Signalprick/JWRitchie Knives Slipjoint Recovers, Mods and WIPS

Signalprick said:
Hello guys! Been a bit. I just finished up my first full custom handmade knife and I wanted to share here in my thread. It a Tony Bose pattern single blade barlow. The blade and spring are A2 tool steel. The rockwell hardness on the blade is 60. It has a aluminum bronze pivot bushing. The liners are 410 stainless, mill relieved. Shadow pattern build with 410 stainless hardware and pinned bollocks shield. Really proud to share my first custom build with you all. Thank you for looking!
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Really great Jason. It might seem odd but I especially like your tang stamp. Plain and Simple - doesn't take away from the overall appearance of the knife.
 
Jason, I was gonna post on your Instagram page but I will just do it here. That is a fantastic knife! Can't wait to see more of your work in the future. Keep up the great work.
 
Signalprick said:
Hello guys! Been a bit. I just finished up my first full custom handmade knife and I wanted to share here in my thread. It a Tony Bose pattern single blade barlow. The blade and spring are A2 tool steel. The rockwell hardness on the blade is 60. It has a aluminum bronze pivot bushing. The liners are 410 stainless, mill relieved. Shadow pattern build with 410 stainless hardware and pinned bollocks shield. Really proud to share my first custom build with you all. Thank you for looking!
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Jason,

I've seen hundreds of single spear blade jacks. A classic pattern. Most of them had something wrong to my eyes, almost nothing, just a detail.

The longitudinal taper and the transverse bevels of the handle, the shape of the two ends, the bird eye pivot, the width length ratio of the blade, the amount of belly, the shape of the tip, the swedges, the long cut, and even, as pointed out by Modoc Ed, the stamp, all that is close to perfection to my eyes.
The flow of the lines, whether the knife is opened or closed, are elegant, nothing hurts.
It gives a beautiful knife but, more important, i can see how practical the design can be. I can see that from the numerous disappointments i've had at using not so well designed beautiful knives.

However i've a criticism to make, a minor point, a matter of preference which doesn't affect the functionality of the knife. I hope you won't hold it against me. You have picked a gorgeous canvas Micarta, a one which does serve a shadow pattern. I like shadow patterns, they have the simple beauty of traditional hand tools, even Delrin covers look great on them.
Then, why a shield? It doesn't bring anything. As a rule of thumb i would say: "No bolster, no shield". I leave what is just my opinion to your consideration.
Be sure that this doesn't detract from my admiration for your work.

Dan.
 
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Are you able to grind your blades at this point and heat treat the blade and springs? Watching your progression reminds me of observing Evan Nicolaides @esnyx grow from fiddling to modding GECs to learning visiting and learning from T.B. to now being a full cutler. I wish you the best. You certainly have the drive and skill to do it if you want to!!
 
Modoc ED said:
Really great Jason. It might seem odd but I especially like your tang stamp. Plain and Simple - doesn't take away from the overall appearance of the knife.
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Thank you Ed. That was my intention. Plain and simple always seem to stand up to the test of time. :)

tmd_87 said:
Jason, I was gonna post on your Instagram page but I will just do it here. That is a fantastic knife! Can't wait to see more of your work in the future. Keep up the great work.
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Thank.you Taylor. Will do sir!

dantzk8 said:
Jason,

I've seen hundreds of single spear blade jacks. A classic pattern. Most of them had something wrong to my eyes, almost nothing, just a detail.

The longitudinal taper and the transverse bevels of the handle, the shape of the two ends, the bird eye pivot, the width length ratio of the blade, the amount of belly, the shape of the tip, the swedges, the long cut, and even, as pointed out by Modoc Ed, the stamp, all that is close to perfection to my eyes.
The flow of the lines, whether the knife is opened or closed, are elegant, nothing hurts.
It gives a beautiful knife but, more important, i can see how practical the design can be. I can see that from the numerous disappointments i've had at using not so well designed beautiful knives.

However i've a criticism to make, a minor point, a matter of preference which doesn't affect the functionality of the knife. I hope you won't hold it against me. You have picked a gorgeous canvas Micarta, a one which does serve a shadow pattern. I like shadow patterns, they have the simple beauty of traditional hand tools, even Delrin covers look great on them.
Then, why a shield? It doesn't bring anything. As a rule of thumb i would say: "No bolster, no shield". I leave what is just my opinion to your consideration.
Be sure that this doesn't detract from my admiration for your work.

Dan.
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High praise Dan, thank you! I would never hold constructive criticism or the productive opinions of others against them. I actually welcome it as it will only help me to improve.

Rockon75 said:
Are you able to grind your blades at this point and heat treat the blade and springs? Watching your progression reminds me of observing Evan Nicolaides @esnyx grow from fiddling to modding GECs to learning visiting and learning from T.B. to now being a full cutler. I wish you the best. You certainly have the drive and skill to do it if you want to!!
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Thank you sir! Yes, my knives are/will be 100% handmade by me with the exception being the shields. I get them from a supplier. I am teaching myself to grind and also doing my own HT. Right now I'm working primarily with A2 tool steel. My recipie has proven effective. My blades tested at 60 rc and springs at 49 - 50. I'm also flat grinding for now but as I continue to learn I'll eventually do hollow on my 12" wheel.
 
glennbad said:
Beautiful stuff Jason! I'd expect nothing less from you.
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Thank you very much Glenn. I appreciate it!

Here is one I finished up tonight. Tony Bose design barlow. O1 blade and spring. 410ss liners and hardware. Vintage black paper micarta bolsters with black canvas and white g10 accents. Thanks for looking. Better pics tomorrow!
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Some better pics and specs for my recent build.
Tony Bose design barlow #2
O1 handrubbed blade and spring. Blade rides on a pivot bushing. Mill relieved 410ss liners. 410ss pins and rosette. Covers are vintage black paper bolsters with black canvas and white g10 accents. Spring is flush in all 3 positions, blade is centered and pull is a smooth 6. Thanks for taking a look!
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So I'm not really doing mods and recovers anymore but still my thread so here goes. I just finished up my 3rd slipjoint knife build and the first one I let go out of the shop to a customer. My first went to my best friends son as a gift. I'm carrying my 2nd and this one is headed to Canada. It's a Tony Bose pattern barlow. Blade and spring are O1 tool steel. The blade rides on a pivot bushing and has been hand rubbed to a satin finish. The liners and hardware are all 410ss and the liners are mill relieved. Its covered in vintage carmel butterscotch paper xx micarta over vintage Westinghouse fine grain natural linen micarta with black g10 accents. The CL is 3.5" and the pull is a 5-6. The spring is timed flush in all 3 positions. Easily my best work yet! Thanks for checking 'er out!
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Signalprick said:
So I'm not really doing mods and recovers anymore but still my thread so here goes. I just finished up my 3rd slipjoint knife build and the first one I let go out of the shop to a customer. My first went to my best friends son as a gift. I'm carrying my 2nd and this one is headed to Canada. It's a Tony Bose pattern barlow. Blade and spring are O1 tool steel. The blade rides on a pivot bushing and has been hand rubbed to a satin finish. The liners and hardware are all 410ss and the liners are mill relieved. Its covered in vintage carmel butterscotch paper xx micarta over vintage Westinghouse fine grain natural linen micarta with black g10 accents. The CL is 3.5" and the pull is a 5-6. The spring is timed flush in all 3 positions. Easily my best work yet! Thanks for checking 'er out!
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Wow! It's impressive how quickly you went from doing mods to doing complete builds. I wish you great success in the future!
 
dantzk8 said:
Jason,
Now you are a knife maker. Impressive achievement, making it in O1 is great, it's in my book a "super steel". What's the hardness you perfom it ? Congrats.

Dan.
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Thank you Dan. I have a friend who owns and operates a machine shop who up until today has done all my HRC testing. This one came out to 59 blade, 48 spring. I literally just met the fedex guy at my door and he handed me my new to me portable HRC unit. Now I can play with recipies a lot easier from here on out!
 
Signalprick said:
Thank you Dan. I have a friend who owns and operates a machine shop who up until today has done all my HRC testing. This one came out to 59 blade, 48 spring. I literally just met the fedex guy at my door and he handed me my new to me portable HRC unit. Now I can play with recipies a lot easier from here on out!
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Jason,

59 HRC is fine. In my experience at 59, 60, for an edge sharpened somewhere between 20 and 25 degrees inclusive, some edge rolling may occur but it's easy to deal with that with a strop or at worst with a fine stone.
Upon 60 HRC i've stated some micro chippings which require more work on the stones. Opinions may differ from different experiences but at 59 you can't go wrong.

Dan.
 
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