The touch . . . the feel . . . of sawcut

I believe "sawcut" describes how the pattern was originally made, on account of CNC machines simply didn't exist when pocket cutlery was young. I have one or two examples that exhibit traits of a hand-sawcutting process, and I can see why historically bone would have been the favored material.

Now obviously with the advent of machining we can sawcut, jig, groove and otherwise mutilate wood to fit our aesthetic needs, but if you've ever worked with hand tools and hardwoods you might have seen some of the difficulties I'm referring to.

From looking at it I'd guess the bone scale is run through a table saw (or something similar with round blade) and cut this way. Hence the pattern you see in the outside surface of the scale. You can see the round blade has made those marks. Wood does the same thing.
 
From the appearance of the Saw Cut ??? texture of some of the newer knives , it makes me wonder if they are Saw Cut , Milled , or pressed . Some of the patterns are just too even to be Saw Cut . Large lines and small lines in a consistent pattern . And none of them have the trailing marks of being run past a blade , unless the blade is swung down like a chop saw . I would just like to see how they do it. However they do it , I think it is a great way to add gripping texture !!!
 
Here is a sawcut pressed Delrin scale Camillus/Buck knife. Contract made in the image of a Buck 301 but with a Camillus shield. Likely sold as a Camillus model for a spell. Delrin is hot pressed inbetween the bolsters with Delrin protruding thru holes in the liner and hot mashed flat in a sort of rivet like effect. At the same time 'Sawcuts" are pressed into the Delrin. Current Buck made factory models are made the same way but with the material "Valox". 'Oh' for those wonderful days of the long nail nic.
300

 
Here is a sawcut pressed Delrin scale Camillus/Buck knife. Contract made in the image of a Buck 301 but with a Camillus shield. Likely sold as a Camillus model for a spell. Delrin is hot pressed inbetween the bolsters with Delrin protruding thru holes in the liner and hot mashed flat in a sort of rivet like effect. At the same time 'Sawcuts" are pressed into the Delrin. Current Buck made factory models are made the same way but with the material "Valox". 'Oh' for those wonderful days of the long nail nic.

Fascinating! I know I've seen a thread on here somewhere where some of the techniques for mimicking sawcut marks on bone in "modern" traditionals were spelled out (can't find it, though!), but I had no idea there was a wholly separate process for doing that with synthetics.

I totally agree on the long pull. There's something about it that pulls the whole knife together.
 
Ulster_Knife_USA_11G_Barlow.JPG
 
I like it!

IMG_1136.jpg


IMG_3022.jpg


Not just a Barlow preserve either, here Red Sawn Bone on a 66 Slim

IMG_1804.jpg


Couple of years ago I was musing about the desirability of Ivory Sawn Bone. Think how that could age with great character:thumbup: Quite a few others started enthusing about this possibility. We're still waiting for the next SFO with hopes & expectations....:D:D

Thanks, Will
 
Last edited:
Some really beautiful examples in this thread! I would love to add a sawcut #77 to the fold someday.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Back
Top