I got the call...

[Lorien]

...and I'm hoping that some of you can help me out.

While I intend to design the knife mostly on my own, (well, collaboratively) it would still help me out a lot if I had a good selection of Jason Knight's previous works to start with and get a better feel for where he's coming from with his approach to making knives.

So, if you have any photos or links to photos of Jason Knight's knives, I'd really like to see them. I'm sure many others would benefit from such a compendium as well

 

[JParanee]

Jason IMHO is one of the finest Smiths out there. He is also a fantastic guy and we are getting to be friends I think

His work especially his trademark fighters are instantly reconizable and he owns in my opinion this style no one does it better.

I know he can make anything but I would jump on one of his big fighters

Coop took a wonderful pic of mine from Blade this year

Here is the Wilson Combat Knife .. Wish it was mine

 

[Lorien]

Joe, that is a fantastic knife! I hope you don't mind, I added it to my 'virtual collection'

I'm pretty excited about this project. I've been rifling through my various designs to find something that might start the process, and so far I've found a couple, and drawn out a couple, which I think might lead to something really neat.

I'm really liking the looks of these two little guys;

and thanks to Les Robertson and his camera, (hope you don't mind, Les) here is pretty much the knife that sent me in Jason Knight's direction to begin with;

 

[Kevin Jones]

The owner of this little beauty is very pleased with it.

 

[Murray White]

here is one I was fortunate to obtain last year

 

[Jon Brand]

Lorien those little hunters are nice. One thing though, is that the ones ive handled all had small handles for my hand. I'd go with a fighter.

 

[C.Edmondson]

Those "FUG" bowies are awesome to me! Man I love those things

 

[Doug C]

It's the little one on top.
Carolina Bowie, 10" 1084 walrus and one of his JS test knives.
Acquired this from ptgdvc.

 

[Burt Foster]

Lorien,

Jason is one of my best friends, so I know him and his work very well. We are big fans of each other's work, so if I were getting Jason to build me one and only one knife that would sum up what he does, this would be it:

If I wanted to use it:
Chopper
Recurved blade, 9-10" long.
Forged textured spine, scotch brite edge
Bronze guard
Sandblasted desert ironwood handle

If I just wanted to look at it and weep:
Bowie
Recurved blade with clip point, hand finished
Peaked spine with long swedge grind on clip
Satin stainless guard
Africal blackwood handle with some carving - not just texturing.

Most don't know, but Jason's a very good wood carver. He used to carve all his handles, but he realized he was losing money on the time he put into them, so he stopped. He's started to do it again, but it's mostly texturing. I'd talk him into doing a one-of-a-kind carved piece to flow into the design. It would be amazing.

Come to think of it, maybe I will ask him. OK, the above information is now proprietary, and is intended for entertainment purposes only. Any attempt to actually order either of the above knives will meet with severe internet forum, angry-face, non-smilies like this: :grumpy:

You are warned...

 

[Lorien]

Come to think of it, maybe I will ask him. OK, the above information is now proprietary, and is intended for entertainment purposes only. Any attempt to actually order either of the above knives will meet with severe internet forum, angry-face, non-smilies like this: :grumpy:

You are warned...

Burt, that is some funny stuff
But, it's your fault I won't be getting anything too fancy, what with your cool little darkknives project! When it rains, it pours, I tells ya.

Jason invited me to submit a design or two to show him what I have in mind for this project. He saw my avatar, and figured a picture is worth a thousand words, so long as I can draw something up.

For me, as I navigate my way into this custom cutlery field, I am finding more and more that I can take many of the stylistic motifs from whichever knife maker I have an opportunity to work with, put them on paper and add my own spin. By emptying the contents of my head onto a piece of paper, it means a lot less work for the guy making the knife, and a better end result in me getting what I want- the knife of my dreams.

I'm not good enough to come up with something completely new, but if I have something I can sort of copy and modify then I'm all good. Must be all those years of formal art training Besides, my working life is mostly about maintaining things that already exist, not creating new things, (unfortunately? Grass is always greener on the other side...til you smoke it, then it's just smoke).

Anyway, here is what I have. It is inspired by Jason's camp knife design, mainly;

I prefer a leaf shaped blade with very thick stock, a severe taper and a very high grind. It's almost a little nesmukky really. Not the best wood chopping knife, but I have a chainsaw, (two, actually) and several axes for that purpose. This knife would serve as a tool to remove springy stringy vegetation like Scotch Broom, Salal, ferns and Salmonberry.

This is a cool knife which I wish I had better pictures of.

 

[Michael Starr]

Lorien - No matter what you order from Jason, it will be incredible!!!

Here's one along the lines of what you sketched out...

Good luck with making the final decision...don't forget to post pictures.

 

[Michael Starr]

Couple more for you -

As Joe mentioned, I can't think of anyone how does this design better.

Classic Knight!!!

 

[Bladeandbarrel]

Lorien,
I would recommend letting Jason design your dream knife. That leaf shaped thing doesn't look at all what he is best known for. My suggestion is to let the artist make what he likes to make with limited input by you. His knives look like they do for a reason-they have been extensively tested and tweaked over the years and have developed into a recognizeable style.

 

[Burt Foster]

I'll second that. Even if I were to order a knife from Jason, I'd give no more guidance than I listed in my post above.

To appreciate how well designed his knives are, you should watch Jason with a sketch pad and pencil. He draws like an artist. He starts with a long curve, or a big, soft "S". Then he starts filling in lines, but as he does it, every line runs with or to this big sweeping line he started with. When he's done with the final drawing, you can see why it flows the way it does. Everything has a common thread. Looking at a finished Knight, it's hard to see where that line is, but believe me it's there, and you can see it if only subconsciously.

Agree on a price range and a basic direction. Jason will always give you more than you expect.

 

[jjtjr]

Bladeandbarrel wrote:

Lorien,
I would recommend letting Jason design your dream knife. That leaf shaped thing doesn't look at all what he is best known for. My suggestion is to let the artist make what he likes to make with limited input by you. His knives look like they do for a reason-they have been extensively tested and tweaked over the years and have developed into a recognizeable style.

I agree.

 

[Doberman_Dave]

"Chopchort"

Knight Chin Bowie
13" blade and really a fun knife to cut with.

Hi Lorien,
Here are some crappy pics of a couple more by Jason and another voice against messing with the design too much. I'd go as far as to say what I'd plan to use the knife for and suggest design about like Burt.

 

[Lorien]

Lorien,
I would recommend letting Jason design your dream knife. That leaf shaped thing doesn't look at all what he is best known for. My suggestion is to let the artist make what he likes to make with limited input by you. His knives look like they do for a reason-they have been extensively tested and tweaked over the years and have developed into a recognizeable style.

I think that this is great advice, Anthony. Jason had asked me to sketch something up along the lines of what I would like, and this is what came of that. Maybe it's a starting point, and at this stage, I'm just going to kind of leave the ball in his court. He is the master bladesmith, after all, and I am a neophyte rookie newb amateur

Michael Starr- that camp knife is the bomb:thumbup:

 

[SBranson]

I'll second that. Even if I were to order a knife from Jason, I'd give no more guidance than I listed in my post above.

To appreciate how well designed his knives are, you should watch Jason with a sketch pad and pencil. He draws like an artist. He starts with a long curve, or a big, soft "S". Then he starts filling in lines, but as he does it, every line runs with or to this big sweeping line he started with. When he's done with the final drawing, you can see why it flows the way it does. Everything has a common thread. Looking at a finished Knight, it's hard to see where that line is, but believe me it's there, and you can see it if only subconsciously.

Agree on a price range and a basic direction. Jason will always give you more than you expect.

Great post Burt. I am really quite inspired by that description of his process.

 

[JParanee]

Lorien not that you are not talented in design but I agree in that you should tell Jason what you want it for and then let him have at it.You won;t be dissapointed he really is that good at his craft

 

[mike deibert]

Lorien,

I'll bet all these pics that the guys are posting are killing you! They sure are making me lust. There has been some really great design advice here, especially by Burt. Whatever you decide to do I'm sure Jason will put together a beautiful piece for you. Please post pics as soon as you can. All of us would love to see what piece of artwork you get to call your own.
Mike