Wood to stag - transforming a Russ Andrews hunter.

[RogerP]

Greetings gang – and a Merry Christmas to all.

My present came early, and though I was hesitant to disturb the attractive US Post and Canada Customs wrapping, I just couldn’t wait.

This story starts a few months back when I purchased from our own Mr. Lombardo the larger of the two bubinga-handled hunters shown below:

This was actually one of Russ’ JS test knives, and it arrived very much in the immaculate condition that one would expect of a Peck Award winner. Buuuuut….. I found the handle just a tad small for my big mits. Not terribly so, but each time I picked it up I found myself wishing for just another half-inch of handle to make it perfect.

I decided to move from wishing to doing and contacted Russ about a re-handle job. First, since this was a Journeyman Smith test knife, I wanted to make sure he was cool with it being altered from its original condition. Had he not been okay with that, I would have gladly left well-enough alone. Second, I wanted to make sure he understood that this was no complaint about a flaw of any kind – just a request for an alteration to make it meet my personal preferences. Cool – we were on the same page. Having just about settled on a replacement handle in snakewood, Russ kinda casually mentioned that he had a stag carver that might work.

Hmmmm – stag you say?

Well, I happened to have this big ol’ stag handled bowie by Russ – a matching hunter would be kinda nice:

I know, I know, all this yappin’ and you still ‘aint seen the new / old hunter yet. Suffice it to say that when I asked whether he could make it match up with my bowie, the answer was a definite “Can do.”:

Specs are as follows:

• 5 ¾” blade of satin-finished 52100, overall length of 10 ¾”.
• Stainless steel single guard, ferrule and fancy filed butt cap.
• Premium stag carver handle.
• Custom sheath by maker with shark skin inlay.

Here is a better look at Russ’ signature butt cap treatment that provides a strong stylistic tie-in with the bowie:

And a parting shot of the pair:

As you can probably guess – I am more that pleased with the results. The knife has been transformed from one that I liked to one that I absolutely love.

Thanks much Russ!

Roger

 

[John Frankl]

Rockin!!!

John

 

[ADD]

Roger

Wow!

This image should win an award somewhere...
Wonderful

 

[JParanee]

Really transformed it from a nice knife to a super knife and to match an awesome bowie just way to cool.



jp

 

[Ken Williams]

A handle that fits, a more attractive knife all around, a matched set . . . that's a trifecta winner. And well worth the added wait and dinero. Primo stag over primo bubinga every time. The amber color in the bowie is exceptional, but the rich chocolate is lovely also. The graceful carvers indulge the eyes. Can't make direct eye contact anymore with crooked carvers--induces sphincter muscle spasms which awaken sleeping hemorrhoids.

 

[Kevin Jones]

Cool transformation.
I expect the handle swap/buttcap was almost as time consuming as making the original knife.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

The stag and fantastic buttcap make a world of difference. The knife originally looked great, but nowhere near as nice as it looks now. At least that's my opinion.

 

[2knife]

my computer loaded the "after" image (w/ stag) first. I wasn't expecting to be so impressed by the "before" shot. Especially the two knives together look very nice, w/ wooden handles. Have to admit, I'm not as convinced as Keith. Except that the butt cap job, 1st class.

Ultimately its about you, happy it suits your taste and fits better. To do this, he (Russ) shows what an accomodating guy he is, i wouldn't expect many makers to do the same.

Is the handle now 1/2" longer?
David

 

[Murray White]

yup, guys, RP got a wonderful knife. Handle is now perfect. Real nice feel and it fits perfectly with the Bowie. A truly wonderful set of knives. Lots of fun to handle both today.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

Have to admit, I'm not as convinced as Keith.

It's probably got a lot to do with my preference for stag.

 

[Stephen F]

Its a great change, and I much prefer the updated version, especially the new guard.

Stephen

 

[Ebbtide]

From home run to Grand Slam

 

[Doug C]

Perfectly gorgeous matched set.
Congrats Roger! :thumbup:

Doug

 

[RogerP]

my computer loaded the "after" image (w/ stag) first. I wasn't expecting to be so impressed by the "before" shot. Especially the two knives together look very nice, w/ wooden handles. Have to admit, I'm not as convinced as Keith. Except that the butt cap job, 1st class.

Ultimately its about you, happy it suits your taste and fits better. To do this, he (Russ) shows what an accomodating guy he is, i wouldn't expect many makers to do the same.

Is the handle now 1/2" longer?
David

David - fair comments, all. You probably won't find a bigger fan of wood for knife handles than me. The endless variety; the ability to shape it just so; the good durability and relatively low cost make wood an excellent choice. I had no concerns whatsoever from an aesthetic standpoint - what I wanted was just a bit more handle.

I am quite sure that most - if not all - makers really don't relish a re-handle job and I can well understand why. That said, Russ was more than accomodating and approached this project with the enthusiasm that illuminates all his work. It was his idea to make a sheath for the knife (the JS piece didn't have one).

As for the new handle - yes, it is both longer and thicker and really fills the palm. I also find that the slight downward curve of the stag compliments the slight upward curve of the trailing point blade. And while I love wood, I'll take a piece of stag like this every time over wood.

Thanks to all for your comments.

Roger

 

[ptgdvc]

A vast improvement Roger. Nicely done Russ! :thumbup:

 

[Kevin Jones]

As per David, this knife really demonstrates not only Russ's skill but how open minded and customer service oriented he is.

I believe two of the most difficult tasks for a knifemaker are one, making a matched set, and second taking a completed knife and successfully transforming it into something totally different and at lease as beautiful.

In regard to the first, I will have to disagree with most of you in that these two knives are similar in style and could be considered a set, however NOT a matched set. I define a matched set as one or more knives that are either duplicates of each other or different styles (bowie, fighter, hunter, skinner) that are reduction of or VERY similar in blade profile, guard/fittings, handle material/texture/color and embellishment.

Not saying that either Roger or Russ fell short here, as Roger accomplished his goal of adding a larger handle and still having a beautiful Hunter and Russ, as he did not have the opportunity or direction to forge a new blade.

In regard to the second, Russ did an incredible job in his transformation of this piece and was able to keep a good customer very happy.

Personally from a collector's standpoint or if I were a maker, I would not have altered a maker's test knife as neither the "JS" test Hunter nor his complete "JS" test set now exist IMO.

 

[SharpByCoop]

I like them both, but I prefer the stag. It is now an even more elegant knife.

What hasn't been mentioned is the guard. I can't see how Russ reshaped the original guard, and it looks soldered in place. So, if Russ remade a guard and unsoldered it, refinished thhe blade, resoldered, new carver, new buttcap, etc, I'll guess he redid 85% of the work.

Man, the price of perfection is steep.....

Thanks guys!

Coop

 

[Kevin Jones]

I like them both, but I prefer the stag. It is now an even more elegant knife.

What hasn't been mentioned is the guard. I can't see how Russ reshaped the original guard, and it looks soldered in place. So, if Russ remade a guard and unsoldered it, refinished thhe blade, resoldered, new carver, new buttcap, etc, I'll guess he redid 85% of the work.

Man, the price of perfection is steep.....

Thanks guys!

Coop

No doubt Coop, as the new guard is rounder and larger to accept the larger handle. This is a very nice "new knife" attached to the original blade.

 

[RogerP]

In regard to the first, I will have to disagree with most of you in that these two knives are similar in style and could be considered a set, however NOT a matched set. I define a matched set as one or more knives that are either duplicates of each other or different styles (bowie, fighter, hunter, skinner) that are reduction of or VERY similar in blade profile, guard/fittings, handle material/texture/color and embellishment.

My definition of a matched set is somewhat broader - though I agree that this is not technically a matched set in that the knives weren't built by the maker from the ground up to be a pair. Perhaps "Bowie with a complementary hunter" would be more accurate. My day job notwithstanding, I try not to get too tangled in semantics. Suffice it to say that there has got to be some deliberate visual tie-in between the pieces of a "set". The nature and extent of the similarities can and will vary significantly. Put another way, the individual pieces of "sets" will "match" to varying degrees.

Personally from a collector's standpoint or if I were a maker, I would not have altered a maker's test knife as neither the "JS" test Hunter nor his complete "JS" test set now exist IMO.

If we're going to get technical, his JS test knives no longer exist as a "set" anymore anyway. The individual knives are scattered all over. There hasn't been a "complete test set" for some time.

What hasn't been mentioned is the guard. I can't see how Russ reshaped the original guard, and it looks soldered in place. So, if Russ remade a guard and unsoldered it, refinished thhe blade, resoldered, new carver, new buttcap, etc, I'll guess he redid 85% of the work.

Correctamundo. Old handle off, old guard off, find a piece of stag that will accept the angle of the tang, fabricate new guard and ferrule and butt cap, refinish blade, make new sheath.

Roger

 

[Kevin Jones]

My definition of a matched set is somewhat broader - though I agree that this is not technically a matched set in that the knives weren't built by the maker from the ground up to be a pair. Perhaps "Bowie with a complementary hunter" would be more accurate. My day job notwithstanding, I try not to get too tangled in semantics. Suffice it to say that there has got to be some deliberate visual tie-in between the pieces of a "set". The nature and extent of the similarities can and will vary significantly. Put another way, the individual pieces of "sets" will "match" to varying degrees.

I don't get to tangled in semantics or like to pick nits either, it's just that when some makers take the time and apply the skill required to product a true "matched set" (as the Gann creation below), I think it diminishes their efforts when some (you did not above) call similar knives matched sets. And I'm not implying at all that Russ could not make a precised matched set if he were commissioned to do so.

If we're going to get technical, his JS test knives no longer exist as a "set" anymore anyway. The individual knives are scattered all over. There hasn't been a "complete test set" for some time.
Roger

I realize this, however there's collectors who re-assemble and collect "JS"&"MS" test sets who may end up disappointed in the future to fine Russ's "JS" set is not complete after much research time invested.

An example is Ed Fowler's "MS" test set that was recently sold by Blade Gallery for many thousands of dollars.

http://www.bladegallery.com/shopexd.asp?id=4260

In addition, I just think we should preserve forged knife history and accomplishments whenever possible. Just my opinion, probably should not have mentioned it.
Perhaps the CKCA (when set-up is complete) could keep record of these sets, or sets in general whether forged or stock removal.