One I am shipping out in the morning

[Bruce Bump]

To you who do not know Mark he is the real deal.I consider it a pleasure to call him a friend and neighbor. Having spent over fifteen years on a trap line and guiding in the most remote part of Alaska his wilderness skills are as as impressive as his knife making.

Did you notice Marks avatar? That guy has to be in the middle of some wild life action in our "last frontier". He doesnt march to the same beat as anyone else in his handle making. I would enjoy having a look at his favorite knives for trapping and guiding. Ya know, the ones with some history. Mark? You have pics of those knives?
Bruce

 

[Mark Knapp]

Mark,
I like the unusual handle construction. Nice piece .Is the handle stabilised ?
Thanks for sharing

best regards from NL
Wim

The short answer is yes. Here is a abreviated long answer. The handle is an assembly of many pieces. After it is assembled it is allowed to cure till it stops moving, then it is stabilized, I allow it to cure again for several months and then assemble the knife and let it cure some more. All natural materials and most man made materials have internal stresses, when you remove some of the material you relieve some of the stresses so it needs to move. If you don't allow it to move before it is put on a knife, it will want to, and try to move the rest of it's life. Stabilizing can help solve some problems of movement, it does this by not allowing moisture to be absorbed by the material, it stiffens things up a little too but the real asset is in plugging all the holes that absorb moisture and cause movement. What stabilizing does not do is help relieve internal stress, so it is important to let things settle down after major changes in shape are made. After the knife is assembled, shaped and cured again, I set the knife up in the (vacuum) stabilizer again. Many of them are stabilized three times throughout construction before the knife is delivered.

 

[Mark Knapp]

great looking knife, Mark. Does all the sheep horn show that type of pattern? Anyone would be proud to own this knife.

Marcel

Hi Marcel, Generally, sheep horn does not show any pattern, I cut it up and reassemble it to creat pattern.

 

[Mark Knapp]

This is the second one of your knives that I have seen, Mark.
The first one was your "Musk Ox Horn Gambler"...

I loved the way you combine the dramatic design with extraordinary
materials and present an amazing knife/sheath package, making every
detail match harmoniously.

Beautiful!

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

Thanks David

 

[Mark Knapp]

Can you expound on the handle a bit without giving any secrets away?

That is an AMAZING knife.

Hi Gordon, I think I covered a little bit about the construction to earlier posts in this thread, please feel free to ask any questions, I am happy to answer all that I can. There are three ways I make scale patterns in handles. I am going to begin doing some WIPs on them soon, however, I feel a little guilty about being on this computor instead of working on orders.

 

[Mark Knapp]

Thank you very much everyone for all of the nice comments, I really do appreciate it. Mark

 

[ArtinNC]

Nicely done

 

[black mamba]

Mark, your work stands out among stand-outs, even in the Coop thread. Truly admirable craftsmanship on many levels. Thanks for the treats!