Ken Erickson Knives: A Retrospective

Rhidian said:
Hi Ken it's great to meet you on here if not in person yet. I'm one of the new generation of traditional makers that has been inspired by your amazing work.
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Rhidian said:
Hi Ken it's great to meet you on here if not in person yet. I'm one of the new generation of traditional makers that has been inspired by your amazing knives. I'm a good friend of Charlie's and live near him so I've seen a lot of your work first hand and it has taught me what perfect fit and finish looks like. You are a legend, sir.
Rhidian
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I agree. Ken is an artist also , one that knows details and nuances of patterns. It's great to see him online.
 
Rhidian said:
Hi Ken it's great to meet you on here if not in person yet. I'm one of the new generation of traditional makers that has been inspired by your amazing knives. I'm a good friend of Charlie's and live near him so I've seen a lot of your work first hand and it has taught me what perfect fit and finish looks like. You are a legend, sir.
Rhidian
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ken erickson said:
Thank you sir! I just checked out your thread and wow! Great work and good selection of traditional patterns and patterns of your own with your spin.
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Wonderful!! Two generations meeting!! 😲
A couple of the world's greatest knifemakers!!!😁
I have been fortunate to "taste" several custom knives, and you two represent the cream of your respective crops!!!:cool:First HJ ala VF 1.jpgHJ Jigged 3.jpg
 
ken erickson said:
Thank you sir! I just checked out your thread and wow! Great work and good selection of traditional patterns and patterns of your own with your spin.
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Thanks so much Ken. I've got your iknifecollector page bookmarked and look through the photos regularly. I hope those photos never leave the web!
waynorth said:
Wonderful!! Two generations meeting!! 😲
A couple of the world's greatest knifemakers!!!😁
I have been fortunate to "taste" several custom knives, and you two represent the cream of your respective crops!!!:cool:View attachment 2666130View attachment 2666131
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Thanks so much Charlie!!
 
ken erickson ken erickson I find it impressive & dignified that you say that one reason you drew back from knife-making is that you were concerned that you couldn't take it further or retain the level of finish that you were pleased with. Takes a lot of integrity & self-respect to air that, many lesser artisans would have gone on regardless. However, you are being far to harsh on yourself :) I believe you may now have arrived at an ideal point: you just mothballed your workshop rather than broke it up, your other interests & projects are ticking over nicely so maybe you could start making a few knives over the long winter? Why not make what YOU want to make rather than customer commissions? That way it's win-win, what you make is what you are pleased with and the connoisseurs will be more than pleased to buy what you make available 😍

Regards, Will
 
Will Power said:
ken erickson ken erickson I find it impressive & dignified that you say that one reason you drew back from knife-making is that you were concerned that you couldn't take it further or retain the level of finish that you were pleased with. Takes a lot of integrity & self-respect to air that, many lesser artisans would have gone on regardless. However, you are being far to harsh on yourself :) I believe you may now have arrived at an ideal point: you just mothballed your workshop rather than broke it up, your other interests & projects are ticking over nicely so maybe you could start making a few knives over the long winter? Why not make what YOU want to make rather than customer commissions? That way it's win-win, what you make is what you are pleased with and the connoisseurs will be more than pleased to buy what you make available 😍

Regards, Will
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Well said, Will!!
 
One thing I always appreciated about ken erickson ken erickson was his willingness to take on commissions, not simply orders. He was/is a true custom knife maker. It's one thing to reach out to a maker and say, "Please make me a Model 7 in CPM154 with Black Diamond Richlite covers." Most makers operate that way.

Ken on the other hand, was one of the few makers you could ask to recreate a priceless knife, an old sentimental favorite so valuable that you dare not risk carrying it due to the possibility of loss.

Check out James' dad's knife and the Erickson he carries in its stead.
 
Had a chance to catch up with Ken today for a couple of hours. He sounds great...and is doing great. I think he's gonna dust off some of the old equipment and see if those old knife making muscles are still feeling it. Either way, I'm super excited and happy to have him back in the community.
 
Please do not judge too harshly! LOL I had to start somewhere.

I think this knife was about number 4 or 5 for me. My journey building slip joints started when I won a Ebay auction for a really nice used 6 x 12 hand operated surface grinder for $560. Wow, I struggled thru the first dozen knives or so before things started to "click".

This knife is one of only a handful that feature German nickel liners and soldered bolsters. Crazy looking slanted plunge line, not sure what you would call the frame pattern and blade shape! The nail nick was done post heat treat using a shaped grinding wheel on the surface grinder and then plunge grinding. While functional, the nail nick is not as sharp and defined as when using a shaped fly cutter pre heat treat, which is the method I eventually went to. Nail nicks IMHO are super important that they are done correct on handmade slip joints.

This is one of those rare knives that feature a flush back spring in only one of the three positions! LOL. At least it does have half stops. Notice the back spring in the picture with the blade at half top position. Yikes!

I had thrown this knife in a box of rejects on my work bench and one day my father was visiting and noticed it setting in the box, he liked the very green jigged bone, and I gifted it to him. He was either being really kind or did think it was the bee's knees as he kept it on his desk up at his cabin till the day he passed.

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waynorth said:
I still have several of Ken's knives, including this one, a gift which Ken suggested was his first!! 😲 Thanks again, Ken!!:cool:View attachment 2667754View attachment 2667755View attachment 2667756
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You're welcome Charlie!
I enjoyed you challenging me with different patterns, punch blades etc.

Yes, that was my very first slip joint.
I have an interesting story to go along with that knife. After I finished it I talked with a slip joint maker that happened to live fairly close to me that I was friends with. It was early one morning, he mentioned he was going to be in the area if I remember correctly and said he would stop in to look at it the next afternoon. I was fiddling with the knife right after talking with him on the phone. I was opening and closing it and , dang! The back spring broke! I quickly disassembled it and that day made a new back spring and had it working by the time he showed up the next day. I THINK both the blade steel and back spring is O1 on that knife.
 
ken erickson said:
You're welcome Charlie!
I enjoyed you challenging me with different patterns, punch blades etc.

Yes, that was my very first slip joint.
I have an interesting story to go along with that knife. After I finished it I talked with a slip joint maker that happened to live fairly close to me that I was friends with. It was early one morning, he mentioned he was going to be in the area if I remember correctly and said he would stop in to look at it the next afternoon. I was fiddling with the knife right after talking with him on the phone. I was opening and closing it and , dang! The back spring broke! I quickly disassembled it and that day made a new back spring and had it working by the time he showed up the next day. I THINK both the blade steel and back spring is O1 on that knife.
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Thanks for that back-story, Ken!! The spring is still working great!!! ;)
And BTWFirst HJ ala VF 1.jpgFirst HJ ala VF 2.jpgFirst HJ ala VF 3.jpg
You make a fantastic punch!! Cuts a perfect hole in leather!!👍
 
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