no stabilization, is there any risk of them drying out and cracking over time? Do they need to be oiled periodically with anything to prevent cracking?

On the steel front, you mentioned you do most of the grinding after heat treat. How do you keep the steel from over heating while grinding after the heat treat, just dunk in water every pass or so? Have you ever tried to do your own heat treating and if so, why did you decide to switch to out sourcing it?

Regarding the hamon on your carbon blades, if the blanks are heat treated and then final ground, and you still end up with a nice hamon, why is it necessary to try to avoid that area when polishing? Or did I misunderstand what you were trying to convey on that part?

You and your wife are real artists. I had a friend that was a rather talented leatherworker down here in Tucson. Unfortunately he passed away several years back. I wish I had the foresight to pick his brain and learn the craft from him.

 

[Horsewright]

That's a quite an interesting history. Sure enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing it with us

You bet David!

That is a terrific backstory, Dave! Fantastic knives and leather as usual.

Funny enough the Sonora area used to be my neck (I was northeast) of the woods (well okay not really any woods there lol) before graduating high school. In fact my college roommate was from Sonora. Small world!

Ya know it really is a small world. Been to TX a couple of times but never to that area. That's cool!

Very interesting indeed, appreciate you sharing it

Very cool story and thanks for sharing. That is the kind of story behind the knives that make that model so sweet.

Thank you and you bet guys!!

What a fascinating thread and an amazing level of craftsmanship.

In addition to the wonderful knives and leatherwork, I'm really digging the behind the scenes look at how it's all done.

Which brings me to a few questions if I may. For hardwoods like, mesquite, walnut, ironwood, osage, and so forth, do you do anything to stabilize them or do you use as is? If no stabilization, is there any risk of them drying out and cracking over time? Do they need to be oiled periodically with anything to prevent cracking?

On the steel front, you mentioned you do most of the grinding after heat treat. How do you keep the steel from over heating while grinding after the heat treat, just dunk in water every pass or so? Have you ever tried to do your own heat treating and if so, why did you decide to switch to out sourcing it?

Regarding the hamon on your carbon blades, if the blanks are heat treated and then final ground, and you still end up with a nice hamon, why is it necessary to try to avoid that area when polishing? Or did I misunderstand what you were trying to convey on that part?

You and your wife are real artists. I had a friend that was a rather talented leatherworker down here in Tucson. Unfortunately he passed away several years back. I wish I had the foresight to pick his brain and learn the craft from him.

You bet. Thank you for the kind words. Your questions are very welcome. I think it's kinda a purpose of this whole forum not just this thread. But I'm certainly happy to answer any questions I can.

I treat each hard wood a lil differently just based on experience. I do use a lot of stabilized woods but I don't in those woods you mentioned. I use to work in much larger batches than I do these days:

I think that experience really helped me refine how I treat different woods. Basically I've been there before already. Ironwood is just in the raw and polished. It won't take a finish anyhoo too dense. It's extremely stable just as it is. Not uncommon for ironwood to have lil micro cracks that respond very well to wet sanding with superglue. They simply go away. As far as added protection down the road I'm big on Mother's Carnauba Car Wax. It rocks. There are a lot of other waxes etc even some designed for museums and white gloves that are popular but my knives don't really see museums:

Every knife that leaves this out fit has a couple of coats of this carwax on it. From stem to stern.

Walnut is actually a pretty difficult wood to finish well. I do lots of wet sanding with Watco Danish oil. I don't like to fill the pores all the way as it can look a lil plasticky to me. But I do fill them up quite a bit with wet sanding. Prior it has been damp sanded multiple times to raise the "whiskers" and then sand them away. Danish oil as a finish is pretty good for touching up if needed like ya get a gouge or something. Day to day back to the car wax. Mesquite and Osage I treat similarly both again re extremely stable and just don't seem to need much I'll usually do one coat of wet sanding with them and then let them dry. This is because I like to buff woods and it gives them some protection from getting discolored from buffing gunk.

On the steel Yes sir couple passes and dunk. Couple of passes and dunk. I actually keep three different buckets of water on the grinding bench. Yes I use to do my own HT. Consistency consistency consistency. Not only can they do it better and to steels I might not be able to but they can do it better and cheaper in large batches.

ON the hamon question I'm snot sure what you are asking me there.

Thank you check out the Sheaths and Such section here on BF if you want to pick up some tips on leather work.

 

[CorporalChaos]

Thank you for the reply. Regarding the hamon, if one were to polish the whole blade from belly to spine, or sharpen the way Murray Carter does where he also thins the flat, would it affect the hamon?

 

[Horsewright]

Thank you for the reply. Regarding the hamon, if one were to polish the whole blade from belly to spine, or sharpen the way Murray Carter does where he also thins the flat, would it affect the hamon?

Ah yes gotcha. Yes it would. It wouldn’t be as distinct. Its still there as it is in the steel but it can get to be you gotta be in the right light and hold your head just so. I’m looking for that distinct separation, a line of demarcation. I call this a working hamon. Its quite a bit more durable than a polished one. Why so many kitchen knife makers simply won’t do one. Its gonna wear away. Its still there ya just can’t see it anymore. Thank you for the kind words about our work.

 

[DocJekl]

Incoming! Thanks Dave Horsewright !! It's perfect

 

[ecallahan]

Count me among a satisfied Horsewright knife owner with my new Vaquero. My first Horsewright knife.

 

[echoscout]

Count me among a satisfied Horsewright knife owner with my new Vaquero. My first Horsewright knife.

Ruggedly handsome

 

[The True North]

Yes sir. The ranch was on the north side but our house is on the south side. Kinda as you are just coming out the canyon coming up the hill on 58 and over a couple of miles. The ranch was all the flats behind Denny's there and the mountains behind. Next time you are coming through give me a heads up and stop by the shop and hang out for a while.


Those guys are extremely popular too. Its another item we try to keep in stock at all times. Bout the time I get a handful built up it seems its time to make some more. Working on a batch of sheaths right now and have 7 of these guys to do too. The Boot Sheath is not knife specific. Works on bout anything 7-8 inches overall and I have made some real oversized one for folks too. These are lined in that water buffalo.

Ever heard of issues with knives cutting/poking through the bottom of those boot sheaths?


Those things look sweet.

 

[AusLoX]

I always enjoy reading this thread and your stories Dave Horsewright
Thanks for sharing!

 

[DocJekl]

My first two from Dave Cowboy Coyote (Edited for the correction, hence my original question mark) and Paisano (?)

 

[Murphjd25]

Man I really want a Rodeo!

 

[echoscout]

My first two from Dave Cowboy and Paisano (?)

View attachment 2695669

Nice Coyote and Pasisno

 

[Horsewright]

Incoming! Thanks Dave Horsewright !! It's perfect

View attachment 2694053

View attachment 2694054

View attachment 2694055

That's great Larry! Sure glad ya like it!!. Does the carving on that sheath seem more distinct, deeper than some of your other carved sheaths? I was trying a different order of doing some of the tooling and I think it worked out.

Count me among a satisfied Horsewright knife owner with my new Vaquero. My first Horsewright knife.

Great pics! I dig that Rembrandt lighting. Thanks and I like that lil Vaquero. It was kinda sweet.

Man I really want a Rodeo!

Ever heard of issues with knives cutting/poking through the bottom of those boot sheaths?


Those things look sweet.

No sir I have not. There is a welt the whole bottom half of the sheath. Helps prevent that situation. Thanks.

I always enjoy reading this thread and your stories Dave Horsewright
Thanks for sharing!

You bet sir! More stories coming up!!

My first two from Dave Cowboy and Paisano (?)

View attachment 2695669

Coyote with buckeye burl and ironwood spacer. Paisano with ironwood. Hard to keep track sometimes. Saw one the other day at a horse show. I thought it was a Paisano while it was in the sheath but when I asked to see it I saw it was a Buckaroo (a Cowboy but in damascus), instead. Variety is the spice of life they say.

Man I really want a Rodeo!

One coming up in the next batch. Really get going on them tomorrow.

 

[Horsewright]

So since Thursday last week been gone and off line. We were at a horse show called The Skills of the Early Californio Ranchos. It was held in a lil itty bitty town called Parkfield here in California but way up in the boonies. This town has a population of 18! However if you are ever in the hood it's worth the drive. I can highly recommend the cafe! My kinda place had bout 300 branding irons hanging from the ceiling:

We'd pulled in and settled the horses in their pens at the rodeo grounds and set up camp under a big oak tree:

I mean a BIG oak tree. Our living quarters trailer there is 32 feet long. We walked across the road and had dinner at the cafe and then headed back across the road as they were having a meet and greet at the Pavilion next to the Lodge. Nichole walking across the street. The signs on the fence said to make sure to remember to close the gates to keep the wild hogs out!

Met a guy at the meet and greet, another Dave. He'd driven all the way from BC in Canada to down here in California for this deal. Next morning we're in the arena and I notice he's got one of my knives on the rear belt of his chaps. He's in the grey hat here and the black vest:

So Nichole and I rode over to him. I asked him how he liked that knife. He said he loved it and had had it for nearly twenty years. I told him I built it and I wasn't sure he believed me at first. Nichole was pretty sure by the look on his face that he didn't. Anyhoo he showed it to me and it was an old damascus Buckaroo in good shape. We became pretty friendly over the weekend. Dave:

He told me he'd seen an ad of ours in Western Horseman magazine and ordered from there. That was a while back cause we haven't advertised with them for years.

We took nine knives with us to sell. Sold em all! We didn't set up a booth because we were both riding in the show and well, we didn't have a lot of stock besides the knives. So people would ask us if we'd brought any knives with us and we'd head over to the truck. We call it tailgate sales:

Both guys pictured have bought numerous knives in the past and being cowboys, traded em off and need new ones. That trading is a thing. This show actually had a scheduled trading party Friday night. We had stuff to trade:

Funny thing. It was getting cool Friday evening so we ran back to the trailer to grab jackets and decided not to go to the trading party cause we were just too tired. So we brought it all back home.

Nichole warming up on Hatari before one of her classes:

Kind of funny but hey young horses that ain't been to town before. On Fri Nichole was set to ride in the Intermediate Dry Work. this includes riding a specific pattern for accuracy and finesse and some obstacles as well. I'd gone already in the Advanced class and finished a poor fifth. My horse hadn't been to town enough either. Nichole went in and Hatari just locked up and wouldn't go. There were obstacles in the arena that hadn't been there and she was scared. After a lil bit, the head judge, Jeff, a friend, jumped down and called me in. I rode in and he told me to ride with Nichole to see if that would help Hatari and it did. I rode the whole course with Nicole and Hatari and she was able to get it completed. Didn't count for points of course but this outfit is all about the horse and that proved it. So next morning, Nichole and Hatari go in and win her next class. It was the Herdwork. She had to sort off five cows and drive them around some obstacles and back to the herd in three minutes. Not only won it but smoked it! We were both in the Stockhorse class and as mentioned in different divisions. Nichole because of Hatari's greenishness had decided not to be in the roping part. So, I came in third in the roping and fourth overall. While Nichole even though she was only in two of the three classes and no points in one of em came in fourth over all too!

Saturday night Dave Stamey did a free concert and I just plain forgot to get any pics. Here's before though:

What a concert! He came up and gave Nichole a hug remembering her from her birthday party two years ago.

This outfit gives out a ton of prizes. Each box is filled with prizes for a specific winner of a specific class.

Nichole getting her prize. Our friend Bruce Sandiford, the president of the California Bridle Horse Association presenting.

Great weekend in a beautiful place:

Some old guy warming up Sunday morning prior to the roping:

Great to catch up with old friends too. Vince and Judy Donley run their booth at many shows. Vince is the master's master rawhide braider. Judy was wearing her Horsewright knife:

Some of Vince's work:

Our good friend Bruce Campbell, also from BC was in Cali teaching a class. Bruce owns a big rig recovery business and was down teaching a class on that. He added four hours to his drive home to come by and say hi and buy a knife.

We had a great time:

 

[waynorth]

We had a great time:

Sure sounds (and looks) like it!! Thanks for the great pics, and for taking us along!!!

 

[DocJekl]

Sounds like a great horse show! I miss doing that since I moved from Houston, my ex-wife and horses over 33 years ago.

That's great Larry! Sure glad ya like it!!. Does the carving on that sheath seem more distinct, deeper than some of your other carved sheaths? I was trying a different order of doing some of the tooling and I think it worked out.

I think they are both pretty distinct and deep. I'm happy with both! Neither of my Paisano have an engraved sheath tho.



A little side lighting to highlight the detail and depth...

 

[Sacto]

So since Thursday last week been gone and off line. We were at a horse show called The Skills of the Early Californio Ranchos. It was held in a lil itty bitty town called Parkfield here in California but way up in the boonies. This town has a population of 18! However if you are ever in the hood it's worth the drive. I can highly recommend the cafe! My kinda place had bout 300 branding irons hanging from the ceiling:

We'd pulled in and settled the horses in their pens at the rodeo grounds and set up camp under a big oak tree:

I mean a BIG oak tree. Our living quarters trailer there is 32 feet long. We walked across the road and had dinner at the cafe and then headed back across the road as they were having a meet and greet at the Pavilion next to the Lodge. Nichole walking across the street. The signs on the fence said to make sure to remember to close the gates to keep the wild hogs out!

Met a guy at the meet and greet, another Dave. He'd driven all the way from BC in Canada to down here in California for this deal. Next morning we're in the arena and I notice he's got one of my knives on the rear belt of his chaps. He's in the grey hat here and the black vest:

So Nichole and I rode over to him. I asked him how he liked that knife. He said he loved it and had had it for nearly twenty years. I told him I built it and I wasn't sure he believed me at first. Nichole was pretty sure by the look on his face that he didn't. Anyhoo he showed it to me and it was an old damascus Buckaroo in good shape. We became pretty friendly over the weekend. Dave:

He told me he'd seen an ad of ours in Western Horseman magazine and ordered from there. That was a while back cause we haven't advertised with them for years.

We took nine knives with us to sell. Sold em all! We didn't set up a booth because we were both riding in the show and well, we didn't have a lot of stock besides the knives. So people would ask us if we'd brought any knives with us and we'd head over to the truck. We call it tailgate sales:

Both guys pictured have bought numerous knives in the past and being cowboys, traded em off and need new ones. That trading is a thing. This show actually had a scheduled trading party Friday night. We had stuff to trade:

Funny thing. It was getting cool Friday evening so we ran back to the trailer to grab jackets and decided not to go to the trading party cause we were just too tired. So we brought it all back home.

Nichole warming up on Hatari before one of her classes:

Kind of funny but hey young horses that ain't been to town before. On Fri Nichole was set to ride in the Intermediate Dry Work. this includes riding a specific pattern for accuracy and finesse and some obstacles as well. I'd gone already in the Advanced class and finished a poor fifth. My horse hadn't been to town enough either. Nichole went in and Hatari just locked up and wouldn't go. There were obstacles in the arena that hadn't been there and she was scared. After a lil bit, the head judge, Jeff, a friend, jumped down and called me in. I rode in and he told me to ride with Nichole to see if that would help Hatari and it did. I rode the whole course with Nicole and Hatari and she was able to get it completed. Didn't count for points of course but this outfit is all about the horse and that proved it. So next morning, Nichole and Hatari go in and win her next class. It was the Herdwork. She had to sort off five cows and drive them around some obstacles and back to the herd in three minutes. Not only won it but smoked it! We were both in the Stockhorse class and as mentioned in different divisions. Nichole because of Hatari's greenishness had decided not to be in the roping part. So, I came in third in the roping and fourth overall. While Nichole even though she was only in two of the three classes and no points in one of em came in fourth over all too!

Saturday night Dave Stamey did a free concert and I just plain forgot to get any pics. Here's before though:

What a concert! He came up and gave Nichole a hug remembering her from her birthday party two years ago.

This outfit gives out a ton of prizes. Each box is filled with prizes for a specific winner of a specific class.

Nichole getting her prize. Our friend Bruce Sandiford, the president of the California Bridle Horse Association presenting.

Great weekend in a beautiful place:

Some old guy warming up Sunday morning prior to the roping:

Great to catch up with old friends too. Vince and Judy Donley run their booth at many shows. Vince is the master's master rawhide braider. Judy was wearing her Horsewright knife:

Some of Vince's work:

Our good friend Bruce Campbell, also from BC was in Cali teaching a class. Bruce owns a big rig recovery business and was down teaching a class on that. He added four hours to his drive home to come by and say hi and buy a knife.

We had a great time:

Sounds like a fun weekend! I’ve actually been to Parkfield. I was out there for some kind of a rangeland tour at the Varian ranch 20-some years ago when I was in school down at Cal Poly. Neat place.

 

[echoscout]

So since Thursday last week been gone and off line. We were at a horse show called The Skills of the Early Californio Ranchos. It was held in a lil itty bitty town called Parkfield here in California but way up in the boonies. This town has a population of 18! However if you are ever in the hood it's worth the drive. I can highly recommend the cafe! My kinda place had bout 300 branding irons hanging from the ceiling:

We'd pulled in and settled the horses in their pens at the rodeo grounds and set up camp under a big oak tree:

I mean a BIG oak tree. Our living quarters trailer there is 32 feet long. We walked across the road and had dinner at the cafe and then headed back across the road as they were having a meet and greet at the Pavilion next to the Lodge. Nichole walking across the street. The signs on the fence said to make sure to remember to close the gates to keep the wild hogs out!

Met a guy at the meet and greet, another Dave. He'd driven all the way from BC in Canada to down here in California for this deal. Next morning we're in the arena and I notice he's got one of my knives on the rear belt of his chaps. He's in the grey hat here and the black vest:

So Nichole and I rode over to him. I asked him how he liked that knife. He said he loved it and had had it for nearly twenty years. I told him I built it and I wasn't sure he believed me at first. Nichole was pretty sure by the look on his face that he didn't. Anyhoo he showed it to me and it was an old damascus Buckaroo in good shape. We became pretty friendly over the weekend. Dave:

He told me he'd seen an ad of ours in Western Horseman magazine and ordered from there. That was a while back cause we haven't advertised with them for years.

We took nine knives with us to sell. Sold em all! We didn't set up a booth because we were both riding in the show and well, we didn't have a lot of stock besides the knives. So people would ask us if we'd brought any knives with us and we'd head over to the truck. We call it tailgate sales:

Both guys pictured have bought numerous knives in the past and being cowboys, traded em off and need new ones. That trading is a thing. This show actually had a scheduled trading party Friday night. We had stuff to trade:

Funny thing. It was getting cool Friday evening so we ran back to the trailer to grab jackets and decided not to go to the trading party cause we were just too tired. So we brought it all back home.

Nichole warming up on Hatari before one of her classes:

Kind of funny but hey young horses that ain't been to town before. On Fri Nichole was set to ride in the Intermediate Dry Work. this includes riding a specific pattern for accuracy and finesse and some obstacles as well. I'd gone already in the Advanced class and finished a poor fifth. My horse hadn't been to town enough either. Nichole went in and Hatari just locked up and wouldn't go. There were obstacles in the arena that hadn't been there and she was scared. After a lil bit, the head judge, Jeff, a friend, jumped down and called me in. I rode in and he told me to ride with Nichole to see if that would help Hatari and it did. I rode the whole course with Nicole and Hatari and she was able to get it completed. Didn't count for points of course but this outfit is all about the horse and that proved it. So next morning, Nichole and Hatari go in and win her next class. It was the Herdwork. She had to sort off five cows and drive them around some obstacles and back to the herd in three minutes. Not only won it but smoked it! We were both in the Stockhorse class and as mentioned in different divisions. Nichole because of Hatari's greenishness had decided not to be in the roping part. So, I came in third in the roping and fourth overall. While Nichole even though she was only in two of the three classes and no points in one of em came in fourth over all too!

Saturday night Dave Stamey did a free concert and I just plain forgot to get any pics. Here's before though:

What a concert! He came up and gave Nichole a hug remembering her from her birthday party two years ago.

This outfit gives out a ton of prizes. Each box is filled with prizes for a specific winner of a specific class.

Nichole getting her prize. Our friend Bruce Sandiford, the president of the California Bridle Horse Association presenting.

Great weekend in a beautiful place:

Some old guy warming up Sunday morning prior to the roping:

Great to catch up with old friends too. Vince and Judy Donley run their booth at many shows. Vince is the master's master rawhide braider. Judy was wearing her Horsewright knife:

Some of Vince's work:

Our good friend Bruce Campbell, also from BC was in Cali teaching a class. Bruce owns a big rig recovery business and was down teaching a class on that. He added four hours to his drive home to come by and say hi and buy a knife.

We had a great time:

Good times

 

[RLB0414]

We had a great time

Certainly looks that way.

 

[Horsewright]

Sounds like a great horse show! I miss doing that since I moved from Houston, my ex-wife and horses over 33 years ago.



I think they are both pretty distinct and deep. I'm happy with both! Neither of my Paisano have an engraved sheath tho.

View attachment 2697416

A little side lighting to highlight the detail and depth...

View attachment 2697417

They do look pretty similar! I changed the order of what I do when as it seemed to prevent having to redo some things. I'm glad that it came out similar as the new way saves time. No sense saving time if the result is not the same or better.

Sounds like a fun weekend! I’ve actually been to Parkfield. I was out there for some kind of a rangeland tour at the Varian ranch 20-some years ago when I was in school down at Cal Poly. Neat place.

Yeah the whole town is basically on their ranch the V6. I think they are in to that heavily stocked but short amount of time grazing practices. I remember reading once in a magazine that they had fish in streams now that use to be seasonal creeks because of their switch to these grazing practices.

Good times

Certainly looks that way.

It certainly was. We'll definitely be back next year. Gonna try and have more knives on hand as I could have certainly sold more.

Was at another roping show some years back. They had a large circus type tent for the vendors to set up in. As we were a day early we were able to back up near the tent entrance to unload. We'd had the booth all set up and were starting to haul the bins with our product inside. Bruce, above, and some other Canadian cohorts of his, stopped me at the truck and asked if I had any knives. I laid them out on the tailgate and sold 12 before I ever got the knives to the booth. Right there off the tailgate.