WIP of Sheffield inspired 3 thick Sportsman's knife - Ken Erickson

ken erickson

ken erickson

Joined
Aug 27, 2004
Messages
2,701
I thought this process that I will be going through on this knife may be of interest to some.
Well over a year and half ago or so I was asked by a member here if I would be interested in a sheffield styled lobster. I responded by saying "of course" and after much back and forth with ideas etc we have finalized a basic pattern. The knife is based on a scaled down sportsman's knife featured on page 202 and 203 of the Sheffield Exhibition Knives book authored by Claussen/Watts and McMickle. ( I am pretty sure I cannot take a photo of the page and post it here). Anyways the knife pictured in the book is large,5 1/4 and five thick. My customer and I have decided to scale down the project knife to 3 3/4 and three thick. This will leave seven (7) hinged blades/implements and two(2) removable ones. Since I have no pattern to go by to build this knife I will start by sketching out the knife, submitting it to my customer and making needed changes. This is a picture of my initial drawings. Keep in mind that things may change, including the selection of blades.

Here is a rundown of the blades/implements

hinged/

Spear master blade
small pen blade
small Wharncliffe blade
small hawkbill blade
three cornered leather punch
corkscrew
screw awl

removable/

tweezers
lancet

I have an extended time frame to finish this knife(Blade show in June) but I will update as I progress.

Here are my initial drawings
DSC02118.jpg
 
Ken, the "Pearl and Engraved Silver Multibladed Sports Knife circ 1860-1880s" is a stunning knife ! There is so much detail everywhere but it's absolutely 'clean' and not busy.
I'm so pleased to see you tackle "Golden Era Sheffield" and you're starting at the top !
I'm going to have to through this book and select mine for re-creation !!
I think the work on this knife deserves it's own thread.
roland
 
Ken,
as always, thank you for the WIP pictures. This is going to be really interesting :)

Fausto
:cool:
 
Ken, this will be an extraordinary knife and I can't wait to see it develop. Have y'all decided on the covers?
 
Ken, Looks like a wonderful project! I have a copy of the book but it's in storage unfortunately. I look forward to seeing this WIP!
 
These pictures are an extremely poor representation of this exquisite knife, but at least you get some idea of "Ken's Challenge".

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roland
 
Roland,
thanks for the pictures. It's easy to see how challenging this project can be...which is something I really admire about Ken.

Fausto
:cool:
 
rprocter said:
I think the work on this knife deserves it's own thread.
roland
Click to expand...

Roland,
I had thought about that also. I may ask a Mod to separate it out, and perhaps re-merge it after the knife is complete. Lots of extra work for them though.

Thanks for posting the pictures of the knife in your subsequent post:thumbup:

JAlexander said:
Ken, this will be an extraordinary knife and I can't wait to see it develop. Have y'all decided on the covers?
Click to expand...

James,

My customer is leaning toward Black Lip MOP. White if I can find an extremely nice piece.


Thanks for the interest guys in this build!
 
One word, AWESOME.

You are one cool guy always showing us what goes into these knives. Thanks so much for that, Ken.

Kevin
 
Bastid said:
Great knife Tony. Congratulations.

Ken I will be glad to put a thread together, just say the word.
Click to expand...
Gus,
I hope I can still take you up on this offer?



I had a chance to talk with my customer on this knife and made a few changes to the drawing. This drawing is much closer to scale than my first rough sketch. One of the things that we discussed is the lancet. He asked if I could incorporate a small powder scoop. My idea was to hollow out the one flat side to form this small scoop. My next step on this knife will be to make up a brass frame pattern , refine it and do the same with the blades.
DSC02222.jpg


I also double checked my math on the total thickness of the knife, should be closer to .660 not .890 :eek:
 
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I had a chance to start cutting parts today for the sportsman's knife. Keep in mind these parts are very rough cut at this point and will require and receive much fine tuning and fitting. The major parts I do not have cut yet are the corkscrew,screw awl, lancet, tweezers and springs:eek:

DSC02223.jpg

DSC02224.jpg

DSC02225.jpg


Any questions and comments more than welcome!
 
Ken, that looks great! Quick question, it looks like the space between the two secondary blades on the side with the punch is smaller than the tang of the main blade, is this on purpose or just an artifact of the lighting/angle?
 
Vic,

Good eyes and question! There is nothing yet to keep the spacing correct. The backspring for the master blade will fill that gap and keep things even and parallel.
 
Ken,
I really think that this project deserves a thread on its own.
Actually, I thought about opening it myself, but for noblesse oblige I'm stepping back and letting Gus do it :)

Fausto
:cool:
 
quattromori said:
Ken,
I really think that this project deserves a thread on its own.
Actually, I thought about opening it myself, but for noblesse oblige I'm stepping back and letting Gus do it :)

Fausto
:cool:
Click to expand...

Fausto,
I will email Gus and see what he can do.


I did have a chance to get a bit more accomplished. I have all the hinged blades/implements roughed out. I still have the lancet and tweezers to make yet.

This picture shows the location of all hinged implements. The corkscrew is just roughed out at this point. I cut the blank from a thick piece of CPM154, then turn the round section on my Unimat lathe. The rest is hand formed using rat-tail files etc.
DSC02226.jpg


DSC02228.jpg

DSC02229.jpg


This picture shows how the pen blade will nest along with the leather punch.
DSC02230.jpg
 
I think I've got to come up with a nickname to squeeze Ken's shoes with...let's see...the "Wizard of Waupaca"...the "Waupaca Wonder"...??? :p

On a more serious note, Ken, that's coming along rather nicely. :thumbup:
 
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