Twins

[JonathanD]

Posted this on BB, thought you guys might like to see it as it was here (and Red in particular) that pointed me towards Stu.

Birth of twins, courtesy of Stu Mitchell...

RWL-34, scandi grind with stabilized curly birch and black liners.

 

[British Red]

Well, theres a pretty thing Jon. Actually there's two pretty things

I do hope you are as delighted with stu's work as I have been - they certainly look the business!

So - there must be a stoiry here......why twins?

Red

 

[spamel]

I'm having some twins from Stuart as well! Well, actually, my girsl are. Cool!

 

[stuart m]

Are they earning their keep yet mate, those twins?

 

[michiel]

what wood is it? Maple?

Looks good whatever it is
Reminds me of the tamarack design of Alan wood.

Michiel

 

[JonathanD]

Are they earning their keep yet mate, those twins?

One of them is, just got back from the Brecons. Only good stuff to report, skinned, carved, hacked, scraped and split very well. The sparks from a firesteel are the best I've seen. I'm still to get out and try mine. Should be able too next Thursday and Friday though, so will report back then.

Red, I had two made because one of them is destined for a passaround next year. It has just been on it's first the last week with a couple of bootneck friends of mine. For a couple of marines, they kept it in remarkable condition and even made what can only be described as 'girly things' with it (girly for a RM anyway).

Cheers Stu :You_Rock_

 

[JonathanD]

what wood is it? Maple?

Looks good whatever it is
Reminds me of the tamarack design of Alan wood.

Michiel

Stabilized curly birch. It does have it's origins in the Tamarack design. I had one a few years back and really liked it. Only thing that let it down for me was the symmetrical handle and 01 tool steel, which I'm far too lazy to maintain.

 

[stuart m]

One of them is, just got back from the Brecons. Only good stuff to report, skinned, carved, hacked, scraped and split very well. The sparks from a firesteel are the best I've seen. I'm still to get out and try mine. Should be able too next Thursday and Friday though, so will report back then.

Excellent stuff... Thank you

 

[michiel]

Very nice wood. I should have known it was stabilized, as Stu only uses stabilized woods.
I never had a knife in RWL34. How does it compare to O1 in edge holding?

 

[Injati]

Great work Jonathan, they really do look the business.

 

[Matt Weir]

Nice work! Can I ask about the 'humpback' feature? Is that practical or aesthetical?

 

[JonathanD]

I never had a knife in RWL34. How does it compare to O1 in edge holding?

I've used 01 up till about two years ago when Alan Wood made me a custom bushcrafter in RWL-34 to try it out. I can't tell the difference between the two in terms of edge holding and ease of sharpening. The RWL has the major benefit of being very easy to maintain and ideal for wet and salt-water environments too. The 01 of course has the soul about it when it reacts through it's environment with stains and patinas.

This is the first time I've had a knife in stab wood. Before that I have had mostly birds-eye maple, which I obsessed over due to a few shrinking, warping and swelling when in contact with extreme environment change. I then switched to micarta, which also lacks that certain soul and natural feel/look that we outdoorsy peeps love. The stabilized wood is a perfect compromise, it looks natural, feels oily and smooth, and can take the punishment that micarta can too. I'm very happy.

The humpback part of the blade is a thumb ramp which lets me apply more pressure and control when using this grip. It ffels safer and also lets me grip the blade better when using a more forward grip for finer work.

 

[weaver]

A great pair!

I had to see what this steel is all about, here's what I found.

Product information
Stainless knife steel, RWL 34

HARDENABLE MARTENSITIC STAINLESS STEEL FOR KNIFE BLADES
MANUFACTURED BY RAPIDLY SOLIDIFIED POWDER TECHNOLOGY
RAPID SOLIDIFICATION
Advanced tool steels for cutting or blanking edges are today manufactured from rapidly solidified powders, RSP-tool steels. In Söderfors the ASP-steels (trade name) have been manufactured for 20 years. The ASP-steels have found applications in those parts of the mechanical industry where tool edge performance is essential.
The reason why the RSP-steels give superior performance is found in the solidification structure.

The coarse carbide structure of the conventional steels limits the fracture strength.
The carbide clusters act like fracture initiation sites on a certain stress level. The substantially smaller carbides in the rapidly solidified material inhibit fracture initiation until the stress level is nearly doubled.
The powder steels have around twice the fracture strength of conventional steels.
The best combination of hardness and strength is found mostly in the rapidly solidified
powder steels.

 

[Dougster]

Thanks weaver, all I knew was that it was hard, very hard. That is a nice knife (pair of).

So, Stu, do you ever see your lounge?

It's great we are coming up with what we want from knives, and it's great Stu can make them so darned well.

 

[British Red]

You are so right Rich. There are very, very few compaines or people I would unreservedly endorse as providing absolutely top of the line products that are great value.

In fact in the world of "sharp" there are only two knife makers and two axe makers that I would say "just buy one".

For a knife - Stu Mitchell or Magnus Axelson (If you want to design it, buy one of Stu's)

For an Axe - Cegga or Lee Reeves (If you want to design it - Cegga)

I will never own a Rolls Royce, I will never have a house built to my design. But in a knife, any one of us can have our own design realised - absolutely flawlesly in the very best of materials. We might have to save up a little - but it costs a lot less than a foreign holiday, big telly or lots of many other things that will be all gone in a while. For a very modest sum you get a useable heirloom by a world class craftsman.

Thats something pretty special in my book

Red

 

[Shinken]

Thats something pretty special in my book

Couldnt agree more

 

[JonathanD]

Couldnt agree more

Too right. I gave this design to another knifemaker a couple of years back to make me one. As expected it came back with the usual high quality workmanship that I have come to expect. Unfortunately though, he also skipped a couple of important features that I wanted, in favour of his own expertize and preferences. In the case of Stu Mitchell, I got almost daily updates and huge interaction and involvement in the knifemaking process. He even got the sheath maker to give me a ring to finalize all of the finer points of what I wanted. Top blokes both of them, with a realistic turnaround time for my orders. Even better was the presentation of the knife when it arrived in the post and the COA/birthcertificate which was by coincidence dated on my birthday too.

Sad that I get exited that my knives share the same birthday, but there ya go

 

[British Red]

Actually, stuff what I said before - cos I just read Shinkens response and I though "Oh damn, that knife Shinken made for BB was pretty special....and if I was going to start that I would also have to include Singeblisters stuff too"

I suppose I was talking about "professional" knife and axe smiths - people who make their living at it. If you get a chance at one of Ash's or John's knives - grab em!

Red

 

[Cegga]

You are so right Rich. There are very, very few compaines or people I would unreservedly endorse as providing absolutely top of the line products that are great value.

In fact in the world of "sharp" there are only two knife makers and two axe makers that I would say "just buy one".

For a knife - Stu Mitchell or Magnus Axelson (If you want to design it, buy one of Stu's)

For an Axe - Cegga or Lee Reeves (If you want to design it - Cegga)

I will never own a Rolls Royce, I will never have a house built to my design. But in a knife, any one of us can have our own design realised - absolutely flawlesly in the very best of materials. We might have to save up a little - but it costs a lot less than a foreign holiday, big telly or lots of many other things that will be all gone in a while. For a very modest sum you get a useable heirloom by a world class craftsman.

Thats something pretty special in my book

Red

Hi!!
I don´t no what to say . I no about your knowledge on sharp things so this word is the best a worker like me can get .And you are a big part on this yourself :You_Rock_ .I have learn so much from our mail correspond.
So Thanks Red
Cegga

 

[Cegga]

Hi again !!
And I love this knife to :sad6: nice work big J .And I say a good choise on the steel to .
Cegga