Jon Brand/Garson-Desrosiers Regrind

Thank you all for your support and encouragement. It was a tough call to hack in to a fully finished piece like this , but I think in the end it was worth it. We are not in the business of "good enough". We are trying to create heirlooms that will please the owners for generations to come.

Thanks Steven and Jon, you provided the " push " I needed on this one.
 
Thank you all for your support and encouragement. It was a tough call to hack in to a fully finished piece like this , but I think in the end it was worth it. We are not in the business of "good enough". We are trying to create heirlooms that will please the owners for generations to come.

Thanks Steven and Jon, you provided the " push " I needed on this one.

Sure thing Adam.....you already create heirlooms, it is not something that you "try" to do....you and Haley do that the minute you put steel to heat.....heirlooms and/or knives that can be used in the hardest of environments and then displayed on a gallery wall.

I think what you are both striving for, and this is where I try to help, is to create masterpieces. Not every knife is a masterpiece....by this, I am talking about a knife where everyone who can see it wants to hold it, and is left in awe, maker and collector alike.

You are well on your way.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
this was a super rad knife before, and it certainly looks even sweeter now.
I consider it extremely lucky for me that I got to check it out at all! Pretty amazing all around, especially considering it's an integral

 
Major improvement from looking at the pictures. Shortening the harpoon clip was a nice call (IMO).
 
Nevermind, it looks good either way.. I think i prefer the second also. It didnt look bad before, just more experimental in form.

If it were truly Garsonized it would have a 3 inch handle :)

Only kidding great knife

Ain't it the truth! Ha!
 
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I like the second version better, however to my eye there's too much bolster causing the handle to blade proportions to suffer slightly.
 
I like the second version better, however to my eye there's too much bolster causing the handle to blade proportions to suffer slightly.

I think that's what David was talking about before he edited his post, and something I was going to say but didn't.

Personally, I think the longer handle was better conceived- no disrespect intended. This knife, knowing Adam as I do, saw use in the field, and for a knife this size and weight, that kick out at the back of the handle is a necessary feature informed by use, imo. Could be enough weight was removed by the blade mods and fluting to add some control with a shorter handle, but I do like a longish handle on a knife this size and weight anyway, and think the sweeping line of the original's handle end now looks truncated.

The fluting is really what did it for me; that's what took, what I thought to be a watershed piece, and put it over the top.
 
I think that the second version is much more polished and refined. Pictures can be deceiving, but in both versions there is too much metal on the handle side of the guard for my taste - I would prefer to see the scales extend down much closer to the guard. However with the second version it is not as visually apparent - although I wonder with all of that fluting or shaping near the guard whether, ironically, it would actually feel like there is less usable handle length, if you know what I mean. Anyway, given a choice I would take the second version in a heartbeat. So the advice was good, IMO.

Finally , , , I love Turkish Twist but it is a bitch to keep in line and not meandering down the blade. I can only think of a few makers who I have seen consistently get it to perfection, Jerry Rados of course being a principle name that comes to mind. It is especially tough on a large blade like this one. Very brave choice.
 
I think the changes did an some refinement to a fantastic knife.I will say it is no easy task to go back to a finished demascus blade and re work it, that takes a lot of guts.

Steve
 
You got some good advice on the shape of the blade.

Wonderful work.
 
These are interesting comments regarding the handle. It may be just the photograph angles, but aside from the fluting of the bolster, there were no changes to the handle. It is always a hard decision on an integral to choose how much bolster to leave. As many of the comments indicate, the metal bolsters give the illusion of a shorter handle. In the beginning, I had intended to flute the bolster, and it was a last minute decision not to. I used mosaic Damascus for the bolsters rather than the same twist pattern of the blade, and thought to showcase it by leaving it smooth. In the end, the result of the fluting on the bolsters adds better grip and greater control of the knife. Perhaps these snapshots will illustrate the handle proportions better. The handle is 5-1/2", and the blade is 12-1/8", so realistically the handle is almost half the length of the blade, or. 3:1 ratio. Almost the golden mean.




 
I'll go ahead and eat my hat now :)
 
Agreed with Adam... I think the pics were somewhat deceptive making the handle appear shorter when it's proportions are spot on for such a large knife.

I can't wait to see the vids of you hacking away with this one Adam! Not many people would have the guts to do so with such a beautiful piece of Damascus and ivory!
 
Hello Adam, I didn't mean to infer the handle to blade proportions were off, just that the long bolster made them appear to be off. In your photo below where the bolster is covered the handle to blade proportions appear perfect.

The handle is 5-1/2", and the blade is 12-1/8", so realistically the handle is almost half the length of the blade, or. 3:1 ratio. Almost the golden mean.

 
Integrals are always a bit tricky to make appear conventionally proportioned right... in actuality many times the bolster itself serves as the front portion of the grip.
That knife was amazing then, (I got to check it out at the Seattle show) and is amazing now... I like the fluting a lot though, as an addition.
Bravo to Adam for having the guts to rework it... of course as the maker he's the most qualifed to do that without messing it up. I do know that when I go to modify a finished knife of mine, sometimes it's very hard to put it to the grinder or whatever when starting!
 
No hat munching please :)
Salem hit it right on the head. This is a constant issue we deal with on integrals, or any knife with bolsters of similar material as the blade. Kevin is right, the bolsters always trick your eyes into seeing the handle as too short. Even worse though, are knives where the handle material appears to be the "right" Length, but results in a handle that is awkwardly long to hold. The issue is a two edged sword. The very problem we are discussing is the same feature that makes you instantly recognize a knife as an integral, which is the whole point...
 
Then again, maybe not so subtle. The fluting on the bolster, the nicely angled edge on the top of the spine, and the deepened/abbreviated "harpoon" clip IMO all come together to create a significant upgrade esthetically. That said, it must have been painful to jump back in on a knife that was already special to start with. I hope you're as pleased with the outcome as most of those commenting above.
 
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