I haven't made a stag handle knife in a while, so this weekend I made a nice medium size Bird and Trout knife. I found a way to polish up the antler so it looks great, not dull and dingy. My secret (muhahaha). It's the little things that make me happy. The blade of the knife measures 3 inches long, 7 1/8 inches over all, and is made of L-6 steel. The knife features a brass guard. The spacers are stainless steel, stabilized buckeye, and black vulcanized spacers.
I 've never been a big fan of stainless steel because the first thing I think of is all the cheap crappy knives and swords that are made of stainless steel. The kind of stuff that you buy because of looks at the mall or from a catalog, before you know any better and understand the different grades and types of steels. The kind of stuff that dings and dents easily. Don't get me wrong, there are some knifemakers who work with high quality stainless steel and create masterpieces. I'm not talking about those. So anyway, I ordered some high quality stainless steel to try some spacers and was delighted with the results. I made the spacers out of it and it looks really sharp with the stabilized buckeye and it's very durable. No denting these. The sheath is made of 8-10 ounce leather. The sheath was tooled into a pattern, molded, dyed, and sealed.
Works in progress: I have about 4 miniature knives I have ideas for and am currently working on. They should be done in a couple of weeks or so. I'm also working on a larger buffalo horn knife idea.
This is the first of several miniature knives I'm working on for the month of December. I'm trying out a few different types of wood to see how well they work in a small scale on handles and spacers. The leopardwood works well, but is kinda irritating on the nostrils. It shines up beautifully however. I really like the textured pattern on this wood.
The blade of the miniature knife measures 1.75 inches long, 3.75 inches over all, and is made of L-6 steel. The knife features a brass guard and leopardwood handle. I used a penny in some of the photos for size reference.
The leather sheath was made of 5-6 ounce leather and was hand tooled in quilted pattern, molded, dyed, and sealed.
I wanted to make something fun and functional with this miniature knife. My idea was to make a small knife you could hook to a backpack, a set of keys, or a chain bead necklace. I also had new piece of wood to try out, Bloodwood. So, this little knife was a new knife design and new sheath design. I was happy with the results although it took a little longer to make than I had originally thought. Mainly, with any new designs, or just making a knife in general, you can easily run into minor setbacks. I like to completely plan out a knife and sheath before I get started on it. For example, the first sheath I made for this knife, was too small. Even though I measured it, drew it out before I cut out the leather, and began to sew it. I am happier with the new sheath design shown above because of the great molded fit and slimline design built for the purpose of it being used daily, ease of access, and non bulkiness.
Before I go into the specifics of this miniature. I wanted to give my thoughts on making miniature forged knives in general. I have looked at a huge amount of knives, both full size and miniatures, and spent hours upon hours researching on making knives, stock removal, forging, different metal types, ectera. Sometimes, you see a miniature knife and think, " Wow, they must have used a magnifying glass to make that!" My shop is not set up to make anything micro sized. Maybe one day I'll set up a second shop just for miniatures and set up those large magnifying stations . Other times you see a knifemaker who's miniatures are 6 inches long. So the sizes greatly vary in what people call a miniature knife. My miniatures are usually 2.5 to 5 inches long. Making miniature knives is not any easier than making a full size knife. Actually, a miniature knife is less forgiving in the overall details than a larger knife is. Sure, less materials are used in the making of a miniature knife and sheath, but there's less room for errors. On the other hand, in making a full size knife, my biggest concerns are the blade warping when quenching it or the blade snapping when flex testing the knife in a vise. Enough of my rambling, here's the specifics of this miniature knife.
The blade of the knife measures 2 inches long, 4.5 inches over all, and is made of O-1 tool steel. The knife features a nickel silver guard, bloodwood spacer, and white tail stag antler handle. The sheath is made of 5-6 ounce leather. The sheath was molded, dyed, and sealed. I attached an antiqued brass key ring to the sheath, so it could be hooked onto a set of keys, backpack, or necklace.
I was really pleased with the way this buffalo handle knife turned out. It's very elegant but it's really hard to photograph because of how reflective it is. I absolutely loved working with the buffalo horn. It's taken about 5 days to make the knife and sheath.
The blade of the knife measures 2 7/8 inches long, 6 3/4 inches over all, and was forged from 5160 spring steel steel. The knife features a stainless steel guard, stainless steel spacers, and black vulcanized spacers. The tang of the knife was hot fitted into the beautiful buffalo horn handle. The sheath is made of 8-10 ounce leather. The sheath was tooled into a basket weave pattern, molded, dyed, and sealed.
This will be the last medium to large size knife I make for the next two weeks because I have to order 8-10 ounce leather for the sheaths since it's not available locally.
The sheath is made of 5-6 ounce leather. The sheath was tooled into a pattern, molded, dyed, and sealed.
I made this little knife over the weekend. It's a Wharncliffe style .
The blade of the knife measures 1 3/8 inches long, 3.5 inches over all, and is made of L-6 steel. The knife features a brass guard and purpleheart handle. The knife is a full tang construction with the brass and purpleheart dove tailed together. The sheath is made of 5-6 ounce leather. The sheath was tooled into a pattern, molded, dyed, and sealed.
The sheath is made of 5-6 ounce leather. The sheath was tooled into a pattern, molded, dyed, and sealed.
This little gut hook skinner knife was a challenge to make, mainly because of the gut hook and it being so small. It's my smallest miniature knife to date. The blade of the knife measures 1.25 inches long, 2.5 inches over all, and was forged from a 1/4" allen wrench. The miniature gut hook skinner knife features a brass guard, brass spacer, and buffalo horn handle.
I like to keep challenging myself to try different styles of knives and blade types, forging methods, ectera. This is the first dagger I've made. It's one of the ideas I had for miniatures at the beginning of the month. I was really pleased with the way it turned out. I'll probably try to forge out 1 more miniature this month but the rest of the month will be devoted to making medium to large size knives.
The blade of the miniature dagger measures 2 3/8 inches long, 5 inches over all, and is made of 5160 Spring Steel. The dagger features a brass guard, brass spacers, white corian handle, and a brass cap. The scabbard is made of scrimshawed white corian. This is a fully functional knife, miniature sized.
This is my last miniature knife of 2011. The blade of the miniature forged knife measures 1 7/8 inches long, 4.5 inches over all, and was forged from a 1/4" allen wrench. The knife features a brass guard, brass spacers, Arizona Desert Ironwood spacer, and stag handle.
This is the last knife of 2011. It turned out beautiful.
The blade of the drop point knife measures 2 5/8 inches long, 7 inches over all, and is made of 5160 spring steel. The spine of the knife has been file worked into a double thorn vine pattern. The knife features a brass guard, buffalo spacers, brass and copper spacers and copper lanyard hole.
The tang of the knife was hot fitted into the beautiful stabilized lace madrone burl handle. The sheath is made of 8-9 ounce leather. The sheath was tooled into a pattern, molded, dyed, and sealed.
A special note on ending 2011.
I'd like to say, "Thank You," to all my customers and fellow knife enthusiasts, who have both supported my dream endeavor of making knives by purchasing my knives and giving kind encouraging words though out the year. All the knives I forged in 2011 were sold. (Save the one I just made lol)
Best wishes to everyone for a great 2012.
