Here are some pictures of a knife I am working on at the moment. After several emails with the customer we decided on a 115x28x5mm blade from O1. He was very specific about wanting a thick, brass bolster; at this point I started to get worried
This was going to be a big, heavy blade so I suggested three wood types for the handle that are dense enough to provide a good balance to the knife. Cocobolo, ebony and desert ironwood. He chose cocobolo.
Here is the blade profiled and rough ground, ready for heat treatment. It was to be tempered back to 59HRC and cryo treated.
The plan was to leave the patina on from the heat treatment but polish the bevel up nicely to give a good contrast. This meant I had to etch my makers mark on before HT which was a first for me. It worked!
Here is where I am up to today. The handle and tang are drilled out awaiting a brass pin and the bolster is pre shaped. Don't ask me how long this bolster took to make
I was a little uneasy about the tear drop shape to the handle as I associate it with the work of Pekka tuominen so I contacted him and got his approval. Happy days.
On to the handle shaping....
This was going to be a big, heavy blade so I suggested three wood types for the handle that are dense enough to provide a good balance to the knife. Cocobolo, ebony and desert ironwood. He chose cocobolo.
Here is the blade profiled and rough ground, ready for heat treatment. It was to be tempered back to 59HRC and cryo treated.
The plan was to leave the patina on from the heat treatment but polish the bevel up nicely to give a good contrast. This meant I had to etch my makers mark on before HT which was a first for me. It worked!
Here is where I am up to today. The handle and tang are drilled out awaiting a brass pin and the bolster is pre shaped. Don't ask me how long this bolster took to make
I was a little uneasy about the tear drop shape to the handle as I associate it with the work of Pekka tuominen so I contacted him and got his approval. Happy days.
On to the handle shaping....