Ken Erickson Knives: A Retrospective

Ken,

Your slogan, "Slipjoint Maker_Paying Homage to the Masters", exemplifies traditional knife making, giving new life to the past. Designs that have survived the years,

beautifully resurrected by your master craftsmanship. Truly looking forward to meeting you face to face in Atlanta.

Jeff
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I am almost as excited to see these knives as I am to see Ken in a couple of weeks. (almost) :D.
 
Bastid said:
I am almost as excited to see these knives as I am to see Ken in a couple of weeks. (almost) :D.
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Likewise Gus! This batch of knives should be headed your way Monday. I will follow up with pm

Thanks for the very kind comments on this last knife guys! It was a fun one to build.
 
First batch is doing fine Ken. My bet is that Jonah who likes to hang around the knife room is at this moment curled up next to the box with his sister.
He keeps them safe and sound (all 130 pounds of him).
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I really love jack configurations on serpentine trapper frames. That knife looks perfect!!
 
Bastid said:
First batch is doing fine Ken. My bet is that Jonah who likes to hang around the knife room is at this moment curled up next to the box with his sister.
He keeps them safe and sound (all 130 pounds of him).
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Thanks Gus, and give both Jonah and his sister a pat on the head and big thanks from me!



As many may know that follow my work I have adopted a pattern I call my JMP or Junior Michigan Pen as a standard,flagship pattern from my workbench. This knife is a slipjoint, 4 1/8 closed length. In passing I had thought about introducing a knife , even smaller, based on the JMP but with Blade approaching I let the idea go stagnate. Well fast forward a bit to a conversation with Elliott(Blues) about doing a project in yellow Micarta to compliment his yellow shadow premium stockman and low and behold, he mentions a sub 4 inch JMP! I was all on-board when he dropped a bombshell, why don't you do it in a front/mid lock version?:eek:

Today I finished up with the knife, one that I will use the term "prototype". I personally have not used the term to describe my knives, even the first of a pattern off my bench as I believe that very little is new in the folding knife world. My big challenge on this knife was to keep the lines of the JMP true and incorporate the lockbar and spring. Many vintage front/mid-locks use an extended tab that sits quite proud of the back spine. I wanted to design the knife without the bulbous extended tab but keep the full broad blade profile.

While I am quite happy with my results I will incorporate some minor design changes in future builds. Sharp eyed readers will also note a crack emanating from one of the pile side scale pins. Not as noticeable in hand as in the picture. That is one of the changes, to move the front scale pin inboard a tad, giving me much thicker material. The first picture is one of my JMP's with the following pictures of the subject knife. In keeping with the north woods flavor of the JMP, this knife will be dubbed my JMP CUB or just CUB for short.

Here are the spec's

3 3/4
CPM D2
Integral 410 frame/bolsters
Long pull
Flat ground,800 grit finish
Yellow linen Micarta scales
Pinned shield
2 oz.

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Very nice. I like the downsizing. Lots of blade in that
package. Mid lock... very old school. Well done!

Jason
 
SharpNJ said:
Nicely done Ken. I'd like to see the regular JMP available as a lockback.
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Would you prefer the lock at this location or toward the rear? Without getting too technical the neat thing about the front/mid lock is that the blade cannot be pushed further into the well and bottom out on the backspring/spacer. This allows an even fuller blade profile than otherwise would be possible without fear of denting the sharpened edge.
 
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Nice scaled down version Ken-I really like the micarta on this knife...the mid-lock seems to fit the knife just fine!!!
 
Glad you guys like it. What I envisioned when I spoke to Ken about building this was a knife suitable for EDC which at sub 4" and 2 ounces this clearly is.

Having a lockback which can be easily opened and put to work regardless of weather/temperature while incorporating a great performance steel (CPM-D2) and 3" of blade (tip to bolster) makes this one very useful package imho.

Ken never shies from a challenge and that is one of the most rewarding aspects of working with him. Considering that he put this whole thing together while in the midst of getting knives ready for the Blade Show speaks volumes about his ability to bring an idea to fruition both quickly and elegantly. Well done my friend. :thumbup:
 
I really like the yellow handles, this material is very visually appealing. Ever since I received my stockman, I have a new appreciation for these yellow scales.

I also like the CPM-D2, but have learned about a newer version by Carpenter CTS-XHP, very comparable to D2, but with 16% chromium, something I would like to try!

Hope to see this piece in Atlanta, great job Ken.

Jeff
 
VERY nice Ken! I do like the idea of eliminating the blade slap with that stationary lockbar, looks like the kick comes down almost right on top of the pivot too. I've found that even with the weaker spring of rear lockers there's still a bit of rebound on closing. BTW that standard JMP is looks fantastic!

Eric
 
Well, I guess I'll have to talk to Ken later whenever he gets back from the shop or town...but the Michigan Pen "Cub" showed up today and the little tyke is a keeper...

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Thank you, Ken. This one's already in pocket and ready to work. :cool::thumbup:
 
Thanks, James. This particular micarta is some mighty fine stuff. :thumbup:
 
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