Beautiful chisel...
Your view of knives as tools is an interesting one. My great-grandfather, Frank Marsh was a pattern maker in South Wales. He carved patterns for local foundries - anything from huge cogs to miniature models. His tools were passed down to my grandfather, and now to my father.
When I use one of his tools, I'm not using an inanimate lump of wood and steel. The handles feel alive and warm in my grip, the blades are burnished with a patina of scratches and etched by sweat. But more than this - when I hold one of his tools, I'm holding three generations of dexterity, experience and knowledge. It makes me think long and hard before making the first cut.
When we make a tool or a knife, we are making something that could conceivably outlast us by a century. Tom - your great-great-granddaughter could pick up that chisel and make a piece of wood give up its secrets. If there's any wood left in 2120, that is...
In the next month, I'll be making my first knives (I Hope). I'll be stamping the ricasso with the same metal stamp my great-grandfather used to mark his tools. I can only hope that the tools I make are capable of taking on the same history that his have.
Anyhoo, apologies for the somewhat existential post - there's something magical about the combination of wood and metal that, I would imagine, resonates deeply within many of us on this group.
Cheers,
Tim
