Kerry Hampton Knives

I finished this little guy this morning, 3 1/4" Jigged Bone Bose Swayback Jack shadow. I love these small Swaybacks. ;)

Stats:
3 1/4" closed
Blade and spring steel is 154CM, 3/32" thickness
Blade Rockwell hardness 60-61
Blade edge thickness is .011"
KH dyed and jigged bone scales

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Ooh...me likey. Nice job contouring the covers. Nicely radiused, without removing the bone's jigging. :thumbsup:
 
That is a great looking Swayback!! It is perfect!! Excellent jigging and color! Beautiful workmanship!

I shared these photos with Kerry and thought I would put them here if that is okay. When Tony was building my Saddlehorn, he showed me how he prevents the jigging being worn off in the finishing process. He would shape up the handle first and then jig the bone. True attention to detail by both Tony and Kerry. I am so happy that you are cranking things up Kerry. It brings back a lot of excitement to Blade Forums which has been missing for a while.

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kamagong said:
Ooh...me likey. Nice job contouring the covers. Nicely radiused, without removing the bone's jigging. :thumbsup:
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It's a thing, for sure. The jiggin must flow. Thanks for noticing. Full disclosure: I don't really know exactly how the bone is going to look until the finishing process because I'm not that good at it. So, after sanding I will always go back in fill in where the jigging gets a bit thin. This is mainly on the edges because you can't get very close to the shields , pivot, pins, and other hardware. The jigging HAS to be good there because once the knife is together, yer done. It's more work than it looks like on the surface, even though, it's on the surface. :D
 
KnifeHead said:
It's a labor of love and I love that it's done. ;)
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:thumbsup: Now that you're warmed up, it's time to tackle a proper lambsfoot knife. With clean and square joints please. Something along the lines of the knife on the left.

KnifeHead said:
knowtracks said:
DSC00999.jpg
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Old knives ROCK! They were made to be used not to win any dang contests! The flush joints on the knives in the 3rd image are SCARY FLUSH! This is the kind of thing that truely inspires a great knifemaker.
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;)
 
KnifeHead said:
It's a thing, for sure. The jiggin must flow. Thanks for noticing. Full disclosure: I don't really know exactly how the bone is going to look until the finishing process because I'm not that good at it. So, after sanding I will always go back in fill in where the jigging gets a bit thin. This is mainly on the edges because you can't get very close to the shields , pivot, pins, and other hardware. The jigging HAS to be good there because once the knife is together, yer done. It's more work than it looks like on the surface, even though, it's on the surface. :D
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Really great work on the swayback Kerry. Bone looks fantastic! I gotta figure out a good dye process for sure. Think I'm gonna give Ken Coats old recipie a try soon.

I'm certainly no expert and I have only tried this with bone once, unfortunately my dye process didn't work on that one and I moved on. That said when I've jigged micarta I put masking tape on the liner and the back of the micarta. With just a dot or 2 of super glue I adhere it to the liner and then contour it. Once contoured you can pop it off with a razor blade pretty easy and then jig it up. Here's my first attempt with the technique.

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kamagong said:
:thumbsup: Now that you're warmed up, it's time to tackle a proper lambsfoot knife. With clean and square joints please. Something along the lines of the knife on the left.



;)
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Whoa! That thread! Those old knives had one HUGE advantage that a custom knife maker doesn't have. They didn't have to worry about the occasional booger or miss alignment or scratches here or there. When you don't have those things to worry about you can take lots of risks. But, since I have the whining phase of this post out of the way, I am tending to agree with you. I should do something sKerry. :D
 
Signalprick said:
Really great work on the swayback Kerry. Bone looks fantastic! I gotta figure out a good dye process for sure. Think I'm gonna give Ken Coats old recipie a try soon.
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Thanks. That's pretty much what I do and have been happy with the outcome.
Signalprick said:
I'm certainly no expert and I have only tried this with bone once, unfortunately my dye process didn't work on that one and I moved on. That said when I've jigged micarta I put masking tape on the liner and the back of the micarta. With just a dot or 2 of super glue I adhere it to the liner and then contour it. Once contoured you can pop it off with a razor blade pretty easy and then jig it up. Here's my first attempt with the technique.
Click to expand...
Looks like that works well. The process I use is super simple, like most of the things Tony showed me, but I get in a rush and cut corners knowing I can nail it later. I'm lazy, OK! ;)
 
KnifeHead said:
Thanks. That's pretty much what I do and have been happy with the outcome.

Looks like that works well. The process I use is super simple, like most of the things Tony showed me, but I get in a rush and cut corners knowing I can nail it later. I'm lazy, OK! ;)
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Right after I did mine Brent C. brought up Ken. I remembered last year Ken was telling me his method at the Badger show. I should have followed it to begin with but hey, I'm relatively young and I didn't listen. Thought I could do it a different way. End result....fail! Better listen to my elders!. Sure wish I had the opportunity to bend Tony's ear for a minute. He passed right after I started making. I've learned a lot just from what's online but his personal guidance would have meant the world to me. We'll keep him going in spirit though. Only promise I'll make as a knife maker. :)
 
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