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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Ken Erickson 4 1/8 trapper/wharnie
- Thread starter ken erickson
- Start date
Will Power
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2007
- Messages
- 33,363
Exceptional craftsmanship.
Knockout scale material there too.
Can't say I go along with the consensus about the shield though....but the owner is master here. Marvelous work.
Knockout scale material there too.
Can't say I go along with the consensus about the shield though....but the owner is master here. Marvelous work.
knowtracks
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2006
- Messages
- 3,881
alright....who's knife is this? fess up pronto.
OK but only out of my deep respect for all the work you do here at BF's, Jason.
(especially on the Cove) 
Am I fessin.I found this bark ivory a few years ago & thought it would be unquie for scale covers. I've known for some time now which pattern I wanted Ken to make. And after looking at shields for a long time, I decided that if possible I would like a shield that meant something to me. ( This is the trouble with having to wait a year for a knife, too much time to think this stuff up!)
Anyway it sure was a pleasure working with Ken on this project. He says "It feels great in the hand" and it sure looks good. Can't wait to get my hands on it!
Dave
ea42
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2006
- Messages
- 4,016
Congrats Dave, it's absolutely stunning! That's a fantastic work of art there Ken, and I do like that shield. How much fun was it inletting that one?
:thumbup: It's nice to see something different, and since a knife like that becomes an extension of its owner, having something that offers an additional connection just makes it that much better.
Eric
:thumbup: It's nice to see something different, and since a knife like that becomes an extension of its owner, having something that offers an additional connection just makes it that much better.Eric
knowtracks
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2006
- Messages
- 3,881
This beauty arrived last Monday. After a great deal of CI-ing , caressing & debating with myself ... I dropped her in my pocket. It was perfect timing, Tue. was my friends Annual Bull Sale, Registered Black Angus. He had a great turn out & did pretty well, top $ bull went for $32K. Anyway they always feed you at these sales & I sat down next to the auctioneer & proceeded to cut up my beef with Ken's knife. He asked to borrow it without really looking at the knife (he was busy talking to the cowboy on the other side of him) But what a reaction when he got it in his hand he started coon fingering that baby like it was something he'd never seen before. I swear that knife when from hand to hand all the way down the bleachers, up the next row before it found it's way back to me. Of course being a bunch of ranchers they liked the western theme. It was a great start to a new knife!
I thought it would be fitting to share with you all just what a great experience dealing with Ken Erickson is. So with his permission I will post some details & pics in progress. As I stated before I've known for a long time that I wanted a Wharncliffe Trapper of at least 4". And when I 1st saw these Mammoth Bark Ivory slabs the plan started to form. The bark reminded me of a "dry wash" kinda look which eventually lead to the horse shoe shield.
I started out with ATS-34 steel but Ken recommended CPM-154 in it's place. He said I would not be disappointed in the steel & it came a little thicker. And for a larger knife that sounded like a good idea. The blades finished out at .105 thick.
Ken 1st makes a brass plate pattern & sends the pics to show the frame & blade shape.
After discussing & fine tuning the shapes & me buggin him about every dimension on this knife. He starts in on the frame & blades.
Next he gets violently sick (sorry no pics):barf: And refuses to go to the Dr.
Then he starts to thin down the Ivory but we are both worried about a couple of deep checks in the bark. He kinda left it up to me because I supplied the material & he was really just caught in the middle. Anyway we eventually figured , Hell Columbus took a chance! And it came out good!
Originally I had asked for a rat-tail on the bolster but as the knife started to come together Ken said his opinion was to leave the bolster plain. Now that I have the knife I see his wisdom & eye for the overall composition of the knife. After all he is the professional here. Simple yet elegant with a western look, just what I was looking for.
Now for the specs of the knife.
As you know she's 4 1/8" closed.
Blades are 3 1/4" long by .700 wide on Clip & .550 on the Warn.
The Clip blade has a slight recurve.
Both sit perfectly even in the frame.
Springs are flush in all 3 positions.
Liners are milled for relief.
The lock-up is perfect.
And Ken did an excellent job making & inletting the shield.
And i gotta tell ya this knife feels GREAT in the hand.
Great job Ken... another satisfied customer.
Dave
he started coon fingering that baby like it was something he'd never seen before. I swear that knife when from hand to hand all the way down the bleachers, up the next row before it found it's way back to me. Of course being a bunch of ranchers they liked the western theme. It was a great start to a new knife!I thought it would be fitting to share with you all just what a great experience dealing with Ken Erickson is. So with his permission I will post some details & pics in progress. As I stated before I've known for a long time that I wanted a Wharncliffe Trapper of at least 4". And when I 1st saw these Mammoth Bark Ivory slabs the plan started to form. The bark reminded me of a "dry wash" kinda look which eventually lead to the horse shoe shield.
I started out with ATS-34 steel but Ken recommended CPM-154 in it's place. He said I would not be disappointed in the steel & it came a little thicker. And for a larger knife that sounded like a good idea. The blades finished out at .105 thick.
Ken 1st makes a brass plate pattern & sends the pics to show the frame & blade shape.
After discussing & fine tuning the shapes & me buggin him about every dimension on this knife. He starts in on the frame & blades.
Next he gets violently sick (sorry no pics):barf: And refuses to go to the Dr.
Then he starts to thin down the Ivory but we are both worried about a couple of deep checks in the bark. He kinda left it up to me because I supplied the material & he was really just caught in the middle. Anyway we eventually figured , Hell Columbus took a chance!
And it came out good!
Originally I had asked for a rat-tail on the bolster but as the knife started to come together Ken said his opinion was to leave the bolster plain. Now that I have the knife I see his wisdom & eye for the overall composition of the knife. After all he is the professional here. Simple yet elegant with a western look, just what I was looking for.
Now for the specs of the knife.
As you know she's 4 1/8" closed.
Blades are 3 1/4" long by .700 wide on Clip & .550 on the Warn.
The Clip blade has a slight recurve.
Both sit perfectly even in the frame.
Springs are flush in all 3 positions.
Liners are milled for relief.
The lock-up is perfect.
And Ken did an excellent job making & inletting the shield.
And i gotta tell ya this knife feels GREAT in the hand.
Great job Ken... another satisfied customer.
Dave
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2008
- Messages
- 3,681
Absolutely gogeous!!