Busy Times

 

 

 

Wanted to list a bunch of things in one post so I'll see what I can cram do. First off, I have been involved with BushCraftUSA.com for a while now and would like to acknowledge the generosity of an anonymous gifter. A few weeks ago I got a PM from a guy that lives in Tennessee. He simply asked for my address. Later that week this super thick beautiful 100% Polar Wear blanket shows up at my doorstep.  It will be used to sleep in outside.  Never felt one so thick.  THANKS!

 

 

 

Worked on a project for my son.  It is a gift for his girlfriends father.  Santoku knife with a matching sharpening steel.  The handles on these are beautiful Black Ash Burl.  The knife also has copper pins in the handle.

Next I made a knife for his girlfriend as a gift to her from Leslie and I.  It is a bushcraft style knife scaled down for a smaller hand.  Aldo's 1095 was used for the blade material and purpleheart scales were used for the handles.  The sheath was .080" purple kydex that I was told matched her new backpack perfectly.  Along with the knife/sheath I made a matching Fire Starter and Striker set from the same piece of purpleheart.  I gotta tell y'all that purpleheart stuff is a bear to work with.  It is tough as nails and requires much patience to sand out any dark spots. 

From what I heard, she really liked the knife and was eager to utilize the fire starter...in the house!  I made a knife with the same shape and blade grind but it is proportionately larger for my hands and will sport a multi-use sheath/rig.  I'm designing the sheath to be worn in a few different ways.  It will be posted after the whole thing is complete.


Today the UPS man dropped off a package for me from my BushCraftUSA Secret Santa.



When I opened it the first thing I saw was a U.S. two quart canteen cover. Inside it was the coolest little IMUSA fry pan w/lid, an empty bottle to store alcohol and an alcohol cat stove. Next thing I pulled out was a sweet NAPA camo hat. The last and best thing is a hand made antler handled knife with a quarter for the butt plate. 

Thanks DoubleTap. Thought that maybe I was a bad boy this year and Santa forgot about me. Can't wait till the next one.


Started off my first trapping season.  It was slow until the second week of December.  Then I got 2 beavers in one day.  Next came a possum and I got a 42# beaver last week when I decided to pull my traps for a bit.  Leslie and I each shot a doe on our property and we have been given a couple deer too.  None of that wonderful venison will go to waste as I do all the butchering myself.

Last weekend we spent 20 hours trying to sell at Pickwick Lake State Park.  Friday from noon till 9:00p.m. only produced a couple sales.  Saturday was a little better but it was hardly worth all the time involved.  Unfortunately Clifton's Stroll Through Christmas was held the same weekend so we couldn't make it there.  We'll see what happens next year.  We plan on doing more heritage type shows and less of the hyped shows.   Will try to make a last post of the year.  The goal will be to document more next year as compared to this year.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Available Knives!

 

 

Some people were asking what my knives looked like and what I had for sale. Leslie posted all of this on Facebook so I thought it would be a good idea to post it here too. There will probably be a bunch more going on throughout the holiday season also. I am involved with a KITH and a christmas swap on BladeForums. On BushCraftUSA forum there is a secret santa thing and a christmas wish list which is fulfilled by forum members.

 

 

 

Fancy Lot

1. Damascus Hunter Knife - Black Ash Burl Handle - 1075/15n20 Damascus Blade - $210

2. Frontier Knife - Spalted Maple Handle w/Black Liner - Forged 5160 Carbon Steel Blade - $175

3. Hunter Knife - Burl Wood Handle - Aldo’s 1095 Carbon Steel Blade - $130

(All the Sheaths shown are hand-made specifically for that knife.)

 

 
Antler Lot

1. Frontier Knife - Deer Antler Handle w/Rawhide Wrap - Forged Nicholson File Blade - $120

2. Frontier Knife - Deer Antler Handle w/Rawhide Wrap - Forged Nicholson File Blade - $110

3. Frontier Knife - Deer Antler Handle w/Rawhide Wrap - Forged Nicholson File Blade - $125

4. Sheep Shear Knife - Deer Antler Handle - High Carbon Steel Blade - $65

(All the Sheaths shown are hand-made specifically for that knife.)

Wooden Lot

1. Wharncliff Knife - Cocobolo Handle - VW Spring Steel Blade - Sold

2. Nessmuk Knife - Curly Hickory Handle - 1095 Carbon Steel Blade - $100

3. Short Nessmuk Knife - Crotch Walnut Handle - Forged 1080 Carbon Steel Blade - $140

(All the Sheaths shown are hand-made specifically for that knife.)

Micarta/Santoku

1. Santoku Knife - Black Ash Burl Handle w/Green Liner - AUS8 Stainless Steel Blade - $110

2. Camp Knife - Duffle Bag Mycarta Handle - Forged 1080 Carbon Steel Blade - $190

3. Skinner Knife - Black Denim Mycarta Handle - 1095 Carbon Steel Blade - $100

(All the Sheaths shown are hand-made specifically for that knife.)

Kydex Lot
1. Utility EDC/Neck Knife - Ziricote Handle - 1095 Carbon Steel Blade - $80

2. Wharncliff EDC/Neck Knife - Natural Micarta Handle w/Green Liner - 1095 Carbon Steel Blade - $80

3. Utility EDC/Neck Knife - Maple Burl Handle w/Blue Liner - 1095 Carbon Steel Blade - $90

4. Utility EDC/Neck Knife - Burl Wood Handle - Forged 1080 Carbon Steel Blade - $75
(All the Sheaths shown are hand-made specifically for that knife.

So this is what I have sitting around right now.  A few more are in the process of becoming real knives.  Please feel free to call, text or email me about anything you might be interested in at:

Pat Burns
Arcadia Knives
arcadiaknives@yahoo.com
931-332-5684Thanks for looking!

Smashed Pumkinfest

Ok!  Glad that's over with.  Pumpkinfest turned out to be a long COLD day with lots of really nice people.  Sales were way down for us and it looks like we might have to  give up on this show in the future.  There were plenty of folks passing by the tents, but I think the cold kept'm moving so they could stay warm.  Received lots of compliments on the quality of my work but they weren't buying.

Here was our setup.  Lots of things to look at and touch.  A bunch of new knives and Halloween decorations.

  I guess when this guy looked down upon our tent it really had an impact.  Oh well!

That's all I am going to say.  Gotta keep it all positive.  Stopped at Papa Murphy's in Spring Hill on the way home and picked up 4 pizzas and some Single Malt Scotch.  We love Papa Murphy's and they will be wonderful treats for us.

More Show News:
A Stroll Through Clifton will be held the same weekend as the Pickwick Christmas Show.  That is a real bummer for us because we have wanted to do both shows.  We were looking forward to the Clifton show because it's only a few hours long for two evenings.

We also have decided that it's time to look into more Heritage Festivals.  I do believe that sales are better to people that not only appreciate your work for how it looks but actually use the products too.  We'll be investigating shows that aren't too far away and more Old Timey in nature.

Plump Little Pumpkinfest

After the success we had at the Ames Plantation show it was necessary for me to get right back into the shop and get some more work done.  All of the FireStyx were gone so the first thing I did was make 50 more.  These little things sell like hotcakes and are so fun to use.  I needed to make more antler handled seam rippers and diamond sharpeners too. 

It seems that there were quite a few open spots in the new knife display after the show.  Guess what?  Commence to making more knives!  Now!!  And don't stop till you got'm done!!!  Got that?  Here's a few of them, almost ready for Pumpkinfest 2012.

Leslie posted these on FaceBook and people gave the impression that they liked them.  There are more in the works but I don't have the pics available as I'm posting.

From L-R:
Damascus Hunter with Maple Burl handle.
Forged Frontier Knife with really cool Spalted Maple handle.
Nessmuk style in 1095 with Curly Hickory handle.
Utility Knife in Aldo's 1095 with Mystery Burl handle.
Wharncliff Knife in VW steel with Cocobolo handle.

We are looking forward to a fantastic show, despite whatever the weather may throw at us.  It sounds like there may be some early rain and only a high of 57, but hey it's almost November.  Be ready or be left out.

_______________________________________

While I'm at it I may as well post another knife that is about ready to ship out.  Literally.  The blade is 52100 steel and was donated by Aldo Bruno the NJ Steel Baron, it was cut out by Great Lakes Waterjet and heat treated by Peter's Heat Treat.  This was a great opportunity for me.
My KnifeDogs.com Post:

Wanted to post up the military knife I built thanks to KnifeDogs. First off, the knife will be going to our son. He is in the Marines. He was picked to train for Marine Special Operations. Unfortunately just before he was to leave he broke a bone in his hand and was lucky enough to have his training delayed till the next class.



So being the guy he is I figured it would be best to send the knife just prior to his leaving. The knife was 90% complete until a few weeks ago. I decided to give it some color so I blued the blade. I used the blue liners Boss had given out earlier this year and glued them to some home made micarta. This micarta was made from a vietnam era duffel bag and looks pretty cool. It also has special meaning as it belonged to a good friend.



The sheath is made from .083 black kydex with small molle clips attached. I'm going to make a belt loop for it also.

This project really turned out to be very special. So glad I could be a part of it and sincerely want to express my appreciation to all the men and women out there that sacrifice so much for this great country.

Pat

Cani Credimus - In Dog We Trust

Thanks Everyone And See Y'all  After The Show!

Pat

Our Ames Was True!

Holy Plantation Patman!  The Ames Heritage festival was a great success.  More vendors than ever and more sold by everyone than in previous years.  It was such a good time.  We got to stay in Bolivar the night before so the 15 minute drive to the plantation was very easy compared to 2 hours before and 2 hours after.

While setting up a customer from last year came by and promptly purchased the first knife of the day.  It just so happened to be the one that Leslie was going to keep if it lasted through the show.  Tough Luck there Sweetheart!  I sold 4 more knives throughout the day and traded one to a guy for a set of elk antlers.  They will look great as knife handles.  We also sold all of our FireStyx. 

All in all it was a warm, breezy and totally beautiful day.  Can't wait till next years show.

Ready...AMES...Fire!

Holy Knives Patman!

It's time for the Ames Plantation Heritage Festival in Grand Junction, Tennessee.  Just finished a few knives in time to take to the show.  First up though is a new knife display I needed for the Franklin Pumpkinfest.  My friend Dan Shaw helped me get this figured out and built.

This will show off up to 17 knives and comes apart into five pieces for easy set up.  Made from walnut  and plexiglass it should highlight the knives while keeping youngn's from touching the sharp blades.  Looks like this guy got a little too close to my Branding Iron.

Finished this yesterday and couldn't post these pics without showing some knives.

It ain't the best picture but I really needed to know how it would look with some blades in there.  Hope to see the next picture of this display with lots of empty spaces.  You know...from selling a bunch.


Here is a new knife.  It is a Damascus blade with Black Ash Burl handle.  I like this one.  It has a dark brown leather dangler sheath.

A few more new ones.  Top is Maple Burl with Copper pins and 1095 steel.  Middle is Buckeye Burl/Toxic Green liner with Nickel Silver pins and 1095 steel.  Bottom knife is Buffalo Horn with Copper pins with 1095 steel.

The last picture is the two sheep shear knives I made.  Antler Crown was used for the handle with Copper pins and they fit quite well in the hand.  These pics were posted on facebook.

We are looking forward to a GREAT show at the Ames Plantation.  Hope to see a lot of friendly faces there. 

Just A Few Updates

Seems to be a very, very busy time at the Arcadia homestead.  Shows will be starting up too soon.  So much needs to be worked on. 

  A Pressing Issue

This last weekend I worked on quite a few projects.  Got the call Friday afternoon from Binford, a local machinist, that he has time to start welding up my mini hydraulic press.  Quickly I threw all the parts into the truck and headed to his workshop.  The best part is that he's only about 6 miles from home.  He started by looking at all the parts and figuring out what needs to be done in what order.  The base is a piece of 10" channel, 12" long with uprights made of 2" square tubing- 32" high.  It took a bit of work to get the base welded up square and parallel.  Only one pic turned out from my phone, so next time the camera goes along.  I had to take some of the crossbar pieces back home with me to do some grinding on before he can proceed to welding them together. 

My press was designed using ideas from a bunch of other designs on the knife forums.  Binford also has great ideas to make it better.  One of those ideas is to cap the uprights, drill and tap them so a bar can be bolted between them to keep the uprights equidistant.  That also allows me to take the crossbars off for any reason.  His welds look 1000 times better than I could do.  With all the forces that a 20 ton air/hydraulic press can exert, I knew it would need to be welded up by an expert.  The best part is being able to help him.  He says he's not used to having help, and luckily I'm not just getting in his way.  More info later..........


Getting Tanked

Friday was busy, busy.  As soon as I got out of work, I went to the Clifton Turnpike water tank.  There, with the help of James and Paul, we set up scaffolding for me to paint the 2011 Wayne Co.High School Football Champions info onto.  Saturday I started by painting over a couple of dates so everything looks good to begin with.  It took two coats to cover up the black lettering and I'll have to repaint those dates.  Sunday all I could do was a bit of layout. 

I took this picture with my phone while standing 10 feet off the ground on the scaffold.  Sure looks high doesn't it?  The scaffold will have to be moved a couple times to get all the lettering painted.  Hopefully it will look good when I'm done painting.  After it's all painted, I'll get another picture to post.









Talkin' Turkey

We've had two Bourbon Red turkey hens around the homestead for 2 1/2 years now.  The tom turned aggressive and was butchered last spring but the hens were allowed to stay.  Well the hens really slowed down their egg production, which was only a few each per week.  So it was decided that they would have to go.  Only a few of our friends would take the turkey eggs which are 1 1/2 times regular egg size and shells that need a chainsaw to crack open.  After dispatching them I took the breasts and leg quarters.  These went into the crockpot within minutes.  The breasts were only the size of a large meat chicken breast.  The wings were kept for arrow fletchings and trapping enticements.  Life on the homestead can be cruel some times.

As soon as that was done, Leslie and I took everything out of the upright freezer in the house.  It needed a defrosting in a big way.  There seems to be a small gap between the door and the rubber seal.  Guess I have to figure out a way to correct that situation.  The dogs are in for a whole lot of treats.  Since I don't like to waste anything, we found many bags of treats hiding all over the freezer.  We had three pots going on the stove to cook all those treats up.  There were rabbit livers, hearts and kidneys, chicken hearts and livers and even a guinea hen from a few years ago.  It is surprising how items get lost in the freezer, even big things.  Our next freezer related project is to use up what we can before the upcoming hunting season.  

This created more work because the chest freezer had to be cleaned out prior to cleaning out the upright.  Really...all I had to do was take a bunch of fruit out and transfer it to the refrigerator in the workshop.  This fruit is going to be used to make a bunch of wine and mead.  I have almost 3 gallon bags of grapes and about the same amount of plums.  These are all going to be put through our juicer and made into 12 gallons of fruit wine.  There is also an 8# bag of crushed blackberries that will go into a 5 gallon batch of mead.  Some of this mead will be going along on our belated Honeymoon Hog Hunting trip to Texas.  More about our trip soon. 

Later Y'all!

 

Look What The Postman Brought

Yesterday afternoon was just like most afternoons.  Sit down for a few minutes after work, before taking care of any more work I have to do.  Oh wait...I was actually sitting down and working on four sheaths that need to be completed.  Any way, Leslie walks up to check the mail and comes back with a box for ME.  The label is from Maine and upon tearing into that baby with reckless abandon, I discover a beautiful knife inside.  It is a knife from my friend Dick.  This knife is 9.250" long with a 4" cutting edge and made out of O1.  The handle is diamondwood and it also has diamondwood bolsters.  WOW!!!  What a great knife.  I'm showing it off to whoever will look at it.  (Bottom knife in pic)

I just wanted to show what I've done to my newest KITH knife.  Some minor modifications were done to it to fit the sheath and to feel more comfortable in my hand.  The handle area was worked on to fit my hand.  I prefer more contours in the handles, and a little grinding was all it needed.  The knife didn't fit in the sheath that was sent along.  The guard area was ground down even with the edge of the blade and then it fit really well.  There is one spot that has to be filled in but that is so minor.  Like I said before this knife is going in my pack to roam the woods with.

Oh, see that rope in the picture?  That is a "David Sling" that I made from simple jute cording.  All you do is braid three 12 foot pieces together in a certain way.  Then you sling rocks at stuff.  What could be more fun?  Check out Slinging.org for more information on how to make your own primitive food gathering device.

Knives! Knives!

Here's an order that I had been working on for a while.  Four knives, similar in looks and shape, for a dad and his three youngn's.  They step down in size slightly from one to the next.  Dad's knife is the largest and son's is next.  They both have blue G10 liners with antler supplied by grandpa.  The other two knives are for the girls.  They're sporting pink G10 liners with grandpa's antler also.  These are done and ready to be shipped out to the new owners.  I certainly hope they all enjoy their new matching knives.

Homesteading

This past weekend, Leslie and I did some home canning.  We didn't do as much as a lot of folks but getting started has been the challenge.  Saturday July28th was spent canning pickles.  Some of the cucumbers were given to us and some were taken from our garden.  We cut them into spears and packed them into jars along with garlic and one hot banana pepper per jar.  These were processed in a hot water bath and left to cool.  Ten quarts of pickles will last us a while.  All of this was done after we made 3 gallons of refrigerator pickles that get eaten up VERY quickly.  I think we haven't canned pickles in the last few years because the refrigerator pickle are so easy to make and go well with summer foods.

Sunday we went to the garden for tomatoes and hot banana peppers.  There weren't as many tomatoes as we thought so you just deal with what you have.  Leslie is using these to make spaghetti sauce.  Water was heated, and the tomatoes went into the hot tub until their wrinkly little skins came right off.  From there they were pureed a bit and put into a crock pot to reduce down to less than half the quantity.  That took over a day to do.

 

After the tomatoes were blanched, I got things ready to put up my hot banana peppers.  Water, jars, lids, clean this, make that, and the vinegar solution were all dealt with before filling the jars and putting them in the water bath.  This recipe says the peppers will stay crisp as along as they are only in the boiling water for 5 minutes.  Luck was with me and hopefully the stars were aligned properly.  Everything seemed to go very smoothly.  I got 13 pints and one quart of peppers.  Five of the pints were cut into slices, the rest were left whole in the jars.

Our next attempt is going to be canning venison.  The freezers don't ever seem to have any room for anything.  So a few packs of steaks will be thawed, cut up, browned and packed into wide mouth pint canning jars.  The difference with meat and other low acid foods is that it must be processed in a pressure canner.  More about that when we get to it.

Another KITH Bites The Dust

rasret01

Posted on KnifeDogs.com

I received an absolutely beautiful frontier style fighter from Pat Burns. I believe this gives me the distinct honor of being the largest collector of Aracdia Knives in Maine as I was lucky enough to draw his knife in last years' KITH as well. (Don't need a KITH if Pat will just send me a knife every year... ) Solid, good looking knife, sharp as hell and with a feel in the hand that a lot of makers dream about. Thanks Pat.





Dick

____________________________________________________


So glad you got the knife AND liked it.  When Dick's name was drawn for me again this year I thought "He isn't going to want another one of my knives." Well it turns out he wanted this one and I'm glad to pass it on to him.  He also ran into a little bit of trouble with all the heat this year.  You know it's bad when it's HOT in Maine.  Hope you're feeling better Dick.  Careful when you go out and play.  How about we just trade a knife every year?  Hey I don't even have one of yours and they look nice from your new blog... yankeeknifemaker.blogspot.com. 
That is your gratuitous link Dick.  Seriously though, how do I get my hands on one of your knives?  We should talk about this some time soon.

Also a little update on the knife I received.  Mitchell did a nice job on it but I felt the need to modify it a bit.  Since that blade was all good for me I left it as is.  The handle didn't fit as well as I like so I thinned it down a little.  It now fits my hand really well, fits in the sheath he sent and it is going to be in my pack for all my backwoods ventures.  Thanks again, I just love that O1. 
 

Knife from s2f...aka Mitchell

Here is my posting on KnifeDogs:

Got my knife from s2f late on Wednesday. Working on four knives that are due this weekend so I couldn't post yesterday. This is a well made knife for only his 8th one. The knife is solid and should take a beating. This is going to be a user for me, as it's already on my belt and from there it will be in my pack. I'm very happy to find out the blade is 1/8" O1 with micarta handle and toxic green & orange liners. After a few licks this thing is shaving sharp.



I love these KITH's!!!!! Thanks s2f for the knife. It was a pleasure talking to you yesterday. Thanks Sean for all the work you put into this. So many fine entries. Can"t wait for the next one.

Here's my entry in the July 2012 KITH on KnifeDogs.com

It's a frontier fighter.
Forged 1084, 11.250" OAL
1/8" thick, 5.750" blade
Curly Hickory handle with acid finish
Copper pins and thong tube
Brown Leather sheath

Names were drawn 7/15/12 and this knife goes to:
Dick Stockford of Bangor Maine.  Y'all might recognize the name as he won my camp knife last year.  He says he can't wait to get his hands on it.  More later.

New Addition to the Shop

In my last post I mentioned buying a box to open while waiting for the 4th of July Swap.  That box happened to be the newest tool in the shop.  It is an Abrasive Cabinet or sandblasting cabinet.  In my quest for better ways to make knives this will be used to attach handles to the knives better.  Along with sandblasting the knife blade handle area, I have invested in the Top-of-the-Line adhesive.  From this point forward all my knives and jewelry will be put together using Brownell's Acraglas.  This is THE stuff. 

Testing was done on many epoxies and glues in "Glue Wars" on knife forums and one thing was determined.  Most of the glues and epoxies worked much better when the handle area of the blade was sandblasted.  It made adhesion tougher and stronger.  So that is what I will do to take my work to the next level.  Everyone will benefit from this.

Now I just have to get to work on the orders I have.  Luckily it isn't very hot in the shop. HaHaHaHa!!!!  Going to try this out this weekend and hopefully everything will go well.  I have some traps that need some sandblasting to get them back in shape.  Want to get them working to keep the fox at bay.

4th of July Swap on BladeForums

The 4th of July Swap on BladeForums was a hoot!  There was a $50 minimum limit set for this along with sending things we already had.  Not buying new stuff to send.  There was only one guy that caved in to the pressure of having a giftbox sitting in front of his nose.  We all had a hilarious time taunting each other into opening the boxes, but in the end most held up with dignity.  Can't wait for the Christmas Swap.  Got more ideas of stuff to send off. 

 

 

 

arcadiaknives

So last night I put the box out so I could take it with me to work. When I woke up it was nowhere to be found. My wife hid it on me. When I talked to her later she said “Ain’t no way you’re taking that with you,
You’ll open it up at home AFTER your work is done.” I guess I can hold out another 5 hours. Well it was totally worth the wait…and then some.

When I finally opened it I was surprised to see the top half of the box filled with newspapers. After throwing that aside my eyes lit up. There was a ton of stuff packed in there. First thing I pulled out was a black/orange handled Mora with an orange sheath. It is sharp. There was a karabiner with hanks of paracord and jute attached. There was a silicone cloth, Nikon Lenspen, a Cyclops LED hat light and a bag with 2 nice pieces of fatwood.

Next thing I pulled out was a full Altoids tin with a nice fire steel & striker, mini-Bic, P38, 2-PJCB straws, compass, single edge razor blade, jute pieces, bandaids, crazy glue, and a couple safety pins. Very nice. An Eclipse tin held 3-cord keepers, a small karabiner and a very cool Leatherman Style. A small earplug case holds a very compact yet crammed full of fishing gear. Line, sinkers, hooks and wiggly tails.

Last but certainly not least is a Case 3318CV Stockman with yellow delrin handles and a nice patina on the main blade. I really like this knife and it’s going in my pocket right now.



Wow!!!!! Thank You AC700Wildcat! This was certainly an awesome thing. I guarantee I will have a REALLY, REALLY rough time waiting when it comes time for the Christmas Swap after this.

ArcadiaKnives.blogspot.com
Beckerhead #176
JK Supporter 76

______________________________________________________________________

07-04-2012

1066vik

Originally Posted by arcadiaknives

Glad you got the box today ViK. Did you open it yet? How 'bout now? Come on cut it open. Let the dog tear it a little so stuff can fall out. Shoulda put some dog treats in there. Double dog dare ya. Nobody will know. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

just following orders....



and the after pic:


icepick/awl, keyring, & firesteel with antler handles. (blue stripe on firesteel handle should make it easier to find when (not if) I drop it.
compass, stickers, handmade "cigar" pen (my wife used to do wood turning, and that was my favorite style!) with ash burl wood.
a forged 52100 small utility knife (I love that steel!) with Ipe handles and what looks like a "thorn" rune stamped in the blade. (makers mark?)
last, but definitely not least...............
Larvets! (yes folks -- he sent me a box of fried worms -- aren't you all jealous now?)
best of all, other than the worms, stickers, and compass, all of this was made by Arcadia knives!

Thanks a lot!

My New Neo Tribal KITH

This Is How It All Started, on KnifeDogs.com Forum.

 

old spring(my KITH WIP)

I finally got the beast forged out and almost ready to heat-treat, blade is approx. 18", not sure why it had to be so big....
Forged from a leaf-spring from a totaled 78 camero. I'm working on this one while also working on some commissions, so progress is slow and sporadic.

A neo-tribal seax!

I'm thinking about bone for the handle, not really sure as yet... we shall see.

George Ezell, bladesmith


_______________________________________________________________________________

This is what I posted on the forum:

Just Got My NT KITH!

WooHoo!!!!! A card was left in my mailbox yesterday that a box is ready for pickup at the local post office. Sweet just one more day. Well today I picked up the package and was surprised by the size and weight of the box. Headed out to open it up and...Hello! What's this? This thing is a BEAST! It's almost 26 inches, fits my hand well and is very sharp. Check out the work on the sheath. Apparently it had a wardrobe malfunction before it got to me, but I would never be able to tell. George put a heck of a lot of work into this piece of art. Check out these pics:







This knife was more than worth the wait. George you did an Awesome job! I can't thank you enough. And as it turns out George is just down the road a piece from me. Hope we can meet some time. Thanks for putting this KITH on Jonathon.

Cani Credimus - In Dog We Trust

Two more things coming up shortly.  A 4th of July Gift Swap on Bladeforums and another KITH on KnifeDogs.  I love getting new knives and stuff.  This is what it's all about...Swapping Stuff with other guys.  Giving one of my knives and getting one of theirs.  This is how I will amass my very own custom knife collection.

franklin

action pics from my kith knife (by patrick)

Well guys no one ever said i was a gentle guy, so here's some shots of my knife in action.
Let me start buy saying i was very pleased with this knife when I received it, good look to it and feel was a little worried at first at how thick the edge was but got over that in a hurry once i started cutting, granted she's no razor, but after cutting 2 2x4s in half she sliced through some   7 oz leather rather easy. All and all Patrick made a great camp knife that i will use for a long time to come.

The only thing i would change is by making the guard a little longer. When swinging with force, my finger slid forward into the bottom edge of the guard. And then that was not that large of a deal either.

So in the end i got a awesome knife that i really enjoy, great job Patrick. This one will stay in my family for many years!!!

Attached Thumbnails

    

 

here's some more pics

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Patrick

Thanks for the cool posting Larry. That was only the second time I've done a guard like that and the first one is still on a shelf somewhere. I don't have one of the fancy hammers that Joe Keeslar uses to forge the guards. I made do, but will make them bigger from now on. I really appreciate the input. The edge was convexed cuz it was a little thick. It sure tears through 2x4's. That was some tough steel there, hope it serves you well my friend.

Cani Credimus - In Dog We Trust