Knife #6 Finished - Start with a teaser

Erin Burke

Erin Burke

KnifeMaker...ish
Joined
May 19, 2003
Messages
1,330
I finished my sixth knife yesterday but haven't had a chance to set up my light-box and take some real pictures. I did, however, take a quick snapshot at work this morning... so here's a bit of a teaser. :D

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Some Stats:
Length: 8"
Blade: 3-1/4" (tip to pointy end of recurve... as a crow flies)
Steel: 3/16" 1080 (from Kelly Cupples)
Clay-Treated w/ hamon, Hollow-Ground w/ tapered-tang
Handle: Stabilized/dyed Maple Burl w/ 416ss bolsters and pins

This recurve was very tricky (for me) to grind, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. The hamon is ridiculous (in a good way)... much better than I expected with 1080. I hope I can get some good shots of it in the light box tonight... though I haven't had much luck getting my hamons to POP in the light box, even with a black reflector.

I'll post a nice photo (or two) in the next day or so.

UPDATE: Here are some photos... though I'm still not completely happy.

This first photo is the best of the crappy photos I took last night. I didn't have a macro lens so things are a bit muddy.
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These next four photos were taken by my wife (she got the good macro lens back from her business partner).
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Erin
 
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I spent a couple of hours with my light-box last night, and all I ended up with was a serious case of frustration. This is a really nice looking knife in person. The hamon looks great, the maple handle has a really cool marble-like quality, the shape is (in my opinion) wicked-cool... but I cannot seem to take a decent picture of the knife for the life of me. Ends up lookin' like a turd on a stick:grumpy:. I can barely get the hamon to show up... even with a black reflector. My handle ends up looking muddy (like the afore-mentioned turd).

My wife thought it was hiiiiilarious, how angry the process was making me. :grumpy::D She did, however, offer to take a stab at photographing the knife for me. I'm interested to see how this will turn out, as she IS the often-published, award-winning professional photographer in the family. She is, however, an often-published, award-winning WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER... and I'm not sure how this will translate to knife photography.

Long story short... I have offered to take sole-ownership of my daughters for the evening so the lovely wife can make my knife look good.

Sorry for the delay.

Erin
 
She is, however, an often-published, award-winning WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
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Well then, she's photographed knives before! Better yet, knives in use! You know, cake knives. :D

--nathan
 
Too beautiful. Absolutely stunning work. You have a great knife making future ahead of you. Figure what, you still have at the very least 25 more years of being able to do this? Hope I can meet you some day before you become too famous :p
 
Exciting styling! great hamon, bolsters and finish. Love the dark burl wood. Beautiful knife. Its not easy to come up with a usable design that hasnt been done before but I think you've done it Erin. Nice work.
 
Bruce Bump said:
Its not easy to come up with a usable design that hasnt been done before...
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I would not go so far as to say it hasn't been done before but it's definitely a beautiful knife with lots of style. And incredible for a 6th knife. :eek:

Can't wait to see more from you.

Patrice
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone.

go mike said:
...Hope I can meet you some day before you become too famous :p
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I don't think anyone has to worry about me becoming too famous. For me, this is a hobby only... I like feeding my family too much. :D Right now I'm turning one (maybe two) knives out per month... and despite the occasional request, I have not been able to let any of them go. I think that I'm destined to have a huge display cabinet in my basement with all of the knives that I've ever made under glass. :p


Bruce Bump said:
Exciting styling! great hamon, bolsters and finish. Love the dark burl wood. Beautiful knife. Its not easy to come up with a usable design that hasnt been done before but I think you've done it Erin. Nice work.
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Bruce... I think that you have a certain responsibility to the forum community to refrain from throwing compliments like this around all willy-nilly. I already have one broken coffee table and two truamatized daughters from seeing their dad dance around the living room chanting "Bruce Bump likes my knife... Bruce Bump likes my knife". ;)

I do have to agree with Patrice, though... It's unlikely that designs similar to mine haven't been seen before. Now that I think about it, the blade profile does seem somewhat derivative of a kuhkri (goodness knows I have a ton of HI knives laying around the house).


So what do y'all think of the photos my wife took? She has offered to take some photos of my other five knives... should I take her up on it? I think she does a heck of a job with details. :):thumbup:

Now I am at a loss as to what to build next. I have a really cool design that I already messed-up once, so I'm a bit gun-shy of that one. Other than that, I'll have to sit down with pencil and paper and come up with something new. :confused::D

Erin
 
I should say, that is just perfect... Sir, you have a waaay too much talent! Pics are very nice too, maybe a little tweaking would be nicer, to get your sign and hamon much visible at the first pic (but I know it is too hard to obtain all the lighting right at the all sides of the blade)...
 
Erin, you crack me up!
I've looked at every knife I can in books, magazines and on the forums and have never seen a design like yours before.
 
Interesting design. I know this comment is coming from a newbie, but.... the craftsmanship seen in the photos is very nice. I hope that by the time I get to my sixth knife my fit and finish will be half as good. Very nicely done, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Murph
 
Ok first let me say I am posting this just to support my earlier claim so Bruce doesn't think I am completely nuts. ;)
First link I found googling small kukri.

http://tridentforge.com/

Scroll down a little for a knife in the same style.

Now back to complimenting a gorgeous knife. :D

Patrice
 
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