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 Check out these wood carvings! Wood Spirits by Uncle Jim   And now for something completely different . . . Suppose you were a thief in an old style, fantasy Dungeons and Dragons style role-playing game. And suppose you acquired a broken sword blade. What would you do with it? Why, make a throwing knife of course! This is made of 440C, ground symmetrically on both sides. It's not really a broken sword blade - just ground to look like one. Yes, it throws well. ;)   
Here's a "blast from the past." I made this for my father-in-law in the early 1990's. When he passed away, it came back to me and it's just been sitting in my desk drawer ever since. I thought I'd show it here because it uses a neat trick you don't see often nowdays. Rather than using a fiber liner of contrasting color to the red Micarta, I used a red liner and put a sheet of brass between the liner and scale. This makes it look as though there is a painted brass accent line running down the scales, when it actually goes through the entire width of the handle. Yes, brass was still in vouge back then - nickel silver and stainless were considered "extras."  Here's the first knife I ever made, back in the mid-1980s! 440C blade, brass guard and green Pakkawood scales. I kind of shudder to look at it now, but I must admit it wasn't bad for a first attempt - especially back in the days before the internet, when I mostly had to figure out how to do it on my own (though with lots of help from the book "How to Make Knives" by the late great Bob Loveless.) It's unmarked because I didn't yet have an etcher.  I don't make many kitchen knives, but I'll do one every now and then. In this case, it was a wedding gift for my nephew and his fiancee. I first tried it in 1/16" stock and flat ground, but I didn't like the way it came out. So I re-did it in 1/8" stock, full hollow ground very thin for slicing, with a distal taper ground in. Length is around 13", the bolsters are 416 stainless steel, the blade is CPM154, and the scales are stabilized California Buckeye Burl. I was originally going to use Bocote, but my wife convinced me that the Buckeye was prettier, and she was right (she usually is.) Okay, this has NOTHING to do with knives. It’s just a bit of self-indulgence on my part. But the video came out so nice (thanks to my son who did the editing and put it to music!) that I thought I’d post it here, just to see if anyone got a kick out of it. Background: When I was younger (back before the earth’s crust had cooled completely) my passion was skateboarding, and my specialty was high jumping and jumping over cars. I promised myself back then that on my 50th birthday (June of 2011) I would celebrate by jumping a car. Of course, when you’re 17 years old you don’t anticipate things like bad knees, bad feet that require 3 operations to fix… and all of a sudden you’re 50th is approaching and you realize you haven’t even stepped on a board for about ten years and probably haven’t jumped anything in over twenty years! So I decided that a car jump wasn’t practical. Still, I wanted to at least partially keep my promise, so I decided to jump a folding card table. It took about three months of training to get my jumping skills back, and I had to take a large dose of ibuprofen an hour before the jump to keep my knee from buckling, but I ended up getting it done. Small potatoes compared to what I used to jump, but not bad for an old guy with bad knees, especially considering I was walking with a cane a few years ago. Yes, I’m insufferably pleased with myself ;) By the way, my son couldn’t resist also putting together a video of the unsuccessful first attempt, that shows me eating the concrete…   The steps from start to finish... (Five different handle materials, obviously. And no, the tip isn't broken off the finished one - just my poor photography skills showing!)  Here's one of my older models - the Phantom. 5/32" stock -- 3 3/4" blade -- 7 3/4" overall -- satin finish  And here's another one - the Imp. .1/8" stock - 2 1/2" blade -- 5 1/2" overall -- satin finish.  My interpretation of a Randall model 5 Camp and Trail knife, Bradford Angier version, with a black Micarta handle, nickel silver hilt, and compass in the butt. The newer Randalls have a rounded top at the guard - this is the old style squared top. I just like the aesthetics.   | Wood Spirits by Uncle Jim | | Return Home | What's New | Fixed Blades | Folders | Frequently Asked Questions | Features and Options | Ordering and Contact Information | Available Knives | Shop Tour | Other Stuff | |
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