Here's a hunter I finished a while ago when I was trying out Cru-Forgev steel. It's a good steel but a MAJOR pain to hand sand! It laughs at sand paper of any grit. I contemplated if anyone would mind a nice hand sanded 36 grit finish. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//biggrin.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> Due to my own stubbornness and ignorant determination, I did manage to eventually get a 600 grit hand finish on it. I actually found the performance of it not all that much better than my W2 or 80CrV2 blades so I don't see the payoff being worth the extra effort.
This knife was really hard to photograph. The blade is shiny and trying to not have it all washed out doesn't show the true colors of the rosewood handle. The handle is true Madagascar Rosewood, the REAL Bois de Rose. It has a beautiful deep burgundy color. It is not brown or black.
Specs:
Hand forged from Cru-ForgeV
8 1/4" overall, 3 3/4" blade, .165" thick at the ricasso with full sharp distal taper
Rounded spine with filed and rounded thumb grip
Hardened and etched 1084 steel fittings
416 SS thorn and vine fileworked spacer
Madagascar Rosewood handle
Thorn fileworked SS finial nut
All comments and discussion are welcome.
Beautiful knife John
Just excellent work John. Clean, clean, clean! You have my sympathies with cru forge. Good steel, but man that vanadium in there sure makes hand sanding fun. Really nice knife.
Brion
Brion Tomberlin
Anvil Top Custom Knives
ABS Mastersmith
Nice work. Your file work on the spacer is particularly well done and the cove relief at the handle butt is a nice accent. About that "washing out" part, did you try photographing with diffused light, or just with direct lighting?
Joshua States
www.dosgatosforge.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdJMFMqnbLYqv965xd64vYg
https://www.facebook.com/dos.gatos.71
Also on Instagram and Facebook as J.States Bladesmith
“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.â€
Another beauty, John. I really like the way you soften a lot of the non-cutting edges (rounded spine and so forth) without giving up the crispness and clarity of the lines. It's a thoughtful detail that adds comfort and functionality to the design, and also creates a more organic look while still maintaining the cleanliness and precision you work so hard to produce. It's delicate work, but you do it very well.
Thanks guys. I really appreciate the kind words.
Joshua- I diffused the light with a light tent. It still made it tough to not get glare or reflections. I really care about my pictures and try to do the best I can. I care so much that if I could at all afford it, I'd have all of them shot professionally. But I can't afford that so I have to shoot some of them myself.
Seems I always have a really tough time with shiny blades and damascus blades or fittings.
Thanks again for the comments.
I really like this. There's a whole lot of work in this hunter. Forge on!
So... when are you going to test and present for a stamp? That is good looking stuff!!!
Thank you Greg! I really appreciate the kind words.
Hi Jared. I'm not eligible to test until Blade 2017, I think.
Thanks again guys.
