Tilikum- a whale of a knife

Lorien

Nose to the Grindstone
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Dec 5, 2005
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Hello people- this is a knife I've just completed. It's of 8mm thick A2, with a linen micarta handle and brass tube pins, heat treated and tumble finished by my good friend, Nathan Carothers. Veg tan leather sheath.

If you don't know the story of Tilikum the orca, you may find it interesting. To me, the story is symbolic of an ongoing moral shift occurring with regards to the way our species sees itself in relation to the natural world- a world that we seem to have decoupled ourselves from since the industrial revolution.

Tilikum the orca started on his sad path of living in tiny pens near where I live, and the word tilikum is indigenous to this area. The movie 'Blackfish' tells the tale.

Tilikum can mean many things, but has to do with describing relations between people, whether it be relatives, a tribe, immediate family and so on. If you're catching my drift, then you might see the irony in this.

This knife and sheath are inspired by the orca, and the name itself is a tragic reference to our callous entitlement to pillage and ransack whatever brings us wealth and power.

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Thank you for looking.
 
Love the lines, what's the length? Looks like quite a chopper while still being pretty handy😎
 
pretty awesome. the point shaping is way cool lookin. whats the cutout in the heel of the blade for?
 
overall length is around 10.5"

The cutout in the ricasso? It doesn't really have a purpose, it's more of a visual break between the handle and blade. Purely an aesthetic choice on my part
You could tie a knuckle guard of some sort to it, I suppose, with the other end tied to the lanyard hole at the butt of the handle. Or, it could be a forward lanyard hole option
 
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overall length is around 10.5"

The cutout in the ricasso? It doesn't really have a purpose, it's more of a visual break between the handle and blade. Purely an aesthetic choice on my part
You could tie a knuckle guard of some sort to it, I suppose, with the other end tied to the lanyard hole at the butt of the handle
gotcha. thanks. I like it visually as well, just wasn't sure if there was another reason I was too dumb to figure out.
 
thank you all for your kind comments:thumbsup:
 
That's a really neat looking knife. I like the irregularly-shaped forward lanyard hole.

Orca gives that knife two seals way, way up! :thumbsup:

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Hell of a job!! Very eye catching and very appealing... Great look & the pants are just as nice!!!
 
much appreciated, thanks!
 
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