Putting Burt Foster to work

Wulf

Wulf

Joined
May 10, 2000
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Burt Foster (website: http://www.burtfoster.com ), a fulltime maker and ABS Journeyman Smith, stopped me dead in my tracks when I walked by his table at Blade. His knives have a style all their own.

I bought the biggest knife on his table, a full tang camp knife of forged 52100 with nitre blued damascus bolsters and sheep horn scales.

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foster_stamp.jpg


The knife, with a 9.5" blade and 14.5" in overall length, is not something to be trifled with. The full flat grind tapers down to a sharp, fine edge, and the spine is ground in such a way as to lighten the blade and distribute the weight forward just enough to make it fast and effective.

Burt told me (and I should mention that he's a very well spoken and personable feller) that he designed the knife to excel at various cutting tasks, inspired in part by the ABS cutting competitions.

So when I got back home, I took it out back and put it to work.

I cut
...and I hacked
...and I whacked
...and I chopped
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...and I cut some more...

In all, I went through several pieces of pine, a number of hardwood saplings, some maple, and a 4+ inch birch tree. At one point, after a particularly devastating chop, I tried to pull the knife out of the wood, only to find that it had embedded itself a little more firmly than I had thought. I tried to pull it out a little too quickly and lost my grip, twisting the knife slightly as I withdrew my hand. I watched the blade bend and torque a few degrees and spring right back with the discipline and enthusiasm of well tempered steel.

The knife is tough, but the edge also remained straight, in tact, and sharp.
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Real sharp.
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This knife rocks :D
 
Glad to see that you used the knife. Now, you will have to sell it to me as a beat up user! ;) :D

Seriously, the knife looks like it came through with flying colors! I see NO damage to the edge. Makes me want to take out my Jerry Lairson camp knife and do the same thing. :)

You may have started something here. People actually USING their custom knives!
 
Nice post Derrick, it is refreshing to see some knives of this calibre being used as they were intended. That is one impressive camp knife and I had no doubts it would perform admirably, I just didn't think I would get to see pics of it doing so.

Burt definitely had some fine looking blades on his table and I also have to agree he was a fine gent to share a conversation with. I was not at all familiar with him or his work prior to meeting him in Atlanta. I must admit though, he made a favorable impression on both counts. I know that I certainly know more about the bluing process than I did after talking to Burt. Young, amibitious and talented. Sounds like a trifecta to me.
 
FINALLY, a post on here about Burt!

Burt is first class all the way. He cares a great deal about what goes into his knives and it SHOWS.

Some serious forged blade fans have missed out on his work in Atlanta as he has been over in the hand-made section.

His knives are fantastic and so is he as a person....I hope a lot of people see this and order a knife from Burt :D

Nick
 
Originally posted by NickWheeler
I hope a lot of people see this and order a knife from Burt
Click to expand...

Shhh - don't tell anyone, but rumor has it he's got an "available" page on his website, that may (or may not) have a knife or two on it ;) :D

Burt doesn't seem to have that large of an internet presence, so I'm glad to showcase some of his work here for the BFC crew. He really does build an excellent knife, and his style and personality go a long way. I'm glad you got to meet him too, Jamie.

You know, there were so many relatively new makers at Blade with so much talent it made me want to cry. Guys like Burt Foster, Jason Knight, Dan Farr, Jon Christensen, Nick Wheeler, virtually all of the new Journeyman Smiths, not to mention the Brazilians... the list goes on. It was like Blade Show 2003 was the year of the young'uns! And these guys are raising the bar, definitely keeping the more established makers on their toes ;)

Danbo - I won't sell you this knife as a beat up user or even as a field tested and approved collector's item. Now that you mention it, though, knowing that the knife will perform probably makes it even more valuable than something that hasn't been tried out and tested yet.

Hmmm....

Collectors, send me your knives. I'll test them, give them some character, and make them valuable. :D
 
Thanks for all the kind words about me and my knife. I appreciate making knifes for people who use them, because the feedback is so much more qualitative than making an art knife.

Imagine if I had sold you an engraved dagger and you posted a reply saying, "Yep, that knife is still sitting here on my desk, and it still looks just like it did when I bought it!" How boring (nothing against engraved daggers...) I'd much rather get the kind of feedback you gave me. Also, to a certain extent, it's harder to put work "into" a blade than "onto" a blade if you know what I mean. You can't see that with the eye, and it's existence has to be believed by faith in the maker's word until it's used. Because so few nice knives get used hard, you usually don't get credit for what went into the knife, because that effort is never revealed until it is used.

Thanks again Derrick.
 
That's one impressive camp knife. Thank you for sharing and enjoy it!

Welcome to the forums, M. Foster! :) I checked up your web site, very cool work.
 
Derrick is smart. You can learn a lot about custom knives if you select certain knives or knives from certain makers and use them. Figure out what makes them work or not work. Makers love feedback and will share a world of information when they find out you are using their knives.

Almost forgot! I like that knife!
 
What an impressive looking knife and it looks like it came through Derrick's grueling tests with flying colors!!!

Sure is great to see a gorgeous knife like this get some real-time use!!!!

Keep up the superb work Burt!!!!
 
More comments from the peanut gallery here. I absolutely love the blade shape on this knife. Sheephorn is not my favorite handle material, but this one still appeals to me. But, the thing that appeals to me the most about this knife is how amazingly thin the edge appears to be!
 
Originally posted by Burt Foster
...to a certain extent, it's harder to put work "into" a blade than "onto" a blade ...that effort is never revealed until [the knife] is used.
Click to expand...

Those words are worth repeating.

Thanks for joining up here and sharing your comments, Burt.

Dan - you can bet I'll use the hunter you're making me as well. I hope never to have to use that fighter, though!

Danbo - the edge is thin. With the full flat grind, however, it's got enough material behind it to keep it strong - not to mention a good heat-treat! Yep - this knife was made for cutting!
 
The proof is in the using - thats not just a pretty thang - it works too !! The edge looks ground so thin its almost zero-edge. Is it convexed at all ?

Might just go to show that if you get a HT right and use the right steel (carbon...:D ) you don't need thick wedgy-edge bevels to get the job done. A top job and a top buy to finish it off.

Burt's right... nothing like a customer getting back to you and telling you - it WORKS !! Jason.
 
Yes, the edge is slightly convex. They are flat ground to the point that there is 3/32" left at the edge. That's on a big knife; on small knives it's less. The tip is thicker still for more strength. Then I convex the remaining edge. No fault to Derrick's photos for not seeing it. It's hard to see in person unless you lay a straight edge against the blade flats.
 
Sorry, long day in the shop. My fractions got pushed back to that part of my brain where my 5th grade teacher's name is.

I leave the flat at the edge about 1/16" on a big knife, a little thicker like 3/32" at the tip.
 
Burt,

Math was never my best subject either, but I do know that's my kind of knife, Wulf made a great score at Blade!

it's harder to put work "into" a blade than "onto" a blade if you know what I mean
Click to expand...

I agree with your sentiments. As much as I can appreciate the art knife, it always seems that I'm laying down my cash for knives that have more effort placed "in" the blade than "on" it.

-Jose
 
I met Burt a couple years ago at the ABS school. We have stayed in touch and we got together at my place in North Carolina to make damascus for a few days after the blade show. (I had to remind him that while he was in the south, he was the one who talked "funny") We had been talking about some different heat treat recipes for 52100, and he showed up with 5 test blades and some kind of fancy looking glass to check edges. Not satisfied with that, he forged a couple more test blades as soon as we got back to my shop. We ended up spending as much or more time testing than we did making damascus. It is not an accident when one of Burt's knives perform well. Burt's knives will perform as good as they look.
Bill Wiggins
 
That thing is sweet. Bravo for using it the way it was meant to be used, it will love you for it ;)
 
Excellent post! It tells me what to look for in a great using blade. Excellent score.
 
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