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JD WARE Damascus Steel Pen Knife

JDWARE

JDWARE

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Joined
Nov 28, 2011
Messages
276
Slip-Joint Pen Knife with "Antique" Ivory Micarta; blade and spring of .100 Carbon Damascus steel

Closed length is 2-7/8”” (without thong loop) The Blade is 2” and Flat ground; Fine Thumb Serrations; Geometric file work; Brass liners; Nickel Silver pins and file-worked top bolsters; The Silver Escutcheon is made from a 19th century Mexican Silver coin.

This knife is “under-bladed” meaning that in the open position, the spine of the blade is just slightly lower than the top surface of the back-spring. This is an intentional design element that is typical of old Sheffield knives. Without this feature, over time, as a knife is used, the blade will want to “climb up” over the back spring. The back-spring itself is flush with the liners in the open and closed positions. There is no half-stop. The knife opens with a medium-easy pull. The Liners are not relieved - instead, the blade is .010" thinner than the spring and two .005" bronze washers are fit to protect the blade from rubbing. The blade is well centered when closed.

Included is a handmade Crocodile leather pocket sheath. $525 (including shipping via FedEx economical insured to US, Canada or Mexico. $15 extra to most of EU. By quote elsewhere)

If you'd like, I can engrave up to three initials in the Coin Silver Escutcheon for an additional $25

It's been a few years since I've posted here, but I've continued to make and sell knives. I am a full time knifemaker working in Merida, Yucatan Mexico. I use almost exclusively local handle materials that I gather and mill or process myself. Dense tropical hardwoods as well as wild and ranched Yucatecan deer, cow, bull and water buffalo horns from Campeche. Leathers are from Guanajauto and Campeche, Mexico

The silver escutcheons are made from old Mexican and Spanish Colonial silver coins and are pinned through the liners. You can still see some of the surface irregularities of the coins. All of the pins are hammered over and left slightly proud of the handle. The decorative file work and carving are precise and carefully done, but you can also see that it was done by hand – I don’t sand or polish the file-cuts.

Please checkout my website for more information about my work JDWARE KNIVES

If you want to purchase this knife or have questions or comments, post here, pm me, or contact me through my website. I accept PayPal.

Thanks for looking
J
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Absolutely stunning knife! How is the silver blocking behind the writing accomplished over the damascus?
 
Thank you for your likes and comments.

re. the question about the "silver blocking" ........ before etching the Damascus, I etch my makers marks electro-chemically with a stencil. Next, I mask-off the marks. Then etch the Damascus to bring out the pattern.
Saludos
J
 
abcdef said:
Haven't seen you in a while. That is a nifty knife.
Click to expand...
Yes, I know, it's been a while. I still work "full time" but, it seems that the more I research and learn about my work and understand the processes, the longer it takes me to make a knife.

For example, after rough grinding, I'm now using mainly finishing stones, instead of sandpaper or grinding belts on the blades. I find the stones produce a much flatter surface.

I also spend a lot of time chasing down materials - I finally found a source in Tabasco for Logwood..... the wood shavings are added to the boiling water used to straighten the Red Deer Antlers I collect from a local ranch. An iron mordant is added to "fix" the color and turn the natural purple logwood color to black. Sheffield horn workers used the same technique in the 18th, 19th and early twentieth centuries to boil and straighten deer antler. The Logwood trade has a fascinating history - partly romantic with pirates and sailing ships, and partly violent and exploitative with slavery and environmental destruction. Fortunately, many former Logwood forests are being restored on the land which had been logged and cleared to raise cattle.

I'm now using vegetable oil instead of water to heat and straighten the bull horns I collect from La Corrida. The horn is much more pliable and holds the flattened shape better (although the color is slightly altered. This also requires a little greater care than boiling in hot water....... a little too long, or too hot and the horn is ruined.

Last year I built a small surface grinder from parts I mostly collected at a scrap yard. It's based around am old, heavy Baldor Buffer and an electromagnetic workholder. No ball bearings, just heavy steel on steel slides, but it's able to hold tolerances of between .0005 and .001". It's one more step in the process, but the results are worth the time.

Took a day trip to the Wotach Aayin Crocodile Farm in Celestun to get the hide for the pocket sheath for this knife. There's just no way to do this "online" here...in person is the only way. There are more and more sightings lately of large Crocodiles crossing the streets in small towns along the beaches here!

I like this knife a lot. It's a nice size for a pocket knife. It looks and feels good in the hand, and I think it will age gracefully in use.

Saludos
J
 
Some of the work I do:

first photo is of a couple of my "Cien Clavos" Knives with Bull Horn handles made for a Mexican collector.

iNext is me at La Corrida in Merida cutting horns from the Bull. I take them back to my workshop to prepare them. First I boil them to remove the inner bone and membranes. Then I cut them in manageable pieces. They are softened in hot canola oil, then pressed flat for twenty four hours. It's best to let them rest for months to stabilize. The horn near the base is translucent, so I back it with 24kt Gold Leaf I buy from a gold beater in Venice, Italy..... he still hammers it by hand. I try to leave as much surface texture in the horn as I can to show the scars the Bull has acquired in its life

Last photo is of the "Mulillero" He's responsible for the mules that bring the bulls from the ring. In Spain, they traditionally wear a white shirt and blue pants, but here in Merida it's reversed.
Saludos
J

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