A few examples. These are hand made by me over the last 2 years. My first attempts. I do the rough shaping of the wood scales with a sanding roll on a drill, after that it's all done by hand with files and sandpaper. Finishes on the wood are done with boiled linseed oil and steel wool by hand after the usual progressive sanding.
I won't begin to call myself skilled at this craft but I'm getting better. Since they're built largely by manual labor without power tools they take an inordinate amount of time to make (25-30 hours on average). The ones below the top 3 were made as gifts for those who've earned such deep respect from me that I'd hand them something that contains so much of my time on Earth. To me a hand made knife given as a gift is symbolic of the very highest esteem. The fine-ness of the knife and the materials reflect the esteem the recipients are held in. These are all of the finest materials that could be respectfully used as a serious tool.
Left to right sporting blades. These 3 are my personal working knives that see HARD use in the field when I hunt/fish. They're the 1st, 2nd and 3rd knifes (left to right) that I'd ever made:
Hunting bone-splitter knife: Saw Mill planer blade (from a peeler-cord machine), cold rust blued. Handle is from my first deer's right antler, blue acrylic plastic spacer, brass guard. My only experiment with rivets. My first knife making experience.
Heavy Skinner: Made to look a bit like a folding knife. Two Finger damascus blade, cold rust blued. Amboyna burl scales, linseed oil finish.
Camp steak knife: Alabama damascus blade polished (you can still make out the swirl up close) to a shine, Yew burl scales, linseed oil finish.
The next 2 pics are knives that I made as gifts:
Big-Boss-Skinner and utility pair. Made for a GIANT of a man to fit his hands. He commissioned them since he couldn't find a knife he could hold comfortably in his ham of a hand. Burled Thuya handles, boiled linseed oil finish, Two Finger Knife damascus blades.
Scooter's Roach Belly Skinner: My hunting buddy's hunting knife. Amboyna burl scales, Two Finger blade. Boiled linseed oil finish.
Kitchen blades:
These are working kitchen knives and generally get used by my wife who's only just figured out how to care for a knife that's not available at wal-mart. Teaching her to not leave them laying on the counter or in the sink or dirty was fun. Now she's getting used to the habit of properly cleaning and storing them immediately after she's done using them. It was all I could do to break her of the habit of sticking good knives in the dishwasher and these were sort of a reward for her paying attention to caring for the tools. Since she's started using knives I custom made for her she hasn't cut herself, unlike with the junk that we did have in the drawer for her which she was always lacerating herself on. I don't use her blades and she doesn't use mine.
bread knife. Antique blade stock, handed down from Grandma-in-law. Unknown material but appears to be stainless of some sort. Yew burl handle. the knife originally had light metal (maybe aluminum or pot metal) scales and a much larger handle and was in pretty rough shape. I reshaped the handle, rounded the tip, added yew wood burl scales and re-sharpened.
Scimitar-santoku-ish chef's knife (still looking for a good descriptive proper name for the blade profile). Alabama Damascus 416 layer blade, Thuya burl scales, linseed oil finish. Removed the etching from the bevel for a two-tone look. This is one of my best pieces so far.
I won't begin to call myself skilled at this craft but I'm getting better. Since they're built largely by manual labor without power tools they take an inordinate amount of time to make (25-30 hours on average). The ones below the top 3 were made as gifts for those who've earned such deep respect from me that I'd hand them something that contains so much of my time on Earth. To me a hand made knife given as a gift is symbolic of the very highest esteem. The fine-ness of the knife and the materials reflect the esteem the recipients are held in. These are all of the finest materials that could be respectfully used as a serious tool.
Left to right sporting blades. These 3 are my personal working knives that see HARD use in the field when I hunt/fish. They're the 1st, 2nd and 3rd knifes (left to right) that I'd ever made:
Hunting bone-splitter knife: Saw Mill planer blade (from a peeler-cord machine), cold rust blued. Handle is from my first deer's right antler, blue acrylic plastic spacer, brass guard. My only experiment with rivets. My first knife making experience.
Heavy Skinner: Made to look a bit like a folding knife. Two Finger damascus blade, cold rust blued. Amboyna burl scales, linseed oil finish.
Camp steak knife: Alabama damascus blade polished (you can still make out the swirl up close) to a shine, Yew burl scales, linseed oil finish.
The next 2 pics are knives that I made as gifts:
Big-Boss-Skinner and utility pair. Made for a GIANT of a man to fit his hands. He commissioned them since he couldn't find a knife he could hold comfortably in his ham of a hand. Burled Thuya handles, boiled linseed oil finish, Two Finger Knife damascus blades.
Scooter's Roach Belly Skinner: My hunting buddy's hunting knife. Amboyna burl scales, Two Finger blade. Boiled linseed oil finish.
Kitchen blades:
These are working kitchen knives and generally get used by my wife who's only just figured out how to care for a knife that's not available at wal-mart. Teaching her to not leave them laying on the counter or in the sink or dirty was fun. Now she's getting used to the habit of properly cleaning and storing them immediately after she's done using them. It was all I could do to break her of the habit of sticking good knives in the dishwasher and these were sort of a reward for her paying attention to caring for the tools. Since she's started using knives I custom made for her she hasn't cut herself, unlike with the junk that we did have in the drawer for her which she was always lacerating herself on. I don't use her blades and she doesn't use mine.
bread knife. Antique blade stock, handed down from Grandma-in-law. Unknown material but appears to be stainless of some sort. Yew burl handle. the knife originally had light metal (maybe aluminum or pot metal) scales and a much larger handle and was in pretty rough shape. I reshaped the handle, rounded the tip, added yew wood burl scales and re-sharpened.
Scimitar-santoku-ish chef's knife (still looking for a good descriptive proper name for the blade profile). Alabama Damascus 416 layer blade, Thuya burl scales, linseed oil finish. Removed the etching from the bevel for a two-tone look. This is one of my best pieces so far.
