Two Honesuki Knives , one in 1095 one in AEBL

Here are two of my version of the Japanese Boning knife called Honesuki.

I expanded on the traditional sized Honesuki (which normally have more like a 5-6" blade) as I felt it would make a great Kitchen EDC-user with tons of potential for that "one knife" in the kitchen.
So on top you see my forged version that is larger,
and on bottom is my very fist stock reduction knife in AEBL stainless.
I made this one for a buddy who has been hooking me up with some vintage Micarta Materials and we did a trade for some handle materials.

The interesting thing about sending off knives to be heat treated, is that, I have the few patterns I work with created for forged preforms.....so I had to adapt the pieces I sent off (I'll post more as I get them ground and finished)
So this bottom knife is more closely related to my original pre-form for forging, but I did add a bit more all the way around to make it a cool knife that to me is more closely related to the traditional Honesuki...but with a wider clip/tip.
I forgot to measure the AEBL piece before I sent it off to Ken,
but the top knife for is:

11 &7/8" OAL with a 7.25" blade that is nice and wide at the heel.
This one with some very nice African Blackwood and Desert Ironwood Inlay

The Knife in AEBL exhibits some ool Westinghouse Black-stripe Micarta and some rare Green Micarta inlay.

I hope you enjoy seeing these images.

-DON:)

Two more join the stream of life <:) <:)

Two more Happy Fish Knives are born !!!<:) <:)
...their tails grow darker as they grow up to be big fish.

Happy Camp and Happy Utility.

First time for me placing a lanyard hole on any knife ever.

Enjoy the images!

-DON

p.s. If you missed the initial post telling the story about how these came to be,
Please go HERE and read more about the Happy Fish Knives:)

Special Ladies French Knives in 52100

Fresh off the bench are these two beauties. >>> Special Ladies French Knives...for the special lady of the house.  But guys can use them too!

Forged-to-shape out of 52100 these two really are light and quick in the hand with exceptional balance and ergonomics.
Handles like this are not just blazed-out on a machine, but are carefully sculpted by hand over the course of a few days ti'll they are just right.
This handle shape was an adaptation of the Shallot Knife handle that was originally designed for a full tang knife.
It translates to a stick tang well but the fit take care and attention.
I chose to incorporate a Machi, that little notch above the choil-area you see on many Japanese knives, and I generally butt it right to the handle and registered into the wood too.
.....sort of my adaptation of this style, resulting in better balance & energy transition from handle to blade

OAL on these are 13" and 12.75" with blades that are 8" and 7.75" respectively.

African Blackwood or (Grenadilla) that is of a very high quality. I found a nice source of reject blanks from Clarinet Makers...which I love since I play clarinet:)
The top knife has an inlay of a wood called Apitome that is super chatoyant, the bottom with Lemonwood inlay, each knife with detail carving.

I hope you enjoy seeing the images of these two new Special Ladies!

-DON:)

Personal Damascus EDC Recurve

This stunning little knife began with a sketch I did after making my very First Damascus.
It was a real journey to make this knife starting at studio of Jerry Greenelsch, good friend and skilled forger and knifemaker. I included shots of the original sketch and billet, through the forged-to-shape blade , stock-reduction & heat treatment.
This knife looked so cool after heat treatment, the temper-cycles leaving a sweet golden tone on the blade, AND...
...the coolest part of experiencing Damascus for the first time in making my own was how the Nickel (that creates the pattern you see) actually was sticking-up like a relief-map after heat treatment. The hardened carbon steels contracted but the nickel did not! So Cool! I did not finish this knife for months since I loved how it looked after HT, but I finally had to finish it and etch it.

The billet was created out of 1084 and 15N20, a real classic material choice for toughness and edge retention.
The OAL of this little beauty is 9 & 1/8" with a 4 & 7/8" blade. The handle is some very rare Westinghouse White-Stripe Micarta, with Westinghouse White Lines Micarta inlay over a blind pin.
I had a beautiful Paul Long Sheath made for it as well.

I hope you enjoy the images of this fine little knife.

I have also included a shot of the Damascus Riflemans Wharny that I also created out of this same piece of Damascus....but you can read more about that knife, and see process images of the making of the Damascus in another post. >>> CLICK HERE:)

Damascus Rifleman's Wharny

Small French Knife and a Chef Set

This small French Knife is a very handy knife to have in the kitchen.
Forged-to-shape out 52100 Carbon Tool Steel it features a Blade that is 5 & 7/16" tip to heel with a generous handle for control at an OLA of 11.5"
The handle is African Blackwood with Apitome Inlay (the smaller inlay covering a blind pin) and detail carvings.
The knife feels wonderful in the hand and is sure to please! My Mom loves the one I made her & uses it everyday since she got it !

NEXT I have a great little Chef Set.
I have only made a few of these and unless someone orders one I do not plan on making any more like this on-spec.A unique set created for the student off to school who loves to cook and also for those with limited space for prep-work in smaller kitchens....or for those who just love smaller kitchen knives.

The Main Knife is Forged-to-shape out of 1084 Carbon Tool steel and loosely based on a santoku-style blade
and features a 5 & 7/8" blade that is nice and wide with plenty of room under the handle for hand/knuckle-clearance, OAL is 11.75".
The Paring Knife is 1095 with an OAL of 9.5" with a 4.5" Blade.

Both knives have a Black-on-Black handle treatment o African Blackwood with Wenge inlay each of which are nicely sculpted and contoured for comfort.

I hope you enjoy seeing these new creations.

As of this writing both sets are available for sale.

Lightweight French Knife

This is one of the thinnest blades I have created to date....and with a very fine distal taper down to a whisper at the tip!
Forged-to-shape out of 1095 and featuring a differential heat treatment creating a blade with a soft supportive spine to the hard cutting edge.

OAL is 14 & 1/8" and the blade is 8.75" tip to heel.

The knife exhibits some very beautiful walnut with structural cocobolo ferrule (creating a mortised construction that is very strong) and cocobolo inlay .
This knife for it's size is very light and quick in the hand; pure-joy for the vegetarian chef or for any one who likes fine chef knives.
This knife will excel in creating wafer-thin cutlets be it meat or veggies and will chiffonade your herbs or greens with ease.
With a bit of blade-weight when held purely at the handle and the balance right at the pinch, just before the handle, this one is made to perform.

I hope you enjoy seeing the images of this fine knife.

-DON:)
 

California Custom knives Featured in Edible SLO Magazine ! :)

I could not be more pleased to have been asked to be in Edible SLO Magazine!

What a great opportunity this was and I think they did a great job! A BIG THANKS go out to    Karrie Crane and Daniel Kuras for their efforts in representing what I do so well.