Three for December 2011...>the last few knives of the year:)!

These three knives are very sweet...and perhaps the last knives I will complete for 2011.
Two are going to customers and the one large shallot knife (in the middle first image) is still available.

All are forged-to-shape from 1095 high carbon tool steel & exhibit wonderful differential quench-lines....though they do not show that well in the image.

From top to bottom: 

*Modern French Knife with a classic French knife shape and a 9.25" blade and exhibiting a new construction method I have been working with using the ironwood as a supportive" bolster to the kiln dried maple burl. This makes a very handsome handle.

*Next is a Jumbo Shallot Knife.
I expanded on the same design by forging the blade out of 3/16" material rather than the 1/8" material  originally designated for this knife design. The result is a wonderfully balanced and highly functional medium-size chef knife. This knife exhibits some wonderful banding in the quench-zones and Kingwood handle with detail carving.

*And finally a wonderful little Shallot Knife  exhibiting spalted desert ironwood handles with detail carving. You can click the link above to read more about how this knife was designed and came to be:)

I hope you enjoy the images:)

Available Knives @ Tiber Canyon Ranch!

Happy Holidays Everybody!

It's time again for the Holiday Fair @ Tiber Canyon Ranch

The above knives will be available at my booth!

11 am-5 pm Saturday and Sunday 

November 19 & 20 and 26 & 27

There will lots of amazing artist representing their work over both weekends. Tiber amazing Olive Oil, Artizan Vinegars, Metal Workers Fiber Artists glass blowing demonstrations and much more!

Directions at: www.tibercanyon.com

"Out of Africa" Warthog Tusk Knives

Well I just had to make a post of these knives now that they are completed!

It was a bit of a difficult journey, but I was able to get the results I wanted....and hope the clients will be happy with them.

It all started when a father and son found me via an internet search.
They are hunters and came out to the shop with an assortment of trophy horns and others stuff that they had shot. It seems that they have been to Africa on "safari" and had some natural horn and tooth material they wanted some knives made with; using this material as handle fixtures.

Among the items they had were some really interesting Tusks from a Warthog. These were very cool and as an artist/knifemaker excited me the most. Create a blade-shape and overall style of the knife was next.  So I did some conceptual sketches to send them the next day & they left the tusks with me. We decided on the top design & off to work I went creating the blades.

  First thing to do was to trim the ends of the tusk down to help create a better alignment for the blades to enter and to get to some thicker material too.

 I was amazed that the tusks actually were so amazingly symmetric/a-symmetric when I lined up the openings I had trimmed back!

 

Next I got down to designing the blade preform. I cut the preforms inspired by the matching aspects of the tusks & intended to make the blades as close to the same as I could. I used Aldo's +.002 3/16" W2 for the blades.....and got down to forging them out.

Then on to some clay coating & Heat Treatment.

I did not get the best hamon lines....live and learn.

Now on to the handle construction. Carving some African Ebony to register into the tusks. These serve as "bolsters" both to support the blade and strengthen the OAL construction of the knives.

I must have gotten excited to get these done because I stopped taking process images from here on out...
So Here are the final Images of the finished knives/ The blades are 5.5"...and an OAL measurement has not been taken, but these are not light-weight knives.
The Turks head knots & wrappings are all epoxy impregnated & the final sharpening of the blades was a blast.... they came-up wickedly RAZOR Sharp.

I hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I have:)

Modern Utility Slicer

This is a beautiful utility slicing knife recently finished for a local artist. I was excited to make this knife for Paul because I know he will cherish it and use it daily in his kitchen.

I decided to go with a new handle style. Employing a slightly different shape and expanding on some of the simple inlay I have been doing lately. Here I decided to add some carving and to use the smaller inlay to hide the silicon bronze pin that sets the knife in the handle.
I think it turned out amazing! AND> It sure feels wonderful in the hand.

This knife is 11.75" OAL with a 6&3/8" blade that has been forge to shape out of 1095 high carbon tool steel. The handle is Arizona Desert Ironwood with Lemon-wood inlay and detail caring.

I hope you enjoy the images:)

-DON:) 

Happy Fish Camp Knife #2

A new Happy Fish Camp Knife Joins the School!

This one went to Mark Aiton. He was a real pleasure to work with and actually was one of the first interested in the Happy Fish Knives after seeing the very first one created.

This Beauty exhibits some very fine dark desert ironwood that has been fully contoured and detail carved. Domed and polished bronze pins secure the ironwood to the tapered tang.
OAL is 11.75" with a 6 & 7.8" blade.

Click HERE to read more about the details & history of the Happy Fish Knives

Something Different for Me...a work in process

My First Tanto. Well that's what I was shooting for, it's a bit Tanto-esque I suppose.

Perhaps more of an integral Bush Knife....but whatever, now the challenge to give it a suitable handle and details.

Enjoy the Shot.

-DON

p.s. forged from some of Don Hansons .75" Round diminished to around .40" & upset. The Blade is 5.5".

p.s.s I will follow-up with more images and information as this one proceeds.

Two New Chef Knives

Both of these were made for friends...in fact the small Gyuto is for my neighbor living directly across the street from me. I made it extra special with the handle construction & details since they have been so kind in putting up with all the years of stone carving and now forging.
The Small Kitchen Utility is for a local who let my sweetheart keep her horses on his property for a number of months.

Both knives were bought by the husbands as presents for the wives in the family.
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The Small Gyuto is forge to shape from .125" 1095 and has a light etch to show the temper lines. It is 11.50" OAL qith a 6.5" blade. Very light, very quick and strong. The handle is a new style for me and is curly maple with ironwood burl bolster and inlay.

The Kitchen utility is 10" OAl with a 5" Blade of 1095 with a satin finish. The Handle is detail-carved African Ebony with Lemonwood inlay.

I hope you enjoy the image.

-DON:)

A Main Chef Knife in 1095

I have been enjoying making full size chef knives at the beginning of this year. Creating a more dramatic distal taper was something I wanted to experiment with more. I realized that starting with thicker stock was one of the things that this would require. So I moved into some 3/16" thick material to create this knife.

The weight is more on-par with what a main working knife in a commercial kitchen would and possibly "should" feel like. I say 'possibly' because Chef knives are individual to the user & everybody has their likes and dislikes.
Ultimately this is my rendition of a classic European Style Chef Knife. Knives like this are weighted to make hours of food prep not as exhausting to ligaments and tendons. Light knives feel great when you first pick them up, but if hours of chopping and detailed preparation are what a knife is needed for, having a bit more weight in the blade is essential. This still remains very nimble at the tip and in the hand, with one tons of character and feels like the type of knife any skilled chef would for sure enjoy using.

The blade is just shy of a 9-inches, plenty wide to get the job done and is 13.75" OAL. It exhibits some nice desert Ironwood handles with carved texture and domed bronze pins.

I hope you enjoy the images.

Two New Integral Knives

I am excited about these two knives! One is for a customer and the other I made for fun. The top knife is a style and size I have been thinking about for some time. It reminds me of the Gents Knives That Don Fogg was making some time back. This knife also represents a new beginning for me in the realms of making my own non-ferrous furniture on my knives.

I took a trip out to visit my mentor Tai Goo a few months ago and we went through a whole aray of basic to advanced jewelery making processes. Many of these processes can be applied as aspects of the knife handle details and constructions. It was great to visit my mentor and friend Tai Goo and we had a blast. I finally got the time and a table to start practicing! Please visit the previous post to see my simple and new studio space for doing non-ferrous work.

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As for the knives.....

Top knife: Forged from some Don Hanson W2 .75" round bar and drawn down to just over .50" square, a sweet integral with my first non-ferrous attribute, which is a piece of cable-mokume that is copper and silver. The knife is 11.75" OAl with a 5.75" blade. It has a nice golden desert ironwood handle, some of my favorite of what the ironwood has to offer color-wise.

Bottom knife: Forged out of the last piece of steel I had recycled from an antique automobile starting crank. I made a few integrals from this same crank a few years ago and they were all really cool & heat treated wonderfully. I think this one turned out sweet.
OAL it is 10.25" and the blade is 4.75" with carved ball ferrule and premium African Ebony.

I hope you all enjoy the images:

A New Non-Ferrous Studio is Born

I took a trip out to visit Tai a few months ago and we worked primarily on non-ferrous techniques. Much of this is what jewelers do on a regular basis, much if it most knifemakers do not do on a regular basis.

My background as a sculptor who cast bronze sculptures for 16-years has just been aching to get into this part of my knifemaking practice. After my return trip from visiting Tai, I procrastinated on building a non-ferrous studio space. I needed a table and all the little tools that essentially added up to making a whole new studio aside from my bladesmithing space.

Ultimately I kept it simple and I'm glad I did. A friend was giving away this all steel office table that so far is working really well, and I bought a small torch and a few tools to do the job. The next big purchase will be a rolling mill, as this is essential to making sheet and mokume-gane' and reducing ingot for pulling to wire etc...

For now I leave you with a shot of my new studio space. A Shot of some goodies I made when I went out to visit Tai, cuddle-bone casting, retiuculated silver quarter and a piece of (non mokume-gane') mokume. And an in-process shot of a sliver and copper "cable-mokume" ferrule for an integral knife I just finished up.
This is my first project in my new studio You can see the finished knife in the above post along with another new integral I just finished for a customer.

FUN!

Enjoy the shots.