- Joined
- Apr 5, 2000
- Messages
- 2,018
This knife has a two part story...
First part; One of my favorite people in the world, my Aunt Kath, passed away suddenly a couple weeks ago. I'm not going to go into detail. She always asked me to make her a letter opener with an osage handle, I told her I would make one for her sometime. She came over at least once a week and every time asked if I bought any osage yet. Greg Covington gave me a nice block when I visited him. My Aunt Kath really liked it, she even recognized it right away.
I showed her some micarta slabs and she thought it was amazing, she was blown away when I told her it was cloth held together with epoxy. I didn't get to make her an osage knife, and I felt endlessly guilty for not making her one. I chose osage for the handle and black canvas micarta for the guard.
Second part; I am working on a passaround blade. This blade was the second I made. I couldn't get the guard to fit worth a damn, so I threw it into the wall as hard as I could (I think I have anger management issue
). I live in a house that was built in the early twenties, it is an all masonry house. The person who lived here before us but in some ass ugly paneling in the basement (where my shop is located) over the brick. When I threw the knife the blade went through the paneling and into the brick behind it. I thought for sure I was going to see a broken tip. The knife came out pretty much unscathed. So, I thought it deserved another guard. The third guard sucked. So I threw it into the floor as hard as I could, tip first. There were some sparks and a nice chunk of missing concrete floor. There was very little damage to the blade. I've only sharpened it, no re-profiling. I told my friend, Tom O'Brien (who I am working with on the passaround), about the knife and he suggested I keep it and finish it out. He thought there was something cosimic about it 
, maybe he's right 
. I'm glad I did, I think it's deserving.
So that's the long winded story about the knife, I certainly feel a little less guilty now. Pretty freakin maudlin story. Forged from w1 round bar, black canvas micarta, osage handle. I had a hell of a time getting a shot of the hardening line. There is much more activity in person; lots of "forks" which extend almost all the way down the blade. Anyone is welcome to stop by and take a look at it .
I've got a 10.5" version of this I am working on for my man Randy. I've got an integral and a damascus hunter in the works too. The pass around knife should be done soon; forged w1 and walnut, similar to this knife, just a little more pokey. Production has sucked the last couple months...freakin grad school .
By the way...I think this knife looks like a bumble bee, thus the name. I hadn't planned on doing any more in this configuration, but someone already placed an order for another. I will be making more micarta guards, I'm really happy with it.
This is where my standard hunter style is going. I'll keep posting photos of knives, hopefully I'll have more time in the near future.
Matt
First part; One of my favorite people in the world, my Aunt Kath, passed away suddenly a couple weeks ago. I'm not going to go into detail. She always asked me to make her a letter opener with an osage handle, I told her I would make one for her sometime. She came over at least once a week and every time asked if I bought any osage yet. Greg Covington gave me a nice block when I visited him. My Aunt Kath really liked it, she even recognized it right away.
I showed her some micarta slabs and she thought it was amazing, she was blown away when I told her it was cloth held together with epoxy. I didn't get to make her an osage knife, and I felt endlessly guilty for not making her one. I chose osage for the handle and black canvas micarta for the guard.
Second part; I am working on a passaround blade. This blade was the second I made. I couldn't get the guard to fit worth a damn, so I threw it into the wall as hard as I could (I think I have anger management issue
). I live in a house that was built in the early twenties, it is an all masonry house. The person who lived here before us but in some ass ugly paneling in the basement (where my shop is located) over the brick. When I threw the knife the blade went through the paneling and into the brick behind it. I thought for sure I was going to see a broken tip. The knife came out pretty much unscathed. So, I thought it deserved another guard. The third guard sucked. So I threw it into the floor as hard as I could, tip first. There were some sparks and a nice chunk of missing concrete floor. There was very little damage to the blade. I've only sharpened it, no re-profiling. I told my friend, Tom O'Brien (who I am working with on the passaround), about the knife and he suggested I keep it and finish it out. He thought there was something cosimic about it , maybe he's right . I'm glad I did, I think it's deserving. So that's the long winded story about the knife, I certainly feel a little less guilty now
. Pretty freakin maudlin story. Forged from w1 round bar, black canvas micarta, osage handle. I had a hell of a time getting a shot of the hardening line. There is much more activity in person; lots of "forks" which extend almost all the way down the blade. Anyone is welcome to stop by and take a look at it .I've got a 10.5" version of this I am working on for my man Randy. I've got an integral and a damascus hunter in the works too. The pass around knife should be done soon; forged w1 and walnut, similar to this knife, just a little more pokey
. Production has sucked the last couple months...freakin grad school .By the way...I think this knife looks like a bumble bee, thus the name. I hadn't planned on doing any more in this configuration, but someone already placed an order for another. I will be making more micarta guards, I'm really happy with it.
This is where my standard hunter style is going. I'll keep posting photos of knives, hopefully I'll have more time in the near future.
Matt
