Caleb Harris Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 Been a while since I've posted, but I've been keeping busy. As time goes on I've become more fascinated by the world of Japanese blades, but being American as I am, I love the rough and tough wild west themes too. Fusion style knives, like some of those by Ben Tendick and Dave Friesen, are among my favorite knives. So naturally I had to do my take on it. Keep in mind by the way, I've been a bit slow on the uptake in regard to hamons (and good golly I need to get some patternwelding skills). Anyway, a fun one I tried out. Western Bowie with Japanese themes. The blade is W2, clay quenched. I forged this one pretty close to shape, and kept the forge texture but for the most part removed the scale. The clip was hollow ground (that was a nightmare to freehand). The seppa and fuchi are copper, and I forged the tsuba from a farrier's rasp, ground only the edges smooth, then let it soak in the forge to build up scale, air cool, and wax while still warm. The handle is plain maple, but I collected the sawdust from shaping it and used that for a lacquering, texturing, and dyeing technique. Maybe it would've looked better with some dark hardwood, maybe not, but it was an idea I wanted to try out. The tsukamaki is dyed leather. I did a simple double knot on both sides, spotted with glue. Rough of course but that's the goal. I did the wax-the-tang-and-bet-with-expoxy to get a tight takedown fit, and it's pretty firm. For the sheath I made a quick stamp out of antler for a sort of pebbling look and went to town on it. My leather skills still have some catching up to do but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. All in all, this is one of those fun projects to interrupt the billion dashis, and I really enjoyed it. 4 Trying to make each knife just a little better than the last Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 You've come a LONG way in the last year or two, Caleb. That one is pretty darned professional looking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeb Camper Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 Pretty awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Detrick Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 That is an attractive knife Caleb and is is right in my lane. I LOVE fusion knives and you did really nice on this one. If you dig fusion knives a lot, check out Stuart Branson, he is my favorite maker of fusion knives. Like these (especially the top one) “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer." -Albert Camus http://www.krakenforge.net/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pieter-Paul Derks Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 Very cool! I follow you on instagram, so I have seen this knife already, but I think this is a better place to say that I love the textures and the overall shape. http://mefecit.nl/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Harris Posted December 15, 2017 Author Share Posted December 15, 2017 22 hours ago, Alan Longmire said: You've come a LONG way in the last year or two, Caleb. That one is pretty darned professional looking! Thank you!! Tons of stalking the forums here. If you look closely you can see many elements I "stole" from members here, and recreated with my twist. 17 hours ago, Zeb Camper said: Pretty awesome! Thank you! 12 hours ago, Wes Detrick said: That is an attractive knife Caleb and is is right in my lane. I LOVE fusion knives and you did really nice on this one. If you dig fusion knives a lot, check out Stuart Branson, he is my favorite maker of fusion knives. Like these (especially the top one) So that's who that was! I saw a few of his knives in the past but could never find the name. Thank you! 8 hours ago, pieter-pauld said: Very cool! I follow you on instagram, so I have seen this knife already, but I think this is a better place to say that I love the textures and the overall shape. Thanks! It's a bit of a standard bowie, a shape I'm familiar with, so it served as a good base to run experiments on Trying to make each knife just a little better than the last Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Craft Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 That is a really good marriage of two different styles!!! You have come far grasshopper! C Craft Customs ~~~ With every custom knife I build I try to accomplish three things. I want that knife to look so good you just have to pick it up, feel so good in your hand you can't wait to try it, and once you use it, you never want to put it down ! If I capture those three factors in each knife I build, I am assured the knife will become a piece that is used and treasured by its owner! ~~~ C Craft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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