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Simply blown away
- Thread starter oldscrimmer
- Start date
Morrow
Don't make this weird
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2007
- Messages
- 27,773
Oldscrimmer......welcome and enough goofing around with the chit-chat. Let's get some pictures up of your work for us to see please. 
If you don't like messing around with posting pictures, email some to me and I'll post them for you.
If you don't like messing around with posting pictures, email some to me and I'll post them for you.
An old smithy shop.
I sure do like that photo! Back then men were men and boys were allowed to be boys among the men if they were polite and respectful of their elders. Can you tell me more about this photo, like a source, time, and location maybe? I'm just curious.
Oldscrimmer, you are not the only old codger here. Much of what I see in the marketplace now and in our society in general either leaves me cussing mad or just shaking my head in disbelief sometimes. I try not to have those same reactions to a few of the things I see posted on Blade Forums, but I'm not entirely successful in that.
I strongly second someone's comment to the effect that you would enjoy reading the previous threads and posts by a fellow about our age who goes by Jackknife here. Notice carefully the spelling, though, with two Ks.
I've been carrying and using knives since the second grade. That was about 1953, and back then boys used knives and nobody got their panties in a wad over it. All of my years in public schools I and my male classmates carried knives, but we never cut up anybody with them. I don't think I even carved my initials in my desk with mine, though I sat at many previously decorated desks, often those that still had inkwells in them. My first knife was one of Mama's paring knives I swiped from the kitchen. I learned to sharpen it on a big rock in our backyard. Freehand sharpening is all I've ever known. Granddaddy and Daddy and maybe some uncles no doubt gave me my first pointers on sharpening. Seems to me like far too many kids now either don't have a man in the family or don't have one that could pour p--- out a boot with directions on the heel. I am astonished at so many youngsters who don't have a clue how to go about becoming a useful, intelligent, decent adult now. Using knives and other tools is a part of that process, or it was in the world we grew up in.
Pardon my rambling, but welcome to the nut house.
I strongly second someone's comment to the effect that you would enjoy reading the previous threads and posts by a fellow about our age who goes by Jackknife here. Notice carefully the spelling, though, with two Ks.
I've been carrying and using knives since the second grade. That was about 1953, and back then boys used knives and nobody got their panties in a wad over it. All of my years in public schools I and my male classmates carried knives, but we never cut up anybody with them. I don't think I even carved my initials in my desk with mine, though I sat at many previously decorated desks, often those that still had inkwells in them. My first knife was one of Mama's paring knives I swiped from the kitchen. I learned to sharpen it on a big rock in our backyard. Freehand sharpening is all I've ever known. Granddaddy and Daddy and maybe some uncles no doubt gave me my first pointers on sharpening. Seems to me like far too many kids now either don't have a man in the family or don't have one that could pour p--- out a boot with directions on the heel. I am astonished at so many youngsters who don't have a clue how to go about becoming a useful, intelligent, decent adult now. Using knives and other tools is a part of that process, or it was in the world we grew up in.
Pardon my rambling, but welcome to the nut house.
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2007
- Messages
- 205
Oldscrimmer......welcome and enough goofing around with the chit-chat. Let's get some pictures up of your work for us to see please.
If you don't like messing around with posting pictures, email some to me and I'll post them for you.
I guess first, I've not been here long enough to know how to post pix (I see the icon to insert an image). Second, you all may find this odd, but I don't own a single piece of my own work, nor do I own a digital camera (technology again). I do have however some pictures on a CD somwhere around home of some of my stuff which was scanned or taken by my Air Force buddy with his digital. If I can find them, (you know how old coots collect stuff like a pack rat) I'll download them from the CD and email them to you.
The reasons I don't own any of my work.....I sold it all! Folks were offering me more than I could turn down. Then I did quite alot for friends as gifts. I had professional pix taken of some of the earlier stuff for advertising, and I still have some of those......just no scanner. Bear with me guys, I'll come up with something!!! This is exciting for me as it has been years since anyone has even acknowledged my work....and I am a proud artist!
The last piece I had I was going to keep was a Barry Wood rotating scale/liner knife with ivory micarta. I had done a bison on it. I took it to the Tulsa gun show one year and a guy who saw it offered me a wad for it (or what was a wad for the times), so I sold it. Hang tight! :thumbup:
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2007
- Messages
- 205
AMEN! Dr. Mudd!!
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2005
- Messages
- 2,826
Sure. Just right-click the image and you'll see where it came from. Very nice site at http://www.mesquiterocker.com/knives.
You'll find the specifics on the photo here. It's quite an interesting story.
BTW, I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments.
.
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2007
- Messages
- 205
I guess you guys would like a few words on the scrimshaw pix morrowj_98 posted for me. Thanks Jason! The grips were done for my Air Force Buddy's .45 around 2001 as a Christmas present. They represent about 25 hours of work on the scrim alone. I made the grips from white micarta, polished and fitted them myself. My wife chose the theme for the kanji lettering for his name, and the bamboo is a symbol of integrity and intelligence.
The whale's tooth is genuine, of one I traded Jimmy Lile out of years before the ban on whale ivory. I did this for a hunting buddy in Oklahoma. We duck and pheasant hunted together. The other side is a cock pheasant on the rise. The tag line of "just bein' there" was one of our groups favorite sayings. Just to give you an idea of all the little dots and lines, I kept track of the tool strokes in the drake's neck....there's 1100 per square 1/4 inch.
Scrimshaw is much better viewed in the raw, but you all can at least get an idea of my style. I kept track of the knives I scrimshawed for about a year after I started in 1973 and had well over 200 pieces at that point. Then I quit keeping track. I can't begin to tell you how many I did after that, but a bunch! Most of the knives had scroll or wildlife scenes or both. I did custom orders and themes requested by the knife owner, most of which were wildlife also. Thanks to you all for wanting to see the pix!
The whale's tooth is genuine, of one I traded Jimmy Lile out of years before the ban on whale ivory. I did this for a hunting buddy in Oklahoma. We duck and pheasant hunted together. The other side is a cock pheasant on the rise. The tag line of "just bein' there" was one of our groups favorite sayings. Just to give you an idea of all the little dots and lines, I kept track of the tool strokes in the drake's neck....there's 1100 per square 1/4 inch.
Scrimshaw is much better viewed in the raw, but you all can at least get an idea of my style. I kept track of the knives I scrimshawed for about a year after I started in 1973 and had well over 200 pieces at that point. Then I quit keeping track. I can't begin to tell you how many I did after that, but a bunch! Most of the knives had scroll or wildlife scenes or both. I did custom orders and themes requested by the knife owner, most of which were wildlife also. Thanks to you all for wanting to see the pix!
Yes there was life before computers, life was much slower, simpler and comfortable like the warm glow of the vaccuum tube era. I wonder what folks would think if one could take a modern computer with BF and the internet back to those times, it would blow their minds like some of the new knives produced today.
Sal Glesser
Moderator
- Joined
- Dec 27, 1998
- Messages
- 11,711
Hi Scrimmer,
Welcome to the bladeforums. A world of information here and the group has an unusually broad age range. I'm sure your input will be respected and appreciated.
Heck, I thought the "slide rule" was a great invention.
Still a lot of "old edges" that hang around here. worn some, but quite sharp.
There are still a few doing handwork these days. Unique and beautiful.
I guess it's the same with many industries, but the revolution began in the knife industry in the late 70's and early 80's.
Innovation took a big jump in designs. New ways of opening knives, new ways of closing them and keeping them closed. New ways of locking them open. Knives with teeth. Tactical, autos, assisted openers.
Then material technology took a big jump. New ways of making steels that jump higher and run faster; powdered metals that provide unheard of chemistry's and stay sharp a hundred years. Titanium. Cobalt. Nitrogen.
Plastics that can take an edge and be resharpened. Plastics that are impervious to chemicals and temperatures.
Then, the equipment: CNC Mills. lasers, grinders, etc....cutting and forming steel faster than the eye can see.
The internet makes this information available to all in an instant so the information cycle spirals faster.
This is a great age in the knife world.
sal
Welcome to the bladeforums. A world of information here and the group has an unusually broad age range. I'm sure your input will be respected and appreciated.
Heck, I thought the "slide rule" was a great invention.
Still a lot of "old edges" that hang around here. worn some, but quite sharp.There are still a few doing handwork these days. Unique and beautiful.
I guess it's the same with many industries, but the revolution began in the knife industry in the late 70's and early 80's.
Innovation took a big jump in designs. New ways of opening knives, new ways of closing them and keeping them closed. New ways of locking them open. Knives with teeth. Tactical, autos, assisted openers.
Then material technology took a big jump. New ways of making steels that jump higher and run faster; powdered metals that provide unheard of chemistry's and stay sharp a hundred years. Titanium. Cobalt. Nitrogen.
Plastics that can take an edge and be resharpened. Plastics that are impervious to chemicals and temperatures.
Then, the equipment: CNC Mills. lasers, grinders, etc....cutting and forming steel faster than the eye can see.
The internet makes this information available to all in an instant so the information cycle spirals faster.
This is a great age in the knife world.
sal
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2007
- Messages
- 205
Thanks Sal! This is gonna sound crazy, but I had a customer a couple of days ago who was looking at a knife I had in the showcase (cheap tool box knife). He said how much, I told him $10 since it was him. He looked it all over and said, "we've got a CNC mill at my job that I run, I can just make me one like this". I remember when taking on a knifemaking project was major....I was piddling with such when this customer was pooping diapers! Now he can make his knife on his breaktime!
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2007
- Messages
- 6,518
oldscrimmer - thanks for sharing. Great work :thumbup:. Nice inspiration behind the design, too.
(bold emphasis mine) That was a style my father used every once in a while; it resulted in some of the best work he ever did. With this technique, some of his artwork looks like B&W photos. You had to get up real close to see that it wasn't a photo. Oh, and it took him weeks to do one piece of work, too.
thx - cpr
(bold emphasis mine) That was a style my father used every once in a while; it resulted in some of the best work he ever did. With this technique, some of his artwork looks like B&W photos. You had to get up real close to see that it wasn't a photo. Oh, and it took him weeks to do one piece of work, too.
thx - cpr
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2001
- Messages
- 32,359
Welcome to the forums, pull up a rocker, grab a hunka wood and yer favorite whittler and set a spell, I think you'll like it here.
Daniel Dorn
Gold Member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 1999
- Messages
- 5,322
Hi Oldsrimmer,
I grew up just outside of Eureka Springs Arkansas, in a tiny town called Beaver (population 82, + 1 for my baby brother). There was a gentleman down by the river that went by the moniker Coyote, and was a great artist with the needle. My brothers and I would stand around his table for periods of time unnaturally long for young boys, watching him work with his tools, and create beautiful things. He used lots of dear antlers, especially the crowns, and tended towards Native American type stuff, traditional Sailor things, and the female form. I remember him, and his old pick-up truck with a Desert Ironwood bumper, and his dog named Bandit.
I've always had an eye for scrim work, since then, and have come to appreciate Coyote's time and patience with us boys, and his willingness to pass on the idea of true artistry, and pride of work.
Thanks for bringing this back to my remembrance.
Daniel
I grew up just outside of Eureka Springs Arkansas, in a tiny town called Beaver (population 82, + 1 for my baby brother). There was a gentleman down by the river that went by the moniker Coyote, and was a great artist with the needle. My brothers and I would stand around his table for periods of time unnaturally long for young boys, watching him work with his tools, and create beautiful things. He used lots of dear antlers, especially the crowns, and tended towards Native American type stuff, traditional Sailor things, and the female form. I remember him, and his old pick-up truck with a Desert Ironwood bumper, and his dog named Bandit.
I've always had an eye for scrim work, since then, and have come to appreciate Coyote's time and patience with us boys, and his willingness to pass on the idea of true artistry, and pride of work.
Thanks for bringing this back to my remembrance.
Daniel
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2007
- Messages
- 205
You betcha! All you guys have made me feel, not only welcome, but appreciated! That's something rare these days of a fast pace world. I too own a fair share of great folders, and know the appreciation everyone feels toward Sal and his gang.
My wife carries the first Spyderco I ever owned on her saddle. Don't remember the model number but it had a built in belt loop hook and a FULL aggressive serrated blade. She stakes her life on it on a trail ride.
As for Coyote stories (I know where Beaver is) and others, I love stories, and most of all warm memories....as morrowj puts it....a warm fuzzy! Sharing is one of life's most pleasant experiences! Thanks you all!!!!
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2006
- Messages
- 758
Oldscrimmer you are not alone and certainly not forgotten. There are many of us who cherish the work of the old masters of the crafts. There is much to be said for the art of handcrafted work.
Just as there are those who still prefer vinyl records because the "imperfections" are what give the sound it's body and tone that is missing in the "perfect" digital CD's, there will always be those who appreciate the skill and craftsmaship of handmade knives and scrimshaw.
I got into the game late myself. Although I had collected knives since I was a teenager I never really learned to appreciate handmade knives, fine engraving and scrimshaw until a few years ago.
I didn't make my first knife until I was 49 years old but I learned (and am still learning) from one of the old-school masters, Gil Hibben. He has been making knives for 50 years and the only programmable piece of equipment in his shop today is the heat treating oven. For me, that's the way it should be.
I just recently started trying my hand at scrimshaw with the help of artist Richard "HutcH" Hutchings. I have a looong way to go to be anywhere near good at it, and maybe I never will be, but I enjoy the unique art form and I think it is an art form ONLY if done by hand.
Welcome to the forums. There are several of us here cut from the same cloth.
Just as there are those who still prefer vinyl records because the "imperfections" are what give the sound it's body and tone that is missing in the "perfect" digital CD's, there will always be those who appreciate the skill and craftsmaship of handmade knives and scrimshaw.
I got into the game late myself. Although I had collected knives since I was a teenager I never really learned to appreciate handmade knives, fine engraving and scrimshaw until a few years ago.
I didn't make my first knife until I was 49 years old but I learned (and am still learning) from one of the old-school masters, Gil Hibben. He has been making knives for 50 years and the only programmable piece of equipment in his shop today is the heat treating oven. For me, that's the way it should be.
I just recently started trying my hand at scrimshaw with the help of artist Richard "HutcH" Hutchings. I have a looong way to go to be anywhere near good at it, and maybe I never will be, but I enjoy the unique art form and I think it is an art form ONLY if done by hand.
Welcome to the forums. There are several of us here cut from the same cloth.