Sun Iron

[Eric Dennis]

A blade hot off the press. I call it "Sun Iron" because of all the gold and yellow in the brass and handle.

It was a commission for a knife that would be used as an outdoor/survival type blade that would be very rugged and stand up to a heavy beating. I had a couple of issues with pin alignment and thus the grey halo around a few pins and an imperfect fit between one of the scales and guard, but the gap is filled with JB Weld so I'm not too worried about it besides aesthetics. I've never made a guard in this style before, so that was interesting. I ended up drilling two 1/16" holes all the way through the guard and blade, which was difficult to line up and drill straight, but worked well in the end I think. 

Thanks for looking. Critique always welcome.

 

OAL: 10 7/8" 

Blade Length: 6"

Blade Material: 80CRV2

Scales: Curly Yellow Birch

Guard and Pins: Brass

Weigth:  9.6 oz.

 

 

 

Edited September 5, 2017 by Eric Dennis

[Joshua States]

Let me start by saying that I like it. It's a very pretty knife. The wood choice is primo and the fittings match nicely. The satin finish looks like you took some time with it to get it straight.

On a personal taste side, I'd have to say that I would rather see the guard follow the curvature of the handle more and start to taper inward earlier. It looks a little too blocky for such a curvy handle. I would also have shortened the ricasso and made a drop choil rather than the hole. I just like to have the width of the ricasso match the width of the handle on opposite sides of the guard.

Last piece of advice: Get yourself set up with a maker's mark. If you are making knives that well and selling them, by all means make sure you have your mark on them.

Vermont and rock climbing eh? You are probably very familiar with my old stomping grounds around Conway, Franconia Notch, and Rumney across the border.

[Eric Dennis]

Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it. Can you explain what a drop choil is?  I am unfamiliar with that phrase. The ricasso/guard area always proves tricky for me to get clean and even, so any advice on ways to tidy that up is valuable to me. 

I used to have a makers mark, but was unhappy with it. It's taking me a while to come up with anything that I like. But I take the advice, and will think harder about it now.

Rumney, yes! Franconia Notch, Yes! Some of my favorite places in the world. 

Thanks again

[Zeb Camper]

I was looking at my own drop choil and then I read this. Note how the blade dips below the ricasso. 

[Joshua States]

On ‎9‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 4:51 AM, Eric Dennis said:

Can you explain what a drop choil is?  I am unfamiliar with that phrase.

The actual term "dropped choil" is something I think I made up........maybe I heard it somewhere, but I cannot remember.

The choil is the area where the blade edge meets the ricasso. If the blade extends past the ricasso, I call it a "dropped choil". I often do this because I like the ricasso and handle to be the same width. Like on these two knives.

I just find it visually more appealing. It is not a "rule" by any stretch of the imagination. It is just my personal preference. Gary Mulkey (posts here often) makes a lot of historically inspired Bowie knives. These frequently have a ricasso that is wider than the handle, but these also generally have a much broader ricasso (front to back) with a dropped choil.