Adam Weller

I just checked and I joined in 2007. I almost never have anything to post anymore, but this is still the one place I visit daily.

Where are you located? You very well might find someone on here that would love to own it.

Probably late to the game, but the seax one caught my eye… I find little changes can make a huge differences so here is my take: Here I straighten out the spine and flattened the belly a bit - which I kinda like even better: I like it better with a smooth spine: then carve something on it of course: Haha, Sorry I was bored and someday I’ll get my shop back so my only contribution isn’t just drawings.

This is so true... I always get kinda sad when I see all these beautiful knives people put so much effort into these days and know that they are going to be shelf princesses for the the forseeable future. At that point why even heat treat?

Thanks Alan, I remember his website fondly from many hours... I had recently tried to pull it back up and knew it was gone - I didn't think of the wayback archive.

Any chances anyone has a copy of the original plans?

Nice knife! Thanks for the mention @Aiden CC. The engraving has a really steep learning curve, and the more of a perfectionist you are the harder it is. There are some guys out there that make this stuff look like it was cut by a laser. I am not one of those guys, but I think I can do ok. My process is pretty simple. I draw the design, use some kind of art fixative to keep it on the surface, and then carve it with a really sharp skew chisel ( i just made my tools). You want to carve a “V’ shaped cut from one side then from the other. When you make the second cut you get a curly tail that comes out of the groove. Sometimes it helps to moisten the antler somewhat with a wet paper towel for a few minutes before carving. Then I rub an oil based artist paint in the cengraving. I think the more traditional way to do it was dark wood/bark dust mixed in lard. I’m not very traditional (either in knife designs or engraving designs). Do lots of test pieces before you do the knife! Here’s a photo dump of some of my stuff:

Here are some additional pictures. Just shot with a phone camera on a spring break trip to the river. I went back and looked for more in process pictures and didn’t find much. I really struggled with the leather, with the taper of the handle it didn’t want to let go of the knife after it was stitched. I ended up with a relief cut in the back (which I can’t find a picture of) Anyway, in the end I finally finished it after 3 crazy years.

I was hoping I’d catch you by surprise Sounded like a good way to make the day a little better. Thanks for the compliments, I’m glad it is to your liking. I’ll post some pictures as well. I didn’t do very well with the WIP part, the leather part of the sheath took some persistence, the end result was the 4th? try and I finally liked it still a little stiff but I think it will break in over time.

I did something similar to this quite a while ago. Except the handle wood connected over the back of the handle. Don’t have a great picture showing bottom of the handle, but the tang is fully exposed along the bottom side of the handle. I thought it turned out ok and allowed me to do some carving on the spine of the handle…

Thanks! I feel like I’m always at work these days so the few times I get to hang out with the the kids and do something with my hands is a good thing. Here’s the whole family (I only carved the one I showed earlier, my wife carved the scarecrow and the kids all carved their own - my oldest son carved two):

Here is my contribution. I have found if I just start cutting without a plan it turns out better

I love stuff like this, Absolutely incredible. I just wish there was more time in the day so I could learn more techniques, and just maybe come even close to something like this.