Hunter by Stuart Branson

Will York

Will York

Joined
Jan 21, 2000
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Over the past 6+ years, I've commissioned several knives in this hunter pattern from some of the most talented makers in the country. I've received some beautiful interpretations and some great, great knives along the way--I appreciate every knife and every maker for his interpretation.

Stuart's first rendering of the pattern over a year ago was the most faithful to my sketch of any I'd received to that point, which was impressive considering all the others were from master smiths. I told him if he ever wanted to make another, I'd like the chance to get serious about attaining my "ideal"; by adding some tweaks and additional measurements into the mix on handle thickness, contours, etc.

Early this year, Stuart said he had been thinking about doing another one, and of course, I got very excited. As we began discussing particulars, I remembered that a few years ago my good friend Phil Wilson offered to heat treat a CPM blade for me if I ever needed one, and in my mind this was a perfect opportunity to call upon the "Wizard of CPM" for that blade. Stuart agreed to give S90V a whirl if Phil would do the heat treat, and the project took off.

I just received the knife from Stuart and this is the closest I can imagine to my mental ideal for the pattern. It is simply amazing to hold my actual "idea" in my hand, rendered in desert ironwood burl and CPM S90V, heat treated by Phil to 61-62 HRC:
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On top of my original sketch:
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The knife is just high enough off the paper sketch in the above photo to make it look slightly larger, but the dimensions of sketch and knife are exactly the same. I asked Stuart to make the ricasso and guard just a tad longer than the sketch, which he did perfectly.

Handle contours bright lit:
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Stuart:
Thank You, my friend. As you know this beautiful, supremely functional package fulfills a very special quest for me. In your eyes I know it's not perfect, but it is to me.

Will
 
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I asked Stuart to make two sheaths for this one. The first is pictured above, textured leather with a "Celtic knot" emblem. Here's the second sheath:

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The second filled my request for a "hard use" sheath of heavy leather that would cover all but the last 3 cm of handle, with detachable belt loop based on a "dangler" Stuart designed a few years ago. This one addresses two carry modes: 1) Worn on belt, the extra-deep pouch protects almost the entire handle length from scratches/gouges when hunting in thorn brush, thick timber or rocky terrain, and the dangler lets the sheath swing free for convenience and comfort when I sit; 2) I can detach the dangler for carry in a backpack, leaving the sheath clean of loops or protuberances that tend to snag on other gear, and the extra-deep fit holds the knife securely, protecting against dings from other items in the pack. Stuart used extra stiff, strong "butt" leather for this one, fully lined, double-stitched welt. The dangler is self-attached by looping onto itself with no snaps or other closures. I absolutely love the design and Stuart's immaculate execution:

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yup Will, nice knife. hope you have fun using it. SB is another of many great Canuck knifemakers as both Roger and I can also attest.
 
Thanks, Murray--and I know you know whereof you speak. That short sword of Stuart's you acquired not long ago is a stunning example.

As for working directly with Stuart on a project, I really don't know how he does it--he seems to read my mind. All I give each maker is a two-dimensional sketch and list of features, from which they have to build a 3D object. That leaves a lot to interpretation especially in handle construction. Also, some of the handle materials I've requested have limited the maker's options for depth, thickness, etc. But Stuart translates architectural drawings into very precise, complex wooden shapes professionally, so coaxing perfect handle contours from a block of ironwood is an elementary exercise for him, and obviously, he is a master at it. Also, with an eye so finely tuned to dimension, angle, ratio and perspective, his ability to take a drawing and bring it to "life" is just extraordinary.
 
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nice work you guys!
 
Will,

Stuart is one of my favorite talents. It's good to hear his voice in this song.

John
 
Interesting and unique collecting endevor Will. All exetremely nice in my opinion.
Any plans to have them all photographed together when all done?
 
Kevin Jones said:
Interesting and unique collecting endevor Will. All exetremely nice in my opinion.
Any plans to have them all photographed together when all done?
Click to expand...

Thank you, Kevin, and I appreciate the compliment very much. I know I need to think about having that done. John White told me I should do the same thing--great minds. :)
 
You're not kidding about a faithful rendition - it's a perfect 3D realization of the 2D sketch. Great job by Stuart - one extremely talented dude. I like the two-sheath combo very much. Congrats on a fine addition Will!

Roger
 
Stuart did a great job! Really like the result, and cool sheath to boot. Congrats on your growing hunter collection!

- Joe
 
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Will,
We've not met, but I think we share something of a common vision regarding a hunter...
Years ago I came across a hunter out here in Seattle made by a retired Boeing machinist. 440c and I think Ironwood. I simply fell in love with it and have felt it was the closest I had come to the perfect all around companion... But I also wanted something different, yet close, so I thought I would ask a custom maker to make an interpretation of it. I had just read about Audra Draper, and then I met her... I asked her to do an interpretation...
I'm not trying to steal your thread, but just trying to share something I think is quite close, and just as close to my dream interpretation as are all of the ones you've posted, especially Don Hanson III's! That was stunning!
 
ANOTHER great looking knife Will. It was an excellent idea and you certainly have a collection of beautiful hunters as a result.

I would would also love to see a photo of them together.

Peter
 
joeshredd said:
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Will,
We've not met, but I think we share something of a common vision regarding a hunter...
Years ago I came across a hunter out here in Seattle made by a retired Boeing machinist. 440c and I think Ironwood. I simply fell in love with it and have felt it was the closest I had come to the perfect all around companion... But I also wanted something different, yet close, so I thought I would ask a custom maker to make an interpretation of it. I had just read about Audra Draper, and then I met her... I asked her to do an interpretation...
I'm not trying to steal your thread, but just trying to share something I think is quite close, and just as close to my dream interpretation as are all of the ones you've posted, especially Don Hanson III's! That was stunning!
Click to expand...

Thanks for those nice compliments. I've had a few of Audra's knives, and she makes some nice ones. Many of hers show Ed Fowler's influence, and of course, she was one of his protogee's at one time. That top one in the photo is a nice knife. I like just a little more drop toward the butt of the handle, and I find that a straight-bottomed ricasso coming off a guard that's thin enough to fit comfortably between middle and index fingers offers plenty of security without a choil. Also, given my druthers, I prefer the edge to come away from the ricasso at a downward angle, both to develop a deeper bely for skinning and to hold material firmly against the edge in a pull cut. But to most, those would be very minor differences. You and I certainly share an appreciation for many features shown in that knife. Congratulations--those are keepers! :thumbup:
 
Will,
I totally hear what you're saying! I, too, like the deeper belly your version has. However, for some reason, I really like the developed choil that the top one in my pic has. I also believe my blade is about an inch and a half longer than yours.
But I will say, any of the ones you've shown, by any of those makers, would really look great sitting along side mine in a collection!
If anything, you've inspired me to explore the design of that top one with other makers. I think due to a few threads a few years ago, that maybe it was sort of frowned upon to try and ask other makers to "duplicate" another maker's design.
Maybe if I tell them that I'm more interested in their interpretation as opposed to exact duplication?
Anyway, I look forward to your next maker's interpretation of your model!
 
Peter, and for whoever might enjoy this, I'm no photographer but did snap this shot of all seven of these I've received to date:

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Starting clockwise with the knife at the top, it's by Rick Dunkerley in 10V and amber stag, then the Hanson in ladder damascus and mammoth, then this most recent S90V knife of Stuart's, then the engraved-guard Bradshaw in ladder damascus and pre-ban elephant ivory, then the Knight in W2 and walrus ivory, then Stuart's first one in 1095 and ironwood, then John White's Turkish twist and Merino sheep horn.

I know this doesn't rate as a technically proficient shot--there are better photos of each knife in the threads referenced in Post #2 above. I do still need to do something about having a professional image taken--about all this one does is to show them all together, and the perspective is not straight on so they don't compare all that faithfully here.
 
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