This is one of the latest incarnations of a breed I simply love to make these days - and it seems others do actually approve as well, for some already found a home elsewhere... ;-). This one´s a tester, which I made from silver steel for a change to further the game a bit... selective and conservative temper of about 58HRC (the steel with a carbon content of 1% can take a lot more), but that way it gets really, really sharp. It will be a personal eating and snack knife for me. The bevel is a high convex grind to zero.
The handle is a bit of a pain in the arse to make, for it never comes out straight... ;-) but slowly I get the gist...
Personally I like this twist a lot, even if it is quite basic and of course I have a lot to learn still... but I am getting there...
The leaf structure is made with the peen of a Scandinavian smithing hammer... I am currently dreaming up other design possibilities as well... we´ll see how it all comes out...
The knife´s now in for a spoon and fork and awl to go in a pouch.
Overall the knife design is surprisingly complex and handles a lot of tasks quite well. Lacking any scales or handle materials makes it easy to clean as well as really sturdy. It also does not stain as fast, even if it gets a patina. It is suited for eating, snacking and camp cooking as well as lighter to heavier bushcraft tasks, and the handle is big enough to offer you a decent hold on the knife. The downside is of course that the handle gets hot quite easily and cold as well... but you could easily tie it to a stick to use it as a makeshift harpoon or for harvesting leaves or fruit from a tree. Also it looks pleasing to my eye at least... I like it and want to work on the design more. I will keep you posted!
