Rosebud

[Lorien]

more to come...

 

[Jon Brand]

Ok, im excited!!!

 

[Calvin Robinson]

You getting a new sled?

 

[RyanW]

Why you dragging this out???

 

[Lorien]

Ryan, I haven't even opened the box yet!

Around a year ago, I called Mike Quesenberry about maybe getting him to make a little knife for me. I was thinking that I wanted a semi integral of some kind or another, but really was curious to get to know what kind of guy he is.

Those of you who know Mike, know that he is a very likeable dude, so needless to say we hit it off. I asked him a few questions;

1. What kind of knife have you not yet had a chance to make, that you'd like to make?

2. As for difficulty in constructing a knife, what would you peg as the most difficult?

3. Do you work to spec?

Lots of dialogue and interesting answers to some of the questions I'd asked ensued, and I ruminated intently on what exactly it was that I wanted to achieve in a project with Mike. I spent a little time figuring out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go with this.

I did a couple of quick sketches based on our conversations, and this was the first sketch I sent Mike's way;

 

[BenR.T.]

O P E N the box!!

 

[Wulf]

Don't make me come up there and open it for you.

By the way, I love that sketch

 

[sheathmaker]

Lorien, quit dickin' around and either show the knife or not. I'm busy!

Paul

 

[The Amazing Virginian]

lorien, quit dickin' around and either show the knife or not. I'm busy!

Paul

lmfao!!!

 

[RyanW]

Haha... Way to cut to the chase Paul!

 

[eisman]

You getting a new sled?

That was the second thing I thought of (the first belongs in the "Cove"). RKO 281

 

[Lorien]

Lorien, quit dickin' around and either show the knife or not. I'm busy!

Paul

you young people these days with all your expectations!

 

[RyanW]

Lorien, I have been meaning to ask... Is that a Cod Piece in your Avatar?

 

[Lorien]

lol Ryan- I'll send you a pic or two to explain, but all will become clear in Blade mag some time in the future...

Annnnnd...no pics til tomorrow, I will NOT take some crappy photo due to terrible lighting and post it here. But, I will post a little backstory for you...after I put my munchkin to bed.

 

[Mike Quesenberry]

The suspense is killing me, lol.

 

[Lorien]

so after talking with the ^above, I decided that what I wanted was an integral dagger with double bolsters.

Unfortunately, that kind of knife was well beyond the price range of anything that I would ever buy for myself, so this project took a turn. A somewhat dramatic turn...

My wife's birthday was coming up and it was #40, so I decided that this knife would be for her. Her favourite movie is Citizen Kane, and one of mine as well, so I began to draw inspiration from the story and a theme began to form in my mind. The genre of the time is one of my favourite, artistically, and you can see the influence start to come out in the following images.

I'll go in to more detail tomorrow, but for tonight I will leave you with some more design iterations that began to flow once it became clear to me what we were embarking on.

 

[Lorien]

[video=youtube;O4mQqVqRB7I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4mQqVqRB7I[/video]

 

[JParanee]

Love the theme

Fun thread and very cool

 

[Wulf]

OK Lorien that first design is just a wee bit phallic. Very glad that it evolved.

Now seriously on with the knife pics. Actual steel this time.

 

[Lorien]

OK Lorien that first design is just a wee bit phallic. Very glad that it evolved.

you and me both. Wasn't it Loveless, though, who said something like holding a knife's handle should be like holding your junk? His handles don't look like dicks though

Speaking of steel, I brought up the idea of some kind of 'snowflake' damascus to Mike. He's like, 'oh, I heard of something like that, no problem'- well, that's a whole story in itself!

I'll leave it to Mike to speak of all his trials and tribulations. And I hope he does, because you ALL will learn from it! I know I did.

Suffice to say, I think this knife was both the biggest pain in the ass he'd ever had and the biggest chunk of lessonry he'd had to contend with ever. This was an extremely challenging knife for the poor guy to make, but you collectors waiting your turn will benefit! I'm back on the list and will know EXACTLY how to benefit from his experience here

5 BILLETS later, he's like, 'EDM, EDM is the way to go'. So, very precise, EDM cut mosaic damascus. High contrast. A very stable, but chip-prone handle material. Amazing contrasts and textures, I can't wait til my wife goes to bed so I can take it out and look at it. The knife, Wulf, the knife.