In 2004 I was inspired by an exhibition of Japanese Samurai antiquities and swords to make my own knives. I bought some tool steel to try to work with, but found it was too thick and oxidized quickly. I put the idea aside for a while until I found a reliable source of knife parts.
Being a jeweller, I already had all of the necessary equipment to produce them and wanted to make some special pieces for my closest friends.
The pocketknife pictured is the 9th one that I have produced. The hilt is Coca-Bola a beautiful hardwood from Brazil. I cut each piece so that it is symmetrical on both sides of the blade. When I hand polish it and shape it, this wood has it's own oil and polishes itself.
I hide my signature on the inside of the lock and it can only be read when the blade is open.
All of the peening (rivets) I do by hand so that each knife blade is very snug to open. I prefer to use models that are lock backs. The metal ends are White Brass and have been hand engraved by Peter Cook from London Ontario. The blade is
~4 1/8" long and
7 1/8"overall.
Right now I'm producing about 2 lock-backs and each one gets more and more fancy. They are a joy to make.
This one is for sale for $325 CND.
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