W-2 Chopper and Hunters (many pics)

David Wesner

David Wesner

Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
2,531
I'm always nervous to post in Customs & Handmade Knives :o

If you've seen my knives before you may know that, a) I'm a rather new maker (just over 4 yrs now) b) I mainly concentrate on hunters and outdoor/camp knives, in the hope they will be used :thumbup:

I also love to make Big Forged Bowie's and Choppers. I'm working very hard at perfecting my skills, gaining confidence and experience by the day. I going to have my press set-up this summer so I'm able to work with my own damask and laminated steel ;) My Smithy area is starting to look real good !! :D

I do everything in shop, nothing is farmed out. All of my Stainless receives LN cryo after austenitizing followed by triple temper.
My forged blade HT, (normalizing & austenitizing) is performed in a digitally controlled kiln and quenched using engineered quenchants. I primarily use Parks # 50 but also have a tank of McMaster Carr High Speed and a tank of Tough Quench. Like I said though, due to the excellent results I've been getting with the Parks # 50 I've been using that exclusively for my W2, 1095 & 5160.

Here are a few springtime knives. I hope you like them :)

The first is a forged W-2 Chopper with hamon. 416 SS guard, Ironwood w/.015 red liner and 5/16" SS tube handle pins.

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Some Loveless Style Hunters. First ones are Drop Point Hunters w/ 4" blades, CPM154, tapered tang, 416 SS & Ironwood w/.015 red liner

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More Loveless Style, Duplex Grind, CPM154, tapered tang, 416 SS & Ironwood w/.015 red liner. I've added a little more length to the Duplex ground blade @ 4-3/16", IMHO, making it a bit more functional. The back grind is 8" hollow while the forward/tip is 10" hollow.

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The following are Herron Style Hunters, CPM154, tapered tang, 416 SS & ironwood w/.015 bright red liner

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Next up is one of my earliest designs, the #14 Hunter/Skinner. This knife is small, scalpel like and very handy. D2, green canvas micarta w/ .015 bright red liner

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Here we have my Caper, another small, slim cutter. CPM S90V, African Blackwood w/ .015 red liner

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Last is my Bullnose Skinner. CPM S90V, ironwood w/ .015 red liner
Although I prefer something with a point (like the caper or #14) for skinning my beaver & otter, other fur harvesters like this style.

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Thank you for taking time out to have a look at my work.
You should know, like many others here, I'm extremely passionate about making my knives.
I take it very seriously, spending obscene amounts of time researching, testing and learning everything I can related to it.

Thanks again :) I couldn't do it without you :thumbup:



:cool:
 
David, those are all very nice. I especially like the Herron style hunters.

It's also really nice to see you are forging!!! That chopper is a good looking piece.

I got to handle a few of your newer pieces on Les Robertson's table at the Blade SHow and was very impressed. Another collector was with me, he hadn't heard your name before, but was truly impressed with your knives. It's great to see you hard at it!
 
Those are all great, but I love that chopper!

I've been a big fan of your work since I first noticed one of your camp knives-I really like that long clip-point look in a camp knife!

As an aside, how thin do you grind your 5160 blades before quenching them in Parks #50? I only ask because I tried quenching a few blades is the Fast McMaster oil and got some pretty severe warping, and have since switched to a slower oil.
 
don't be nervous David!
Be happy!:)
That's what I feel when I look over that sweet chopper of yours:thumbup:
 
Hey David!

Nice to see some of your work on here. You're getting pretty good at it! ;)

Heck of a finish on S90V!! :thumbup: :)
 
All fantastic stuff, David!!
These guys get a little uppity sometimes, but deepdown, they just love knives.
Your stuff is top notch, and so are the folks that hang around here.
 
Your work looks amazing and the wood handles stunning!Oh,since you have'nt been told yet,that chopper really rocks!
 
Every one of them looks great, but I especially like the big chopper and the four ironwood handled drop point hunters.
 
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