Messing around... 154CM and Ebony

[daizee]

I tossed another one in the queue for myself because I don't have a stainless knife of my own.
There are a number of weird decisions going on here.
The spine ended up a bit too curved because of how I modified the original drawing. Normally I don't do finger grooves and I'm no expert. Also, I figured "hey, it's stainless, let's try a fairly low finish and see how that goes - and get it out of the way quickly". So it's hand-sanded, but only to 280. Then I couldn't decide what to put on the handle... and this piece of ebony from a furniture maker decided it was time to come out and play. So what started as a quick-finish personal beater ended up with this very fancy piece of wood on it - don't worry, there's more where it came from. . The tubes need more chamfering, but since they're not flat it's tricky. Any suggestions?

It's really hard to capture the depth in this wood in a picture. I may give it a coat of tru-oil on top of the BLO to lock in a little more shine.

 

[Bigfattyt]

Nice! That should be a regular design for you!

 

[daizee]

BigF, i'd have to straighten the spine a bit before settling on this one.
Actually I have a related pattern in the works with a bit more blade - won't meet my local 3" limit, but it has very nice proportions.

Flat afternoon light is a little easier for pictures. One coat of tru-oil is just about dry.

 

[melsdad]

That is a great handy looking knife!

 

[GrizzlyBear]

I like the curve of the spine! Great looking knife! One thing though, I thought that woods like Ebony weren't very receptive to oil finishes?

 

[daizee]

Thanks, Grizz.

I think that even the naturally oily woods dry out over time. After washing a cocobolo-handled knife a lot it seemed to need some BLO. It didn't take tru-oil at all at first, though. This ebony took some BLO and then some tru-oil. It was probably sitting around for a loooong time before it found its way into my hands. I'll probably top it off occasionally. This one has been on my hip since this post, and I like it a lot. The final version of the drawing with a gentler curve is ready to go when some more 1/8" stainless arrives.