3-finger EDC

[Joshua States]

This is another one of my projects that started about 2 years ago, sat on the bench, got redesigned, made some progress, sat on the bench again, got redesigned again, and finally got finished.
It's what Hancock calls a "3-finger knife" because of its size. This is a forged O-1 blade with nickel-silver fittings and sheep horn scales. A little more clean up on the pins, sharpening and a sheath, and this one is going to be on the table in 3 weeks.

 

Blade: 3-5/16" by 11/16" by just shy of 1/8". OAL: 6-9/16" By far the smallest knife I have ever attempted. My hat is off to those folks who routinely make small fixed blades.

[GEzell]

That would make a very nice bird and trout knife, or inconspicuous EDC for that matter.  I could also see a version 150% sized being an excellent hunter.

[JJ Simon]

Sweet.
Love that its a frame handle.
I want to do a small one like this for my JS set.

[Alan Longmire]

I like it!  I always have trouble keeping the handle thin enough on the little ones.

[Joshua States]

Thanks George, I was thinking along the B&T lines for a similar design with a 4" blade and OAL around 9". Having no experience bird hunting (that always seemed like a contradiction to me, unless we are talking about turkeys) I don't know what would be an appropriate size. I plan on making an ambidextrous pocket sheath for this one.

On ‎10‎/‎26‎/‎2017 at 11:29 AM, JJ Simon said:

I want to do a small one like this for my JS set.

Are you planning on testing in 2018? If you do a small frame design like this, I have a few suggestions:

Choose a more forgiving handle material. The first two attempts on this resulted in cracked scales. This one actually has a very small crack at one of the forward pins and the handle material became translucent so the pins are visible through the scale. Not ideal.

Another reason for a different handle material is doming and polishing the pins. Very difficult with a rough faced scale without dinging, cutting, and otherwise jacking up the handle material.

The tang must be quite narrow to afford enough frame width to accept a pin (these are 1/16" pins and it was still pretty dicey) and leave enough handle material at the spine and belly to curve the edge. So make it long and narrow and fit the frame tight to the tang. There's not much epoxy inside this one.

On ‎10‎/‎26‎/‎2017 at 11:42 AM, Alan Longmire said:

I like it!  I always have trouble keeping the handle thin enough on the little ones.

This one is still a little thicker than I'd like, but with sheep scales, the options were limited and none of them easy! Sometimes I just have to say either throw it away or call it good. This one took path #2.........

Edited January 14, 2019 by Joshua States

[JJ Simon]

Yes, I'm presenting at blade 2018
I'm only using the best burl I can buy for the knives.
Probably stabilized.
My intention is to do all 5 as frame handles.
We'll see.
Still working on tight alignments and fit of the handle face to the guard or spacer face.
And doing what Kevin Cashen calls a Marque fit.
Which is basically all the parts being slightly chamfered on their edges so when they meet you can'r really get a fingernail in them.
 

[Joshua States]

44 minutes ago, JJ Simon said:

Still working on tight alignments and fit of the handle face to the guard or spacer face.

I have a trick for that. It starts with making a template for the frame.

Edited October 29, 2017 by Joshua States

[Joshua States]

44 minutes ago, JJ Simon said:

My intention is to do all 5 as frame handles.

Why?

[Joshua States]

45 minutes ago, JJ Simon said:

Still working on tight alignments and fit of the handle face to the guard or spacer face.
And doing what Kevin Cashen calls a Marque fit.
Which is basically all the parts being slightly chamfered on their edges so when they meet you can'r really get a fingernail in them.

I make everything a smooth transition by finishing the handle (spacers included) off the blade.

[JJ Simon]

Why?
I guess I like a challenge.
Also I don't see real well so having the flat face of the frame helps me fit everything at right angles.

[Doug Lester]

That's a real nice looking knife.  I hope that you make it in '18.

Doug

[Joshua States]

An ambidextrous pocket type sheath for it.

[MichaelP]

This is exactly what I was referring to in the KITH thread. That is an awesome EDC. Perfect proportions all around and the file work is very cool. That style sheath tops it off, my kind of pocket knife!

[Chris Christenberry]

Nice little EDC Joshua.  Thanks.  Hadn't thought about a 3-finger EDC, but it's something to consider.