- Joined
- May 16, 2006
- Messages
- 227
Why Just Own A Knife When You Can Own A Piece Of Art?
My name is Richard Von Hagen Palmer, functional artist and the maker of Von Hagen Knives. I love to make knives and almost every knife I make is for sale. Each original, one of a kind Von Hagen Knife is handmade by me. For me, part of the thrill of being a functional artist is sketching out my ideas on paper and then watching them come to life by my hands and in front of my eyes.
Thank you for taking the time to look at my work. I hope you like what you see.
This BUSH STYLE KNIFE is ground from 5/32" thick 01 TOOL STEEL bar stock. The FULL TAPERED TANG knife is 9" long. The 4 1/4" blade has a FLAT GRIND. At its widest part, the blade is 1 9/16". The handle is PITCH VEINED LACE REDWOOD. This knife also has a BLACK VULCANIZED SPACER.
I shop around for handle material. Most of what I buy comes in blocks or slabs, which I buy raw, unstabilized and mostly wet. I cut the scales, stabilize them and then harden them in a zero atmosphere setting. This entire process may take up to a year and a half. It may seem like a lot of work and a lot of waiting but this allows me to use woods that you just can't buy from the knife scale sellers.
When I received this Redwood, it was dripping with sap. The friend that I received it from told me that it had been sitting in the sun for a few years but it was still quite wet. Although I LOVED the look of the wood and couldn't wait to use it, I first had to dry it and to remove the sap. Once I did that, I was amazed at the beauty of what remained. I loved the look before and saw potential but couldn't have expected anything close to what I had in front of me!! I was thrilled and hope you love it as much as I do.
The handle is tapered and hollow ground. This assures that the knife is perfectly balanced not too heavy in the blade, not too heavy in the handle. This knife weighs only 6 ounces. When it is in the sheath and on your belt, you will be carrying a mere 9.82 ounces. Have you ever used a knife that was either too heavy or not balanced? It feels awkward. Your hand can tire out faster. You may not even recognize that there is a problem. Once you use a balanced knife, you will recognize what you have been missing.
I do my own heat treatment. I edge quench and triple temper my blades to a Rockwell Hardness of 58/60. Each knife is then bench tested to assure the perfect hardness -- not too hard as to chip out when carving on brass but not too soft where it would not hold an edge.
On handles, I am not a big fan of pins. I do use pins on my micarta knives because micarta is generally ugly and needs a little something. The pins add personality. If I don't use pins, how do I assure the handles don't come off? I use six (6) 3/8" anchors that are attached to the tang. The handle material is then milled and keywayed to fit up into the anchors. A lot of work goes into this but when the epoxy is added, it creates a fusion that will never come loose. In the fifteen years I have been making knives, I have never lost a handle yet!
I use Vulcanized spacers on my knives. Yes, it gives the knife a custom look and adds color but the real reason for the spacer is that it adds a happy medium between the high carbon, corrosive steel and the handle material.
Thanks for looking,
Rick
