Ken Erickson Knives: A Retrospective

All food for thought! Kevin, Love that stag on your Grandpa's knife. That would work well on this one:) Pre-ban Ivory is something I seriously considered on this knife(and it may still be an option). I did discuss stage with John L. and when he gets back to St. Louis in a week he is going to send a bunch for me to look at. I am going to have to put this knife on hold for a bit but think it will be worth the wait.

Charlie, do you know the process that Empire used to blacken stag?
 
I don't mean to 'hijack' the thread in any way - but i thought everyone here could appreciate this and its sort of on topic.. the is apparently made with bulls horn and the bottom i believe is ivory but i could be wrong.. this gem was tucked away in a random thread an I'm not sure everyone got to see it.. if its too much the mods can remove it.. can some one tell me what the little piece with the tortoise shell looking handles are/is?


SharpByCoop said:
A few years ago I displayed this fifties-era Loveless hunter with stacked leather handles and a worn patina on the blade. It garnished a lot of OOH'S and AHH'S, as it was a foundation for an Empire. This knife was owned and displayed by dealer Art Green (NCCA Board member).
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I stopped by Art's showcase this year and he had a project we felt needed showcasing and preserving visually.

This year (?) he had traveled to London with Tommy(?) from Blue Ridge Cutlery, and they were looking to purchase a collection of 400 knives. Art purchased the two I am showing below and a couple of other 'Horseman's' knives. (He tells me he loaned a couple to C. Gray Taylor for his inspection, and Gray created a custom version which is displayed proudly in DDD's AKI thread, and also helped him win the Buster Warenski Award) Tommy from BRC bought the bulk of the collection.

The hallmark on the silver fruit blade reveals the age of the silver, and he tells me it dates to 1803. He would know, and I believe him.

Yes, I said it was made in 1803!

Here it is with it's presentation case
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Both sides
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Look at this closely: That looks like fileworked liners, but it's really MORE blades.
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The other side shows how clever the maker fitted the implements. Also those J-tools encase little storage compartments, where out pours a myriad of extra tools and scissors. :eek:
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In ALL it's glory.
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Art Green also brought me another specialty knife from Asprey of London. This one probably dates from the turn of the 20th Century (1900's).

There are counters for different amounts of fowl: Pheasants, Partridges, Grouse, Other, etc. Also are small numbered markers to designate each hunter's position. (?) (I'm not sure, and I've asked Art to help fill me in. My memory is failing me in his description.)

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You can see those are shell-pulling tools for the different gauge shotguns.
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I told Art these were among the highlights of MY show. It's hard to not honor the past brilliant makers, when you see so much brilliance in the present.

I appreciate all your views and comments. As I do with any show I work at, I make it a point to showcase the client's knives. :thumbup:

Thank you.

Jim and Susan
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Thanks for posting ISKski, Very inspirational to me to see complex knives such as these. :thumbup:
 
Ken and Charlie: The Empire knives have stag that is suspicicously looking like a heavy burn with potassium permanganate. Remember....PP is an oxidizer, not a dye, so....if you put the stag in a solution for 10-15 seconds it burns a bit on the surface. If you put it in for an hour, with the right pc of stag..it turns almost jet black. Every piece of stag is a bit different but you can get a really black piece with PP quite easily. WIth some stag it is difficult to achieve a semi-polished surface with a verk dark surface...notice the Empire knives above. If you start with a polished piece of stag to begin with or a smooth piece...it is easier to achieve a polished surface after burning....less so with a rough piece. I also have some colored preban ele ivory if you would like to see a few pieces Ken. These pieces come from near the bark...almost like sapwood in lumber....the first 1/4 - 3/4" of the surface on some tusks.
 
We stiil need a tiny baseball bat "bloodstick" to rap the fleams with. My god the skill going into
these knives then and now is amazing.
Ken.
 
darken the stag. A lot of those knifes are 200 year old they all darken. I personally think the stag is great ;although, my vote doesn't count or shouldn't.
 
Hey that's cool! Will diesel fuel do the same?

I think that stag is really nice too. A makers got to go with his gut right?

Thanks for the info Rick. I appreciate it.
 
Impressive cutlery ISKski! Wow!

My friend in CT and I both suspect that Potassium Permanganate is the stuff, Ken. Repeated dipping, or soaking; you would probably have to experiment with some pieces first.
 
Hey Ken, I remember Ryuichi (sp) told us how he darkens the stag he uses by creating a "tea" using the outer skins from about a gazillion onions (and other stuff I don't remember at the moment) and boiled the stag in it. His stag is almost black. If you're interested, I will try to dig up that recipe.
 
John L said:
Ken and Charlie: The Empire knives have stag that is suspicicously looking like a heavy burn with potassium permanganate. Remember....PP is an oxidizer, not a dye, so....if you put the stag in a solution for 10-15 seconds it burns a bit on the surface. If you put it in for an hour, with the right pc of stag..it turns almost jet black. Every piece of stag is a bit different but you can get a really black piece with PP quite easily. WIth some stag it is difficult to achieve a semi-polished surface with a verk dark surface...notice the Empire knives above. If you start with a polished piece of stag to begin with or a smooth piece...it is easier to achieve a polished surface after burning....less so with a rough piece. I also have some colored preban ele ivory if you would like to see a few pieces Ken. These pieces come from near the bark...almost like sapwood in lumber....the first 1/4 - 3/4" of the surface on some tusks.
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Thanks for your input John, I pretty much have decided stag has got to go on this one. Have a good trip back home and looking forward to seeing what you send.

rickmenefee said:
darken the stag. A lot of those knifes are 200 year old they all darken. I personally think the stag is great ;although, my vote doesn't count or shouldn't.
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Rick,
I appreciate your thoughts anytime! The stag really is nice stag, but just not the look I was shooting for on this particular knife. I think any other project I would have been tickled pink with this stag.

KnifeHead said:
Hey Ken, I remember Ryuichi (sp) told us how he darkens the stag he uses by creating a "tea" using the outer skins from about a gazillion onions (and other stuff I don't remember at the moment) and boiled the stag in it. His stag is almost black. If you're interested, I will try to dig up that recipe.
Click to expand...

Depending on what John sends me next week, I may ask you for the recipe, thanks!



Here is a picture of the stag after a bit of darkening with PP. While confident it would continue to darken, I just really do not like the texture ,openness on this knife. I also ended up grinding too much off the top.

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Ken,

I am with you on this one, the pattern on the stag seems somewhat inappropriate on this particular knife.

I find you should always follow your first impulse, it's usually the choice that will work out the best in the long run.

Great knife to be made better by using darker stag with less figure removed from the surface, my opinion of course.

Take care, Jeff
 
While waiting on stag for the horseman's knife I had a chance to work on knives for Blade Show in June. Here is the first of these, a 3 5/8 shadow swayback in 154cm, burgandy G10.

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Here is a knife I also have on my bench at the moment, being built for a BF member. I am excited about this build. This is a slightly longer than 3 1/2 Eureka jack. This will be my first Eureka jack, although I have made a couple of cattle knives based on the Eureka pattern. This is just a cool pattern all the way round, from the curves , to the slender pen blade with hidden kick , wonderful swedging, fine long pull on the master, rat-tailed/threaded bolsters and great bone. The biggest departure from the Carrier is the extension spring for the pen blade. We have not nailed down the shield as of yet. Here are a few pictures. This little knife really has it all! Comments more than welcome.

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