- Joined
- Feb 28, 2002
- Messages
- 13,348
I pretty much always have an order on the books with Bailey Bradshaw – and have had for years. Getting the e-mail that my order is approaching the top of the list is something I really look forward to. This time ‘round, the project we had on paper was a forged integral camp knife and companion hunter / utility. Not a lot of details had been worked out, save that I wanted a good 11” plus of blade length on the camp knife, and 5” or so for the smaller blade.
Some time ago I had seen a picture of a really unique-looking integral re-curve clip-point camp knife by Bailey that appealed to me in a big way. We decided that it would be the starting point for the big knife in my set (dial-up users may wish to view the pictures here: http://www.fototime.com/inv/33224F28E118ACC )
The two significant differences would be that I wanted my blade rendered in damascus, and the handles in premium wood – preferably snakewood if good pieces could be sourced.
As usual, there was great communication with Bailey as the project unfolded. As it happened, not long after the smaller knife had been forged out Bailey acquired some nice pieces of stag and canvassed with me the possibility of going that route for the pair. He even sent me pics of the stag pieces alongside the small blade so that I could both select my individual pieces and more easily visualize how the end product would look.
As a HUGE fan of stag, I was very sorely tempted and lost some sleep trying to come to a decision. The decision was ultimately taken out of my hands, as none of pieces Bailey tried were quite long enough for the big blade. I had kind of been leaning toward staying with the original plan, so this development came as something of a relief. But choice is always good and I certainly appreciated the option being presented.
After a brief and most worthwhile detour to Coop, the knives made their way to me. Colour me happy.
Both blades are damascus steel forged of W1 and L6. Both feature striking snakewood handles and have been embellished with gold inlay around the integral bolsters and along the spine-side of the blades. The big one is about a foot of shimmering steel from tip to bolster, with an overall length of 17 ¼”. It is 1 ¾” wide at its widest point. The little one is a solid 5 ½” of blade with an overall length of 10 1/8”.
Each knife came with a hand-sewn sheath by the maker as shown in the photo below:
You can also see the additional gold inlay work in the blued damascus butt cap of the large blade.
Having the benefit of Coop’s substantial talent, I need make no apologies for the photos falling short of showing just how good the knives look. But what no photo can tell you is how the knife feels in the hand, and here, the big knife was something of a surprise. As in how quick and well-balanced it is for such a large blade. And how comfortable and secure the sculpted handle feels in hand. I would really love to take a few swipes at some free-hanging rope with this blade. I bet I’d be knee-high in foot-long pieces in no time at all.
As always it was a pleasure working with Bailey. I am already looking forward to our next project.
Roger
Some time ago I had seen a picture of a really unique-looking integral re-curve clip-point camp knife by Bailey that appealed to me in a big way. We decided that it would be the starting point for the big knife in my set (dial-up users may wish to view the pictures here: http://www.fototime.com/inv/33224F28E118ACC )
The two significant differences would be that I wanted my blade rendered in damascus, and the handles in premium wood – preferably snakewood if good pieces could be sourced.
As usual, there was great communication with Bailey as the project unfolded. As it happened, not long after the smaller knife had been forged out Bailey acquired some nice pieces of stag and canvassed with me the possibility of going that route for the pair. He even sent me pics of the stag pieces alongside the small blade so that I could both select my individual pieces and more easily visualize how the end product would look.
As a HUGE fan of stag, I was very sorely tempted and lost some sleep trying to come to a decision. The decision was ultimately taken out of my hands, as none of pieces Bailey tried were quite long enough for the big blade. I had kind of been leaning toward staying with the original plan, so this development came as something of a relief. But choice is always good and I certainly appreciated the option being presented.
After a brief and most worthwhile detour to Coop, the knives made their way to me. Colour me happy.
Both blades are damascus steel forged of W1 and L6. Both feature striking snakewood handles and have been embellished with gold inlay around the integral bolsters and along the spine-side of the blades. The big one is about a foot of shimmering steel from tip to bolster, with an overall length of 17 ¼”. It is 1 ¾” wide at its widest point. The little one is a solid 5 ½” of blade with an overall length of 10 1/8”.
Each knife came with a hand-sewn sheath by the maker as shown in the photo below:
You can also see the additional gold inlay work in the blued damascus butt cap of the large blade.
Having the benefit of Coop’s substantial talent, I need make no apologies for the photos falling short of showing just how good the knives look. But what no photo can tell you is how the knife feels in the hand, and here, the big knife was something of a surprise. As in how quick and well-balanced it is for such a large blade. And how comfortable and secure the sculpted handle feels in hand. I would really love to take a few swipes at some free-hanging rope with this blade. I bet I’d be knee-high in foot-long pieces in no time at all.
As always it was a pleasure working with Bailey. I am already looking forward to our next project.
Roger
