Ring Gidgee

Pete, I didn't know you used wood. Tell Flatgrind to give you a piece of his...OR ELSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!;) Love my folder man!
 
Here is a really nice piece of Gidgee attached to some equally fine looking damascus by Shawn McIntyre. I am sorry that my feeble technical skills do not permit the direct posting of the picture. Relax, save your energy...I already bought it. ENJOY!

Here is the link:
http://www.rehobothcustomknives.com/KSM000.htm
 
KSM000%20Damascus%20Bowie%20combo.jpg
 
:eek: Great Googly Moogly, what a knife! :eek:

What in the world is that damascus blade made from? Stainless damascus? Whatever it is; I love it. And, the wood is outta this world too. Thanks for the pictures!
 
Shawn McIntyre, Australian guild member, has crafted this "NEW" Damascus Bowie, Forged 1073 and 15n20 Tiger Mosaic Damascus blade with an unsharpened Clip, BL = 9”, BW = 1 1/4", OAL = 14 1/2", Blade is Flat Ground, Sculptured and Blued Steel fittings, handle is Sculpted and contoured Gidgee wood accented by 5 SS pins.
 
That knife of Shawns is a real nice piece, hopefully I can get him on here and tell you a little more about it.

Steve,,,,,,,,,,,,
 
G'day everyone,

First and foremost thank you for the kind words on the mosaic bowie, not much I can add to the details. This is my first time on the forums so I may not have all the etiquette down just yet, so apologies if I make some sort of IT faux pas.

The first bit of gidgee I saw on a knife handle was Stave's mosaic bowie posted on this thread. Steve had this bowie on the table next to me at the Melbourne Knife show, talk about humbling experiences. Anyway I bought some from a local supplier and have been in love with the stuff ever since. It works nicely, very stable, and it even smells good when you sand it. It can have the most amazing variations as well, flames, rings, quilted, and Birdseye. All of that can be in one 4 foot section of tree and if you come up with no figure at all it makes the best fire wood I have ever seen.

One thing I have to say is that Steve can be a bit understated when he says things. The comment "I seem to be about the only person cutting gidgee" doesn’t explain things. I had the good fortune to go on a camping/ harvesting trip with Steve a few months back. We drove 1800 miles, half of it dirt, in one straight 400 mile stretch we saw exactly two cars. Did river crossings up to the hood of the four wheel drive, and had to dig it out of a trench once. We found one good gidgee tree, it was a beauty, but if Steve hadn’t spotted it out of the corner of his eye it could have been a gidgee free trip. The next time Steve went out it was 122 F, with no shade anywhere – you really have to be prepared to go & find this stuff. And that doesn’t even take into account the Death Adders you have to watch out for! Cheers Shawn.
 
Nice to see a post from you. Well there you have it, 3 Australian knifemakers posting in a row. This local representation thing is hard work. For those who don't know, Shawn is a bladesmith and here's where a bit of friendly competition / inspiration between Shawn and Steve never hurt anyone - look at their damascus and you'll see each doing their thing and one trying to top the other. Thats my interpretation and we're the better for it. Now the problem is to get Shawn to develop a website or post photos ...

Back to the topic - Gidgee... Its one of those woods. I've seen enough presentation bowie's with curly maple, black walnut and african blackwood. Ringed Gidgee is the way to go for that "new classic" look. Its a really tough wood too and has the best characteristics of many other desirable woods - oily, dense, and it is remarkably easy to produce a top-notch finish.

Anyway, catch you a bit later on Shawn. Cheers. Jason.
 
Shawn, that's a great story. :D

Here's a shot of Gidgee country that Steve sent me two weeks ago.
quilpie.jpg

Those two tracks you see are the main road.
 
While the wood is certainly beautiful, the harvesting sounds like a kick ass adventure in itself :D While I know that it makes it tough on you guys to take time out from your schedules to go harvesting, but to me it sounds like a pretty cool trip. Easy to see why this stuff isn't available readily on the commercial market. That sounds like a pretty rough trip for a chunk of wood. That is perhaps the best endorsement I can think of for using it on a knife. If you are willing to go through this much work to get it, it must be killer.
 
Yep, I'm hoping to get a few knives with Gidgee wood handles in the future. ;) :D
 
Now you guys have done it.

News reports are trickling in from the outback... it seems one of this forum's members grabbed his girlfriend, hopped on his bike, and is now riding around in the barren Australian backcountry searching for Gidgee.

redneck.jpg


Man, that's commitment for ya. Personally, I can think of much easier ways to get wood...

:p
 
Actually, thats supposed to be a New Zealander joke. Its a local / in-joke, but I'll leave it at that... :D :D :D

Seriously, Shawn Mcintyre just showed me some of the photos of the trip he and Steve Filicietti took in the outback and I can verify they went to extreme lengths to find stuff - ah well, you know the addage about the fruits of your labour ...

Cheers. Jason.
 
Welcome to the forums Shawn - that's a terrific bowie you've made there. And thanks for the story of the Great Gidgee Gathering adventure - I enjoyed that a lot.

Cheers,

Roger
 
Just got some Gidgee in from Steve. It will knock your socks off. 'Cept Arkies; they don't wear socks. But this is some really nice wood. I can't wait to get it on a blade. Thanks Steve, I'll be looking for you in Mesquite. mike
 
Wulf, I had bike like that one and a similar dog ,but my sheep was way cuter than that old woolbag. I've got the impression now that Shawn enjoyed himself, he's not real keen on snakes but. Mike ,I'll definitly be in Mesquite again this year, they had good steak.

Steve,,,,,,,,,,,
 
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