Wharncliff with brass bolsters, filework, burl, sculpted handle

David Schott

David Schott

Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Messages
3,041
Heres one I've been sitting on, finally got it basically finished. This one is:

8" OAL
4" blade, 3/16" O-1 Toolsteel
Brass bolsters
Stabilized burl handles with mosaic pins
Fully fileworked from bolsters to tang.

This is a sturdy little knife. I like how it came out. I went with a 400 grit satin finish on the bolsters and blade in a hope that a customer will actually use the knife, in addition to the PITA that mirrored brass is to keep looking good. Ill be putting this one in the for sale section sometime soon.

1.jpg

7.jpg

5.jpg

spine.jpg
 
your knives have an "aquatic" look to'em if you ask me. Aren't you the guy who posted pix of a knife with "ringed guidge'?? or something like that? I thought: "that sounds like something from the primate paddock of the Houston Zoo... hmmm, would make a nice pet I think!. That was a really cool looking wood! :) nice knife.

m

ps. talk about naming things... I'd call this the "nautilus....

pps. can we have a vote?? (sorry I misspelled your handle :( )

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3244187#post3244187
 
which of the pix are the truest to color?? the top one (lots of blues in the burl handle material) or those last ones with the "warmer" colors?? I like the top pic if that's really how the handles look....
 
I like it. A unique design with some flair to it. Fred
 
The color is somewhere inbetween, Indoors it makes everything looks kind of dull. The burl is actually pretty close to the outdoor picture....when you are outdoors! Burl does weird things in the light. Indoors it looks more sudued, but when sunlight hits it, you can see a lot more going on.
 
a "Nautilus" in pearl is in order :)


ps... or Abalone, I could run with that ball too.... that would be very "nautesque"
 
on a serious note: your bolster/hafting configuration lends itself to useing rather short pieces of material for the actual handle. That's a nice advantage when utilizing expensive stuff such as MOP, mastadon ect... just a thought.

m
 
Hey Tik Tock...beautiful knife!
Question: What kind of camera did you take the pics with? I want to post some pics on this board, but am not quite satisfied with my camera's close focusing abilities yet. I have an 8 megapixel Sony, but am still playing around with the settings, etc...I was just wondering what you were using, as the pictures were quite good, as is your workmanship.

Have a great weekend,

Hank Hammond
 
Haha sounds like same camera as you. Sony f828. Its all about lighting and the mode it is in.

I have decided not to sell this one. As you can see, there is a hairline gap that exists between wood and bolsters. It bothered me enough that I decided to keep this one. It will be given a kydex sheath and beaten to its limits on upcoming camping trips. I did not know how to price a knife with a minor visual flaw such as that.....

This will probably be the last time it is seen until I somehow destroy it....

I'll be putting the Gidgee one up today or tomorrow....
 
It is dyed. Then I finish to about 800 grit and then lightly buff
Click to expand...
Tiktok , you replied in another area of forum. Noob questions time.. lol if this is a secret method I understand , but how did you get so many different colors ? I see blue-green-red-gold frikin beautiful... was it dyed more than once ?

I like :)
 
I didn't dye it myself. Theres a seller on ebay called "Staburl" who provides it. This one was triple dyed with green and red. Some of the red is natural and the gold and yellows are natural. Try him out, its good stuff!
 
Hate to keep bothering you, but what mode did you use if you don't mind me asking? I am beginning to utilize aperture priority mode more often now, as opposed to the fully automatic mode.

Can't seem to remember what type of lights I am using...some sort of GE bulb that is supposed to transmit a truer, natural, type light...can't think of the name right now.

Take it easy!
 
For the ones shot outside, I think I use aperature priority, setting for the most depth, which put me at f 3.5, I believe. One thing to make sure of is that you are in the macro setting. Also, play with the matrix setting of how it chooses the picture. Sometimes setting the exposure for the whole picture washes it all out, and its better to take a spot-reading for exposure. I try to avoid a flash at all costs. I haven't built a light box or anything yet. The indoor shots were just sitting on my kitchen table. Once i take the pics at 8mp, i then use photoshop to crop in on the ones that come out good. I try to lightly use the "shadow" tool to dull any reflection points and adjust contrast a little, but try not to do too much since the pictures then look too doctored. Try Picassa as well.

It seems more and more that decent pics are more a function of lighting than camera. Try different bulbs. Some types of light can make a nice knife look awful in a picture. Others will hide things you may not want to emphasize.

This picture was taken outdoors at almost dusk, with the camera in full auto mode, no flash, no doctoring....its all just nice lighting....

left.jpg
 
Nice pic and knife! Yeah, the AP mode seems to work the best. I try to see if I can squeeze in shots @ F8 for a broader range of focus. I tend to have my best results with the spot focus, or single point focus, focusing on the knife itself. Of course, it is in the macro mode, and I attach the camera to a tripod and use the 10 second delay feature so I am not holding the camera when the picture snaps. My pictures immediately improved when I went to the tripod...I could not seem to hold it steady enough for the close in work. I also over-ride the flash feature so it will not flash. Still can't remember the name of the bulbs used, but they were some sort of cutsie-pie name that inferred that the light emitted was as close to natural light as possible...I do remember that they cost a little more than the usual bulbs....and they were 60 watts, made by GE and bought at Walmart.

Best of luck...you are doing great work on your knives.

Take it easy.
 
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