Knives 16 and 17

This next knife creation project will eventually be a set of 3 knives, all the same design, but one large and two smaller.  I cut the steel for all 3 blades at the same time, but then put the large one on the back burner while I worked on the pair of small ones in parallel.  They are almost identical except for the handle scales which are different woods.

I decided from the outset that these two smaller knives would be gifts for two of my special, but unrelated friends in America.  That meant I was working to a deadline because my next trip to the USA was scheduled for October.

The basic shape differs from all the others I have made before in that the cutting edge is perfectly straight.  The back of the spine curves gently like a dolphin’s back.  The spine is decorated with symmetrical bevels, but not sharpened, and there are a series of transverse grooves to the back end of the spine, just in front of the handle.  These grooves are partly decorative, but they also provide a comfortable thumb rest.  Because the knives are smaller, the length of the handle is such that it is only long enough for the first 3 fingers of the hand to wrap around it and the little finger will be positioned behind the back end of the handle.  That is of course, in an average size man’s hand.  The overall proportions have been chosen to give a good, balanced visual effect to the design.

My friend Craig from Mulberry, Indiana, sent me some blocks of old Teak, salvaged from the deck of the USS New Jersey during its recent restoration.  I had hoped to use some of this Teak for the scales on one of the knives, but unfortunately time and years at sea have weakened the structural integrity of the wood, making it unsuitable for knife scales.  Instead I have used Zebra wood for the one knife (the darker wood with the pronounced, striped grain), and I have used Maple for the other (the lighter colour wood).  The scales are secured with epoxy and brass pins.  The blades are made of O1 Tool Steel, hardened, polished to a mirror finish, and sharpened.  After final construction the scales were polished with a few coats of beeswax to protect the wood and give it a healthy lustre.

Knife dimensions
Overall length: 200mm (7.9”)
Blade: 115mm (4.5”) long, 25mm (1.0”) tall at its maximum, 4mm (0.2”) thick
Handle: 85mm (3.4”) long, 25mm (1.0”) tall in the middle, 17mm (0.7”) thick

For these two knives I also made matching leather sheaths.  The sheath design is quite simple, with just a pair of slots cut in for the belt, and the leather has been moulded to hug the shape of the blade and forward section of the handle.  This shaping has stiffened the leather so that the knives almost “click” into place when inserted and they will not slip out unintentionally.  The leather is stitched using Saddle Stitch and the cut edges were smoothed with fine sandpaper before being treated with “Edge Kote” to give the darker, professional looking finish.

Enjoy the photos.

Blades shaped and bevelled before heat treatment.

Blades after heat treatment.

Blades cleaned up, and scales cut and drilled.

Scales glued and pinned.

Scales roughly shaped.

Scales fully shaped and sanded.

Sheath leather cut.

Sheaths folded and glued.

Holes punched ready for stitching.

In the “Stitching Pony”.

Sheaths stitched and ready for moulding.

Moistened leather moulded to fit the knives and left to dry.

Cut edges finished with “Edge Kote”.

All finished.  Sheaths dry.  Blades polished.  Scales waxed.

Knives in their respective sheaths.

Mike with his new knife.

Craig with his new knife.