New design - Rufus - EDC

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Remyrw

Joined
Jun 17, 2010
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Over a year ago some customers and friends suggested that my Nubilus pattern was a bit too frail looking and feeling for certain needs that could be met with that blade design. They didn't have one fail, but felt like a beefier handle might be good, particularly on the slightly thicker steel versions. I played with a bunch of handle designs, broke myself so I had to spend quite a while out of the shop and generally didn't get to finishing one till recently.

Around 8" OAL and under 4" blade, here's the Rufus. CPM154 from Aldo, black linen micarta from USA Knifemaker. I don't remember where I got the mosaic.
Rufus1-1.JPG

Rufus1-5.JPG

Rufus1-4.JPG
 
Yup, that was the plan on this one. I went back and forth between a fancy wood with a super pretty finish and a more user oriented setup and finally decided that this was more in keeping with the motivation for the design. It's meant to be used, not babied. It almost reminds me of a traditional tanto with the very linear look to it. Everything has curves but it's all in line. The other style it reminds me of is Puukkos.
 
Very nice. Could you provide some spine shots to judge the width if the scales?
 
I'm pretty sure I snapped some before I finished up the final details so I'll post those when I get home tonight. They started life as 1/4" scales and didn't lose a lot of width at their widest points. Generally rounded top to bottom and end to end.
I guess worst case scenario I can unbox it since I didn't seal up the package yet.
 
Rufus1-7.JPG

Turns out the only spine style shot I had was actually this one and it's too late to start digging it out and snapping fresh. This is before final shaping so things are still not completely even and nicely finished but you get the idea. Nothing significant changed dimensionally after this.
 
Thank you that is a good looking blade. Looks functional and I love the lack of a choir.
 
Thank you. That one little detail has become a bit of a habit for me. I started grinding out a little step on some of my knives instead and liked it, so now I either do that or like this one where it's blended and just kind of flows into the edge. I like that it lets you get that cutting edge all the way onto a surface, there's nothing in the way. There's also nothing really to catch on in this version, though the step does function like more traditional notches would at least when moving from the heel toward the point.

In a lot of ways, the slightly different choil, angled plunge and shape to the heel of the knife have become defining aspects of my personal style in knives. It's an ever evolving process though, and even there I do some knives that vary in one or more of those elements. I won't let "my style" get in the way of making a knife the way I think it should be. It's just my style because most of the knives I make incorporate those elements most of the time. :cool:
 
that's a winner, Remy. Are you gonna keep it as a regular model?
 
Looks like it. The feed back everywhere has been the same as here. Not "omg that's incredible" but certainly positive, particularly from folks that like mid/small knives for general use. I think it just begs to be a hiker or fisherman's belt knife. I have a couple more profiled and heat treated so there will be at least those and then if things still look good for it I'll keep it in the lineup for the next batch to be profiled and sent out for HT. I'll probably do some thinner too, 1/8 or even 3/32 just for the folks that like a fuller handle but still want the thin blade. I don't think I'll ever go to 1/16 like I'm contemplating with the Nubilus.

To me it has a blend of traditional and modern styles that is very appealing. Combined with modern materials it gives traditionalists an easy to care for option and can act as a gateway knife for the tactical crowd to appreciate other styles of knives.
 
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Remyrw said:
To me it has a blend of traditional and modern styles that is very appealing. Combined with modern materials it gives traditionalists an easy to care for option and can act as a gateway knife for the tactical crowd to appreciate other styles of knives.
Click to expand...

Yep, all that.
I'd go 1/8" with that pattern, or some of Aldo's somewhat thick so-called-1/8" 154CM. It mics out around 0.140" for me after sanding the scale (which can be brutal).

The slanted FFG plunge with the matching angle on the scale fronts really glue it all together. nice work.
 
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