The Phoenix Knife- 2013 Special ABS Board of Directors Knife

The phoenix is part of Greek and Egyptian mythology where this bird of myth and story is consumed in fire only to rise out of the ashes with a new life. The phoenix knife derives its name from a very similar history. Originally, this knife was created by several members of the ABS Board. The smiths who worked on the original knife included: Dr. James Batson, Joe Keeslar, Bert Gaston, Jay Hendrickson, Greg Neely, Steve Dunn, Harvey Dean and Rick Dunkerley. Neely forged the blade, Keeslar did the grinding, Batson did the frame, Gaston did the heat treat, Dean did the hand finish, Hendrickson made the sheath, Dunn engraved the throat of the nickel silver-mounted sheath, and Dunkerley inset the handle material. The knife was made to resemble the famous historical knife, the Broomhead and Thomas Bowie Knife (see Antique Bowie Knives, pp.362-3). Then disaster struck. The knife died in flames and was buried in ashes when in 2010 Bert Gaston, the custodian of this board knife at the time, had a tragic house fire. Combing through the ashes of Bert’s home the board knife was found by Bert’s son. When he picked it up the handle material crumbled away but the rest of the blade and handle frame seemed structurally okay. The knife was then sent to Greg Neely who recognized that the knife was not so damaged by the flames that it could not be given a new life. Greg then named it the “phoenix knife” since it too would rise out of the ashes. On its second life Greg Neely spent days sanding it all clean. He then wrapped it in stainless foil and annealed the blade in his heat treat oven. Other master smiths on the ABS board then contributed to bringing the knife back life. Master Smith, Kevin Cashen, received the knife in a blackened annealed state. He brought forward his exceptional heat treating talents and breathed new life into blade. Next, Master Smith, Dr. Dan Petersen, hand rubbed the blade, handle frame, and fittings. Dr. James Batson gave phoenix its new inlaid handle doing an intricate restructuring of the handle frame and the fit of guard and tang. When Batson was done with the blade the knife had truly risen out of the ashes stronger and better than even the superb original. This knife literally rose out of the ashes and represents the creative talents of ten (10) individual Master Smiths. No knife in history has ever had this kind of lineage. It lives again and as Greg Neely stated, “I do not see how it could be called anything but the Phoenix”.

BY: Dr.Dan Petersen, Master Smith

Photo by: Point Seven Studios - Eric Eggerly

ABS YouTube Channel Videos on the Phoenix Project

[media] http://www.youtube.c...h?v=I3NyYJZthgw [/media]

"Microscopic Analysis" of the Phoenix Knife - Video Series 1 of 3

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