Mike Mooney W2 Sujihiki (Canton Museum of Art Exhibit Knife)

PIndelicato

PIndelicato

Joined
Sep 16, 2002
Messages
1,577
About 3 years ago or so, I decided I wanted to try making knives. I am an accomplished 'desk jockey' by training, so I had no previous life experiences to draw upon in my new endeavor. I got my start from reading Shop Talk here on Bladeforums and some other sites online, but I didn't know anyone locally who made knives (or anything else for that matter) that I could actually watch and ask questions of, and learning a hands-on craft online only goes so far.

One day I happened to be browsing through an old copy of Blade magazine that I had picked up on a whim at the used bookstore, and ran across an advertisement from a maker whose name (Mike Mooney) was previously unfamiliar to me but who was not far away from where I lived. At this point I was getting pretty frustrated, and decided to try contacting him to see if I could come sweep the floor and watch him work for a few hours. Mike graciously welcomed me into his shop when I contacted him that day, and subsequently became a mentor to me and over time also a good friend. If not for Mike's generosity with sharing his time, experience and shop equipment over the subsequent months and years, I probably would have given up on knife making out of frustration.

Not only is Mike a terrific person, but he is also an outstanding craftsman. He does not hang out much on the internet forums and therefore his work does not get posted all that often here, but his fit and finish is impeccable and he seems to win an award (or 2 or 3) at every knife show he attends. Finally, after years of wanting one of his knives, I was able to obtain one last week and I couldn't be happier with the example I was able to acquire...one of Mike's display pieces at the recent exhibit at the Canton Museum of Art in Ohio, and I am proud to show it off here so that others can also enjoy it.

Here are the specs and some photos that Mike sent me; please do yourself a favor if you run across him at a knife show in the future, and spend some time chatting with him and getting to know him and his work:

-W2 tool steel blade, differential heat treat by clay quenching process and hand-polished for hamon with random pattern

-Nickel silver and G10 fittings on handle of marlin spike.

-Blade length: 11 inches.

-Overall length: 15 ½ inches.


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http://www.moonblades.com/
 
Paul, thank you for your kind words. Maybe I'm just trying to make up for being such a dick for so many years, but it has been really fun to work with you and I have absolutely gained as much from it as I feel I've given. You inspired me to try clay quenching and this is the result. I could not have been more pleased at the way it came out and to have you own this knife is very satisfying to me.

Hi Chuck. I hope you and your family are doing well. Missed seeing you at Blade...I'll probably never get that table back from Rob Bradley. I would love to say that I planned the hamon to look like that, but it was a total surprise, and a very pleasant one, at that. A coastline is exactly what I thought as the hamon came out in the polishing process. Fascinating! None of the photos really do justice to the marlin spike. It is the most beautiful pale green jade color, and I've never seen anything like it before or since.

I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving.
Cheers!
Mike
 
Very nice. Mike is a for real good guy and his knives are excellent. Two of his knives get used daily in our kitchen by me, my wife or our son and his friends.
I've also photographed a bunch of his knives over the past 5+ years at the PKA Denver Custom Knife Show - most were award winners. Good stuff!
 
Marlin: the fish. Spike: the proboscis. On the outside, it has a skin that is rougher and sharper than shark skin. If raked across your leg, it would rip your skin apart. Inside, it is hard as bone, probably is bone, and has a couple blood vessels running down the middle. This is the only piece I've ever seen in this pale jade green color. The others I've cut into were more brown streaked and looked a bit like ancient walrus ivory.
 
Thanks for the response, Mike. Like Bigfattyt, I assumed that's what it was but wanted to make sure. Very interesting.
 
I'm assuming the tool called a marlin spike, used for loosening knots in rope and often added to a knife as an additional "blade", got it's name from the actual bill of a marlin fish, the tip of which, after removing the skin, would be perfect for exactly that task.
 
Paul,
It a beauty!
Nice to give thanks to whose who are a positive influence in our lives too.
Dozier
 
Very nice knife. I like the somewhat aggressive form of the blade. And the hamon is beautiful..
 
Nope. It is, in fact, called the bill. My dad has a trophy carved in the shape of a small saber/cutlass blade made from a marlin bill that he won in a fishing tournament in Havana. The fish that supplied the bill for your handle had to be pretty big!!!! Nice looking knife.
moonblades said:
I'm assuming the tool called a marlin spike, used for loosening knots in rope and often added to a knife as an additional "blade", got it's name from the actual bill of a marlin fish, the tip of which, after removing the skin, would be perfect for exactly that task.
Click to expand...
 
Yes, I think that's what I said, Joe. The bill of the fish is called a marlin spike. The steel blade on a sailor's knife, also known as a marlin spike, evolved from an ancient pointy tool used by early sailors that was carved from the tip of the bill of a marlin.

I agree that this one must have been a big fish. The bill was probably 24" long! I was told it was harvested decades ago. Joe (or anyone) know if these are protected? I hope that these slow reproducers at the top of the food chain are now required to be released.

Thanks to all of you for your nice comments about this piece. When I figure out the photo posting process here I will put up a shot of the sister to this knife, also with marlin spike in a much more brown hue. In the meantime, the dogs are itching for a run. It's warmed up to almost 60. We do get thin-blooded here in the desert.

Cheers!
MM
 
Thanks, Mike! Your advice and encouragement directly played a role in the success of this project.
 
Hey Paul,
What do you mean I don't hang out on the forums much? Please note that this is my 80th post, and I've only been on BF for five or six years!
 
They are not required to be released, but most sport guys do release them unless we are talking about a potential tournament winner say at Bisbees Black and Blue Tournament in Cabo, which this year was a 2 million dollar fish!!! The problem, as with a lot of big fish, are the longliners. Marlin are typically "bycatch" but they are caught and they are dead by the time they are found on the hook. Incidentally, any fish over about 400-500 pounds is going to be a female. They are believed to be able to change sex once they get big enough.
moonblades said:
Yes, I think that's what I said, Joe. The bill of the fish is called a marlin spike. The steel blade on a sailor's knife, also known as a marlin spike, evolved from an ancient pointy tool used by early sailors that was carved from the tip of the bill of a marlin.

I agree that this one must have been a big fish. The bill was probably 24" long! I was told it was harvested decades ago. Joe (or anyone) know if these are protected? I hope that these slow reproducers at the top of the food chain are now required to be released.

Thanks to all of you for your nice comments about this piece. When I figure out the photo posting process here I will put up a shot of the sister to this knife, also with marlin spike in a much more brown hue. In the meantime, the dogs are itching for a run. It's warmed up to almost 60. We do get thin-blooded here in the desert.

Cheers!
MM
Click to expand...
 
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