Ken Erickson Knives: A Retrospective

[Peregrin]

Ken, That's a fine looking jack knife. It'd go straight into my pocket too!

 

[kai76]

That's gorgeous!!

 

[waynorth]

Look what that early work has evolved to, Ken!
That is one, fine peachseed Jack! Nice choice of blades, great bone! Good pocketable pattern!

 

[richstag]

Thanks for the kind comments guys!

My customer , after seeing the pictures, told me it was going straight to his pocket:thumbup:

The slight diagonal jigging is often seen on the Schrade's. My jigging is more random however. If you study a lot of peachseed you will see that it does have a bit of rhythm and rhyme to the pattern.

I liked the color on this knife, it has some interesting hues and variation to the color.

Thanks again!

This is great to hear!

 

[quattromori]

Ken,
this, to my eyes, is a fantastic knife...meaning a knife that lives in my fantasy.
Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get a custom made knife; maybe not, but meanwhile I'm saving money on that...you never know
No idea of how long it will take, or if it will happen, but time will tell. I also often wonder which knife I would ask for, when the time comes (and money is enough). The most common idea that comes to my mind is asking you to make a knife very very similar to this one, just with a classic straight wharncliffe as secondary. So thanks for these pictures; it's like catching a glimpse of a distant yet possible goal. And congrats to the new owner, of course

Fausto

 

[J. Oeser]

Ken, that knife is awesome and once again the bone is stunning!

 

[SharpNJ]

Sweet knife. You certainly got a lot of blade in that master clip.

 

[Bastid]

That jack might just be "the" perfect pocket companion. I am not familiar with too many makers who can get as much (and in some cases as many) blade(s) and make it work in as small of a knife handle (width and length) as Ken manages. It sure is good to see that large coke bottle again knowing it went to a good home.
That knife tempted me so many times it is ridiculous.

 

[bakerg2g]

Great looking knife Ken! I like the more random jigging you did, The
color kind of looks worn a bit! makes it look used, which I like a lot.
Congrats to the new owner.

Jason

 

[GigOne]

The size of the pen blade looks great. Shorter and I think it would have made the knife look unbalanced.

Awesome stuff!

 

[ken erickson]

Thanks for the comments guys!

Here is , at least I think, an interesting build coming up. As some may know I have built a single blade electricians knife a year and half ago or so. Because of that knife I was asked if the two blade locking version interested me. Yep! What is also interesting about this knife is the fact that you push down on the master spear blade to unlock the screwdriver/wire stripper blade.

Here is a picture of the single blade version I made along with an original single blade Empire.

This picture shows an Empire that was sent to me to take apart as the master blade lost its "walk and talk". There is also a very nice example shown along side. I believe the stamp on this one is Ulster.

This picture shows a few things I think are noteworthy. This design requires a hole in the center liner that accommodates the lug that is depressed when pushing down on the spear master that unlocks the screwdriver blade. The hole looks as if it was punched with a shield punch and then modified a bit! Thoughts on this are more than welcome.
This picture also shows how important it is to oil your knives. The tang on the spear blade is worn leaving a very thin edge showing the original profile. The back spring is also very worn showing a deep divot where the tang rode. Oil, the life of the knife!

 

[waynorth]

Nice project, Ken.
I've always wondered about the details of that mechanism. Empire made a lot of those knives.
Other companies either subcontracted Empire for theirs, or copied them exactly.

I think I'll go oil my knives!

 

[richstag]

WOW, awesome knife, Ken. But the extra pics and info, as usual, are a great addition. I can't believe the wear on that knife.

 

[ken erickson]

I've always wondered about the details of that mechanism.

The kick on the master rides on the top of the lug connected to the backspring for the screwdriver blade. When you depress the master it pushes down on the lug, pushing down on the spring, unlocking the screwdriver blade.

 

[Gevonovich]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Ken!! Very interesting and looking forward to seeing the knife.

 

[J. Oeser]

Ken, I can't wait to see this. I have been wanting to make one of these for my dad to constantly breaks the tips of his knives using them as a screw driver. Please post some WIP pics, this should be a great build!

 

[waynorth]

I think I understand it. Do you forge the lug over, or leave it standing with stock removal??

 

[ken erickson]

Jared,

I will do some wip pictures on this one for sure!

Charlie,
I plan on forging over the lug for starters. If that does now work for me I will do a stock removal lug.

 

[waynorth]

Ah! Research and development! Cool. . . . .

 

[GigOne]

One of my first slipjoints (when I was a kid) was the type you had to push down on the blade to lock/unlock it. I still have it. The lock/unlock mechanism doesn't work anymore, but it brings back so many fond memories.

The two blade electricians knife is drool material.