Nessmuk style knife from Joel Bolden

[Hoodoo]

Joel is an incredible maker and a wonderful artist. I hesitate posting this knife here because I'm afraid that as his work becomes more well known, prices will go up, long lines will form and I will have problems ordering more. But...his work really deserves recognition.

The blade is ground from 3/32" stock, 154CM. Heat treat was done by D'Holder.

The handle is stabilzed amboyna burl.

 

[BorderReiver]

Ooh,that is incredible

 

[beachlover]

Very nice! I can see why you are worried about queues forming for this guy's work.

 

[Hellz]

Stop it right now Hoodoo.... That is gorgeous


You're a bad bad man. (with an exceptionally lovely knife collection )

Hellz

 

[jdlenton]

now thats niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee



James

 

[beowolf762]

Thats one sweeeeet knife

 

[Klenchblaize]

The man shure likes his pins! No chance of handle material moving though or indeed the bolster. I make it a total of 12 plus the two engraved bolts?

Very nice and the sheaf looks too.

Cheers

 

[jamesraykenney]

The man shure likes his pins! No chance of handle material moving though or indeed the bolster. I make it a total of 12 plus the two engraved bolts?

Very nice and the sheaf looks too.

Cheers

Those are mosaic pins not engraved bolts... The pattern goes all the way through...
I think they put rods and tubes inside of the outer hollow pin, and then fill the gaps up with epoxy, and then you just cut them to size...I have a Bark River Nessmuk style with them, and they look great...

 

[C_Claycomb]

Very nice looking knife, very fine finish.

Hoodoo, maybe you can explain something to me?

Why is it that so many makers (US makers jump out here) make beautiful handles that are basically rectangular in section with little or no rounding of the corners? To my way of thinking, while the knife pictured is lovely to look at, it would be hell on your hands if used for any real cutting. I know that thin, flat, handles work well for hunting knives when there is no great need to put force behind the cut, and a lot of cutting is done with the knife on its side, held in a pinch grip. This format gets used more widely than just on hunters though.

The lack of rounding often seems to be a case of function following form and I would just love to know why that format is used for so many knives by such obviously tallented makers?

 

[Rhodri]

That's very very nice Hoodoo. Joel's work is top class (you're right about the prices too!). That would perhaps be a little elaborate for a working Nessie for my tastes (I'd be afraid to put that one to hard use), but a fantastic addition to your vast and still growing collection.

I get a twitchy mouse finger every time Joel posts something for sale over on BB. This isn't going to help my condition any...

Cheers,
Rod

 

[Hoodoo]

Very nice looking knife, very fine finish.

Hoodoo, maybe you can explain something to me?

Why is it that so many makers (US makers jump out here) make beautiful handles that are basically rectangular in section with little or no rounding of the corners? To my way of thinking, while the knife pictured is lovely to look at, it would be hell on your hands if used for any real cutting. I know that thin, flat, handles work well for hunting knives when there is no great need to put force behind the cut, and a lot of cutting is done with the knife on its side, held in a pinch grip. This format gets used more widely than just on hunters though.

The lack of rounding often seems to be a case of function following form and I would just love to know why that format is used for so many knives by such obviously tallented makers?

Well, I can't speak for the makers but I think I can speak to the question at hand. Firstly, here in the US the tradition for fixed outdoors blades has been dominated over the years by hunting knives. Butchering does not really fatigue the hand like whittling although I think you could still call it "real cutting." I've never really found squarish handles to be a problem. In fact, I have some squarish handled knives that I really like. My gerber yari comes to mind. I often like a wide flat surface I can really lay my hand into for heavy cutting. The real problem I find is the narrowness of the handle. Not a problem for hunting, but for woodcarving, I don't care for it. I have plenty of knives with nicely rounded handles that will hurt your hand after an hour's worth of carving because of their narrowness. A good example is my Helle Folkniven. So, I'll take a flat-topped knife any day for bushcraft over a rounded-top knife with a narrow handle. But the simple answer to your question as to why probably has much to do with the fact that woodcraft is not a common practice here as it once was, and really died off when the modern backpacking methods came to the fore back in the 50s. Folks who carried fixed blades into the woods were mainly hunters and trappers.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Thanks Hoodoo
That ties in with what I suspected, but its good to hear it from someone else.