- Joined
- Aug 23, 2002
- Messages
- 1,398
This is the first and hopefully not the last "official" collaboration between myself and bladesmith extraordinaire Tai Goo.
The blade was forged and filed to shape from wootz - the grip is dyed antler and the fittings are of Sterling Silver - honestly - the pictures DO NOT do this knife justice - the varied and subtle range of colors in the hamon alone will make one speechless.
So then came my part - the sheath - for me a real challenge to come up with something befitting such a beautiful knife. The design idea though came easy and other than some minor changes it came out very close to the original design.
The padded inly on the face and loop is emu leg, courtesy Mt Mike Bartol - it is sewn around with 10 stitches per inch. Since the knife was mounted with Sterling silver nothing less could be used for the fitted throat piece - the three small dots are inlayed Sterling.
Anyway here 'tis....
Click on any thumbnail to see more views
The owner, Keith Montgomery, received it today and had this to say:
"The knife arrived today and wow, am I impressed. When I first looked at it I thought that At first the edge appeared to be kind of rough. Upon closer inspection I realized that it was the wootz pattern and that the edge is smooth as glass and very sharp. I haven't been able to spend much time with it as of yet, but from the short exposure that I have had there
are a few things that have really struck me about this knife. There is a great quench line(who would have thought ). It didn't show up in any of the photos and I was pleasantly surprised. The fit of everything is first rate. The piece of stag fits my hand like they were meant to go together. There is a swell that my fingers wrap around that gives it a very secure feel. The blade looks to be about 3/8" think at the guard and it has a very smooth distal taper.
Once I've had more time with the knife I will let everyone know how I feel in the long term. It is my view that I will only become more impressed with the workmanship exhibited.
Chucks sheath is a great companion to the knife. He is a true master of leather and the partnership of knife and sheath is truly wonderful. This sheath has been made to fit the knife absolutely perfectly. You would think that this wouldn't be that hard to do, but it must be; I have had sheaths made by the best where the knife wouldn't go all the way in. If you ever need any sheath work done I couldn't recommend Chuck more highly to do the work. This is my second sheath from him and they are both of exceptional quality."
Always nice to have one's work so appreciated - it's what makes the whole thing so worth while
PS - I said "official" collaboration since a couple of years ago I built a sheath for another Tai Goo knife that is now in the loving hands of Larry Kemp - so Larry - you've got the one and only pre Wild Goo set!
PPS - I don't get much time to visit the forums currently but I just wanted to say there' been lots of nice stuff going on and I'm sorry that I haven't had the time to say much - so GROUP HUG!
The blade was forged and filed to shape from wootz - the grip is dyed antler and the fittings are of Sterling Silver - honestly - the pictures DO NOT do this knife justice - the varied and subtle range of colors in the hamon alone will make one speechless.
So then came my part - the sheath - for me a real challenge to come up with something befitting such a beautiful knife. The design idea though came easy and other than some minor changes it came out very close to the original design.
The padded inly on the face and loop is emu leg, courtesy Mt Mike Bartol - it is sewn around with 10 stitches per inch. Since the knife was mounted with Sterling silver nothing less could be used for the fitted throat piece - the three small dots are inlayed Sterling.
Anyway here 'tis....
Click on any thumbnail to see more views
The owner, Keith Montgomery, received it today and had this to say:
"The knife arrived today and wow, am I impressed. When I first looked at it I thought that At first the edge appeared to be kind of rough. Upon closer inspection I realized that it was the wootz pattern and that the edge is smooth as glass and very sharp. I haven't been able to spend much time with it as of yet, but from the short exposure that I have had there
are a few things that have really struck me about this knife. There is a great quench line(who would have thought ). It didn't show up in any of the photos and I was pleasantly surprised. The fit of everything is first rate. The piece of stag fits my hand like they were meant to go together. There is a swell that my fingers wrap around that gives it a very secure feel. The blade looks to be about 3/8" think at the guard and it has a very smooth distal taper.
Once I've had more time with the knife I will let everyone know how I feel in the long term. It is my view that I will only become more impressed with the workmanship exhibited.
Chucks sheath is a great companion to the knife. He is a true master of leather and the partnership of knife and sheath is truly wonderful. This sheath has been made to fit the knife absolutely perfectly. You would think that this wouldn't be that hard to do, but it must be; I have had sheaths made by the best where the knife wouldn't go all the way in. If you ever need any sheath work done I couldn't recommend Chuck more highly to do the work. This is my second sheath from him and they are both of exceptional quality."
Always nice to have one's work so appreciated - it's what makes the whole thing so worth while
PS - I said "official" collaboration since a couple of years ago I built a sheath for another Tai Goo knife that is now in the loving hands of Larry Kemp - so Larry - you've got the one and only pre Wild Goo set!
PPS - I don't get much time to visit the forums currently but I just wanted to say there' been lots of nice stuff going on and I'm sorry that I haven't had the time to say much - so GROUP HUG!
