On the bench and no philosophy-promise;-)!

These are my current projects for a change. Above there´s a knife project I really like these days. I have done  a lot of research on German knife culture recently. I like studying different bladesmithing cultures but found I knew too little about our own traditions. Plus, I like the German hunting knife, the so - called "Jagdnicker" as an all round companion for the woods- simply out of practical reasons. It has been a design that has been around for centuries and used for bushcraft and hunting chores as long as it has evolved. I plan on writing something about this style of knife soon. In the meantime you can have a look at my pinterest pinboard : German knife culture, where I put together everything I found concerning the topic.

Anyway, the Jagdnicker is made from an old lathe chisel I found in the woods, presumeably HSS or refined steel. Handle will be Sambar stag. The blade is 95mm long, and 6mm at the base with a convex bevel and a selective temper.  

Below is the bushcraft knife that has been around for quite a while. Wootz with elk antler scales fitted with mosaic pins. The quench line shows quite nicely. The blade is 115 mmx5mm and has a balance point on the index finger.

I also made some file work for the tang... I like it and it´s now waiting for a sheath.

More details on the Jagdnicker design.

As is, I look forward to those two knives, and I will keep you posted!

Progress on my En - Nep

 So, this is the En - Nep I started some time ago. Made from ancient (150years+) leaf spring I found in the woods, 10,4 cm long, 4mm thick.

 The layout is drawn along a whiplash line making it very whippy indeed in chopping and, together with the recurve edge line, makes for a very slicey blade in spite of the thickness.

 The balance point is on the index finger. It feels very light and dexterous and point-centered.

 Theoretically you could whirl it around your index finger. I tried;-).

The blade tapers towards the tip. Scales, by the way, are elk antler, fitted with mosaic pins. The bevel is a high convex one, and the temper is---selective of course.

En-Nep-inspired bushcraft knife in the making

....aaand yet another one design experiment. This one is inspired as well by Thai En-Nep designs as by the obsessive pondering about the whiplash line. I realized when drawing out the layout for the blade that you can draw a golden spiral towards the blade. A  recurve blade always has a kind of sweet spot where the most cutting force is cumulated, and you can portray this by a golden spiral ratio. This is not an earnest calculation ratio and of course you need no rocket scientist degree to draw a layout for a knife, but still I wondered. The handle is a bit longer than usual to give it more reach and slashing and chopping prowess when gripped farther back. When handling it I realized it is somewhat of a fast-forward and point-concentrated knife which would also make it a good Krav Magá companion, but the most power is indeed concentrated into the sweet spot. It is a bit awkward at first for small whittling tasks until you realize that you need another technique with it. Making fuzz sticks is a cinch, for all you need is a linear motion. With an arcing cut as with most straight designs you can easily cut a hazel stick one finger thick in one motion!

The blade is made from salvaged ancient leaf spring steel from an old carriage wreck, 150+ years old, 11,5x5 mm with a full tang. Scales are elk antler, brass tubing and mosaic pins. The blade has a selective temper and a high convex bevel. Estimated hardness is about 58 HRC.

It has to see some polishing and then it´s ready for the etch. 

Sheath for my elk-antler handled favourite carving knife

So, I was being carried away a bit with leather work;-), and while I was at it, I´d thought I´d make my favourite knife a decent home. Made it somewhat Scandi style, but with the seam on the outside, for I wanted a traditional belt loop, not a dangler type. Sorry, no photos in progress, but it was fun to make. If you have a knife that fits in the concept, that´s definitely a cinch to make! It took me aboutsome 45 minutes to make the sheath and fit it over the knife wet, 24 h to dry, and that´s it. It´s small, light and handy. The only requirement is that you have a knife with a blade shallower than the handle.