- Joined
- Nov 6, 1999
- Messages
- 2,639
Well, I've been waiting for a few weeks and it finally arrived today. When Ed posted up a link to pics of his five mastersmith knives a week before the Blade show, I leaped at the opportunity to own one of these unique knives. Besides the performance testing of a pattern welded blade, the maker must present five examples of different styles of knives for examination. These knives are not destructively tested, but are supposed to be of the highest quality work that the maker can produce. Only the European Quillion Dagger is required to be made from at least 300 layer pattern welded steel.
I had been thinking about writing to Ed to arrange to have him make my first 'true' custom hunter for some time now. I have really enjoyed Ed's eloquent and knowledgable posts regarding the knifemaking arts. I appreciate the time and effort he puts into the creation of the best knives he knows how to make, and his committment towards improving both his knowledge and skills.
I collect plain tool steel forged hunters. I like damascus steel, but I think there is something extraordinarily beuatiful about the simple functionality of differentially tempered high carbon steels and plain handles with little embellishment. The knife I was going to have Ed make for me was going to be something like a 4 or 5 inch plain carbon steel hunter, with a stag or wood handle. A relatively narrow and pointy blade is the type I prefer. They work great doing camp chores and for fishing duties. I also like to whittle wood, and a guardless knife with a relatively long handle is ideal.
I was surprised and pleased to see that the hunter he made for his Mastersmith test was a multiply quenched 52100 drop point with a 5 inch flat ground blade and convex beveled edge. The stick handle was of a nice looking sambar stag, and I was intriqued that Ed had made this hunter in the puukko style without a traditional blade guard. One of my favorite knives in my collection is a pukko style knife forged from W1 tool steel made by a new maker, Tim Morgan. I really like this style knife, especially in a five inch knife. Fittings on the Caffrey knife were made of blued tool steel. There is a hammered copper shield at the blade/handle joint.
Ed apparently concentrated entirely of making knives before the blade show. I had to wait for him to get some backordered leather (Ed is very picky about his leather, and I am grateful for that) to make a sheath for my knife. After waiting for the UPS folks to celebrate the Fourth of July, my knife finally arrived last Friday. Of course, I was away last weekend, and I only got my hands on it today.
It was worth the wait. This is one fine using knife. I don't know if I will be able to actually bring myself to carry and use this knife, but I think it might be a sin not too.
The blade has visible grain near the spine. It gets smaller and denser near the edge. There are at least two distinct temper lines, one about 3/8 inch above the edge, uniformly all along the length of the blade, and another near the function of the blade and tang. The stag is an absolutley gorgeous dark amber color. The blue mild steel fittings look great. and I really like the hammered copper 'accent' as Ed calls it. I was surpised to see it marked Caffrey on one side, and JS on the other (journeyman smith). But then I remembered that at the time this knife was made, Ed was not yet a Mastersmith. And it was this knife that was among those submitted for the mastersmith rating.
The knife feels wonderful in my hand. The handle is substantial, but not too thick for precise control, and is nicely long. I really like the feel of a guardless knife with an extended choil and a dropped edge blade. It is a precision cutting instument. I have no doubt that the edge on this knife will cut well, and last long. The skill and art that it represents are also reflections of the heart and mind of its maker.
Ed named this knife 'Bound by Faith'. He said that he called it this because all four of the other five MS test knives were made from fancy damascus and his theme for this set of knives was simple elegance. Since he has made many knives out of 52100 steel, and he feels this makes a great using steel, he was 'Bound by Faith' to make at least one of his test knives from 52100. Although I really like All the other knives in this series (especially the spiders'n snakes pattern in the fighter), this knife fit my collection and tastes best. I am pleased to own such a fine knife. And the sheath Ed made matches it perfectly: simple, tight, and functional. Check it out at:
Caffrey Mastersmith test hunter
Paracelsus
You can see other examples of Ed's fine work at his site:
http://www.caffreyknives.com/
[This message has been edited by Paracelsus (edited 07-10-2000).]
I had been thinking about writing to Ed to arrange to have him make my first 'true' custom hunter for some time now. I have really enjoyed Ed's eloquent and knowledgable posts regarding the knifemaking arts. I appreciate the time and effort he puts into the creation of the best knives he knows how to make, and his committment towards improving both his knowledge and skills.
I collect plain tool steel forged hunters. I like damascus steel, but I think there is something extraordinarily beuatiful about the simple functionality of differentially tempered high carbon steels and plain handles with little embellishment. The knife I was going to have Ed make for me was going to be something like a 4 or 5 inch plain carbon steel hunter, with a stag or wood handle. A relatively narrow and pointy blade is the type I prefer. They work great doing camp chores and for fishing duties. I also like to whittle wood, and a guardless knife with a relatively long handle is ideal.
I was surprised and pleased to see that the hunter he made for his Mastersmith test was a multiply quenched 52100 drop point with a 5 inch flat ground blade and convex beveled edge. The stick handle was of a nice looking sambar stag, and I was intriqued that Ed had made this hunter in the puukko style without a traditional blade guard. One of my favorite knives in my collection is a pukko style knife forged from W1 tool steel made by a new maker, Tim Morgan. I really like this style knife, especially in a five inch knife. Fittings on the Caffrey knife were made of blued tool steel. There is a hammered copper shield at the blade/handle joint.
Ed apparently concentrated entirely of making knives before the blade show. I had to wait for him to get some backordered leather (Ed is very picky about his leather, and I am grateful for that) to make a sheath for my knife. After waiting for the UPS folks to celebrate the Fourth of July, my knife finally arrived last Friday. Of course, I was away last weekend, and I only got my hands on it today.
It was worth the wait. This is one fine using knife. I don't know if I will be able to actually bring myself to carry and use this knife, but I think it might be a sin not too.
The blade has visible grain near the spine. It gets smaller and denser near the edge. There are at least two distinct temper lines, one about 3/8 inch above the edge, uniformly all along the length of the blade, and another near the function of the blade and tang. The stag is an absolutley gorgeous dark amber color. The blue mild steel fittings look great. and I really like the hammered copper 'accent' as Ed calls it. I was surpised to see it marked Caffrey on one side, and JS on the other (journeyman smith). But then I remembered that at the time this knife was made, Ed was not yet a Mastersmith. And it was this knife that was among those submitted for the mastersmith rating.
The knife feels wonderful in my hand. The handle is substantial, but not too thick for precise control, and is nicely long. I really like the feel of a guardless knife with an extended choil and a dropped edge blade. It is a precision cutting instument. I have no doubt that the edge on this knife will cut well, and last long. The skill and art that it represents are also reflections of the heart and mind of its maker.
Ed named this knife 'Bound by Faith'. He said that he called it this because all four of the other five MS test knives were made from fancy damascus and his theme for this set of knives was simple elegance. Since he has made many knives out of 52100 steel, and he feels this makes a great using steel, he was 'Bound by Faith' to make at least one of his test knives from 52100. Although I really like All the other knives in this series (especially the spiders'n snakes pattern in the fighter), this knife fit my collection and tastes best. I am pleased to own such a fine knife. And the sheath Ed made matches it perfectly: simple, tight, and functional. Check it out at:
Caffrey Mastersmith test hunter
Paracelsus
You can see other examples of Ed's fine work at his site:
http://www.caffreyknives.com/
[This message has been edited by Paracelsus (edited 07-10-2000).]
