Just yesterday I took delivery of my new Woods and Bush knife from ML Knives (www.mlknives.com). Already, it has become my favorite knife -- even supplanting my beautiful Woodsknife puukko, which is fantastic in its own right.
Without further ado, here are some photos (these are glamor shots from ML Knives, I'm crap at photography):
Flanking the knife is a firesteel (yes, the handle on the firesteel is too long, I'm cutting it down. That's not Matt's fault, he was using a steel I sent him that I've used for a long time.) and on the other side a striker.
One COULD use the back of the knife as a striker, however, Matt did some really nice file work back there and I didn't want to scratch it up. So we agreed to make a dedicated striker. I personally am a fan of this approach anyway, for many reasons that I won't bore anyone with here.
The knife is perfectly balanced directly behind the first pin in the (nicely rounded) handle. Sometimes people don't think about balance enough, but it makes a real difference in how agile a knife feels in the hand. And, even though this is a little bigger blade than I normally use for my primary knife, it handles as easily as a knife with a smaller blade.
In fact, now I'm wondering if I'm going to take my leuku with me any longer -- this blade can handle *most* of the leuku jobs. Instead of going with folder, puukko and leuku (or kukri) I might just go with a little SAK, this knife and a folding saw.
(For the curious and/or the makers out there, the steel is 1095 and the dimensions are: 9.4 inches (238mm) overall length, blade 4.6 inches (116mm) and 1 inch wide (25mm) at its widest point and 1/8 inch (3mm) thick at the point where the blade meets the handle) In other words, it's roughly the dimensions of a Woodlore, but a slightly longer blade.
Oh, and even with the custom requests, the knife cost a fraction of what a woodlore or clone costs. Even though the dollar as gained a little recently, it's still a Third World currency vs. the pound, so anyone in Britain gets a helluva deal here!
Typically, MLKnives puts a secondary bevel on the blade (I've got a Nessmuk from Matt as well that's just great -- it has a secondary bevel), but I wanted a scandi grind on what will certainly become my primary knife and Matt agreed. Naturally, it's wicked sharp and easy to touch up.
A couple of other things that might interest fans of knives: although it's hard to see in the photos, the pins are actually delicate mosaic pins.
Also you'll see it has a patterned aged patina on the back of the blade. Of course that *slightly* affects slicing performance, but in the real world I've never been much affected by that. I'm a strong believer that handmade work should bear the mark of human touch. The idea of custom knives that look machined and manufactured just doesn't make sense to me. I want to see the mark of the forge. Plus, the pattern aging has the nice look of a cloudy day on the blade and I love cloudy days. ML Knives will do a clean polish on their blades, but where's the fun in that? GImme the forge, baby.
What I really like about both my knives from Matt is his nice balance between rustic and refined -- the guy has a great aesthetic sense. And that's a good thing: since we first started making tools we've been imbuing them with aesthetic weight, it's a noble, human thing. This guy is making really, really special knives.
While beautiful, it's not prissy and is decidedly a tool. This knife is beefy enough to escape a civilization or help rebuild one as need be. And yet, at the end of the day, you can look at it and see lovely touches provided by the maker. You can't ask for more than that.
I've got some other knife posts that I keep meaning to make -- in particular one on the WoodsKnife Puukko and the McCurdy Kukri. But this knife has got all my attention right now because in my mind, it's nearly perfect. I'm certain it will go with me whenever I head out to the woods. I won't get out backpacking until the week after Christmas, but I can't wait to see it in action.
Oh and the usual disclaimer applies: I'm not associated with ML Knives in any way other than as a customer, etc.
Without further ado, here are some photos (these are glamor shots from ML Knives, I'm crap at photography):
Flanking the knife is a firesteel (yes, the handle on the firesteel is too long, I'm cutting it down. That's not Matt's fault, he was using a steel I sent him that I've used for a long time.) and on the other side a striker.
One COULD use the back of the knife as a striker, however, Matt did some really nice file work back there and I didn't want to scratch it up. So we agreed to make a dedicated striker. I personally am a fan of this approach anyway, for many reasons that I won't bore anyone with here.
The knife is perfectly balanced directly behind the first pin in the (nicely rounded) handle. Sometimes people don't think about balance enough, but it makes a real difference in how agile a knife feels in the hand. And, even though this is a little bigger blade than I normally use for my primary knife, it handles as easily as a knife with a smaller blade.
In fact, now I'm wondering if I'm going to take my leuku with me any longer -- this blade can handle *most* of the leuku jobs. Instead of going with folder, puukko and leuku (or kukri) I might just go with a little SAK, this knife and a folding saw.
(For the curious and/or the makers out there, the steel is 1095 and the dimensions are: 9.4 inches (238mm) overall length, blade 4.6 inches (116mm) and 1 inch wide (25mm) at its widest point and 1/8 inch (3mm) thick at the point where the blade meets the handle) In other words, it's roughly the dimensions of a Woodlore, but a slightly longer blade.
Oh, and even with the custom requests, the knife cost a fraction of what a woodlore or clone costs. Even though the dollar as gained a little recently, it's still a Third World currency vs. the pound, so anyone in Britain gets a helluva deal here!
Typically, MLKnives puts a secondary bevel on the blade (I've got a Nessmuk from Matt as well that's just great -- it has a secondary bevel), but I wanted a scandi grind on what will certainly become my primary knife and Matt agreed. Naturally, it's wicked sharp and easy to touch up.
A couple of other things that might interest fans of knives: although it's hard to see in the photos, the pins are actually delicate mosaic pins.
Also you'll see it has a patterned aged patina on the back of the blade. Of course that *slightly* affects slicing performance, but in the real world I've never been much affected by that. I'm a strong believer that handmade work should bear the mark of human touch. The idea of custom knives that look machined and manufactured just doesn't make sense to me. I want to see the mark of the forge. Plus, the pattern aging has the nice look of a cloudy day on the blade and I love cloudy days. ML Knives will do a clean polish on their blades, but where's the fun in that? GImme the forge, baby.
What I really like about both my knives from Matt is his nice balance between rustic and refined -- the guy has a great aesthetic sense. And that's a good thing: since we first started making tools we've been imbuing them with aesthetic weight, it's a noble, human thing. This guy is making really, really special knives.
While beautiful, it's not prissy and is decidedly a tool. This knife is beefy enough to escape a civilization or help rebuild one as need be. And yet, at the end of the day, you can look at it and see lovely touches provided by the maker. You can't ask for more than that.
I've got some other knife posts that I keep meaning to make -- in particular one on the WoodsKnife Puukko and the McCurdy Kukri. But this knife has got all my attention right now because in my mind, it's nearly perfect. I'm certain it will go with me whenever I head out to the woods. I won't get out backpacking until the week after Christmas, but I can't wait to see it in action.
Oh and the usual disclaimer applies: I'm not associated with ML Knives in any way other than as a customer, etc.
