A pocket knife I made-Jon's retirement gift

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

George,

It seems each piece you turn out is unequally amazing. You are one awesome craftsman . . . and you never disappoint!!

Fun, fun, fun to look at your flawless creations.

jeff

[Bryan Wuest]

My knife collection was stolen by the movers. It took me forever to build the shop's interior,and get unpacked. It was some years before I got everything unpacked and discovered they were gone. Also,my collection of vintage books on musical instruments was missing.

George,
That is an exceptional gift you gave Jon, phenomenal craftsmanship.

Don't you just hate thieving movers. I'm in the Army and have moved 14 times. With every move something is broken but only once was something stolen. It was a walnut case I made to hold my 8 Robert Sorby turning tools my Dad gave me. I got a check to cover the cost but no one can pay you for the theft of something you created or your father lovingly selected and gave to you to pass on the woodworking tradition.

[george wilson]

I'm bumping this so Rob Lee can see it.

[Mel Fulks]

A hundred years out, when the knife is auctioned, it will be listed as an 18 th century item believed to have been made for one of the Russian czars. Who else could afford something like that? Some how I don't think anything you make is ever going to show up at a yard sale. Dang!

[Mike Henderson]

That's just beautiful, George. You're an amazing craftsman.

Mike

[Matthew N. Masail]

So amazing.... what can I say, I love your sense for things that go together, and that you don't rigidly plan your item before making it.

[Gary Hodgin]

Wow! George, that's amazing. I don't know what I'd say if someone handed me something like that. Thank you just doesn't seem to be enough. I'm sure he will always cherish that knife.

[ray hampton]

George, making folding knives and having them to work may be easy or quick for a tool-die but this would take the average greenhorn a month or two if he are working without a pattern

[george wilson]

Folding knives,especially locking folders ARE more difficult than a fixed blade knife!! A few more parts. Most knives I have seen these days(and a LONG way back in time) are sloppily made: The back of the handle is supposed to be flush with the back of the blade,like this one is. BUT,TRY to find one correctly made. They just seem to have forgotten how to design a proper folding knife. Not even Puma(who used to make good knives before they went Asian),did not get this feature correct most of the time. I think knives not made with this correct feature really look bad.

No tool and die work here,Ray. The blade is freehand ground and polished,and every part was individually made,not stamped out. It does take a long time to make one of these knives piece by piece. I don't make any el-cheapo retirement gifts for my friend !!!!

The steel it was made from is OLD USA Brown and Sharpe W1 steel,as mentioned. It may even have been pre war. The finish on the ground steel was SO much smoother than the finish they put on precision ground steel these days. Close to a mirror finish,as opposed to the much coarser grind they use today. I'd like to know what wheels they ground it with,and how they kept the steel from warping from using such incredibly fine surface grinding wheels. Surface grinding thin steel can get tricky in a big hurry!! Obviously,they used lots of coolant,but you'd have to see how finely ground this steel is,and have done surface grinding to understand what I mean. The steel looks like it was ground with an Arkansas stone wheel,super fine. None of the original finish remains on the finished,polished blade,but it is just nice to have it start that way. If it was not scratched during sawing it out,filing,etc.,it would make a good final finish for a fine infill plane.

To the dealer,the old,falling apart wrappers made it "not new" to sell to customers. I'd have bought 100 times the amount if he's had it. As it was,I got a stack 4" high.

[ray hampton]

May I ask you to explain how you locate the blade hole and how you drill it

[george wilson]

I usually find it wise to make stiff paper mockups of the parts and make sure the hole will be located where the blade can swivel open and shut,and get the spring right so it doesn't break from being bent too much. Use a straight pin at first to find the ideal location for the hole in the blade. Then,the inside shape of the knife has to be able to hold the closed blade. I make at the beginning of the knife edge a little protruding spot to rest upon so that the cutting edge does not hit the inside of the back when it snaps shut. Most knives have this,or they very soon get flat spots on their sharp edge.

Hope this is clear enough. It takes mechanical understanding and experience and careful planning.

[Joe Fabbri]

Very impressive. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Joe

[David Weaver]

I found an OLD new stock Puma stockman's knife with a carbon steel blade,my favorite commercial knife.

I remember reading this, and I didn't know what puma was. Now I have an enhanced appreciation for just how good one of their knives would be, as I had a puma razor for a while, a vintage one. I checked online, and the logo is the same one that was on the razor scales. The steel was super fine (super doesn't even explain it, it polished to a buttery finish), the kind if steel you wish someone would make chisels out of. They are well known, and I ended up selling it just because people will pay a lot for them if they're vintage and clean.

[george wilson]

I paid $200.00 for mine. Now,they make a SIMILAR LOOKING one,but it is $29.00.No doubt Chinese,or some such cheap make. Very disappointing. I wish they at least would still offer their REAL ones,for the microscopic few who would pay for a good knife.

I've also got an OLD,carbon steel "White Hunter" hunting knife,with the old carbon steel blade,not the new stainless. It is a sort of bizarre looking knife with about an 8" blade,suitable for skinning a rhinoceros,I suppose. It has a flat spot just behind the rounded front edge of the knife,which I surmise might be for hammering it through bone,or something tough. I have absolutely no use for it,but an old carbon steel one will take a great edge,and is hard to find. I would not call it pretty,but I suppose it is carefully designed for big game hunting. Quite a tough,heavy knife. Now I have to go find a 10 bore double rifle,jodhpors (sp?) and etc..

[Klaus Kretschmar]

I'm bumping this so Rob Lee can see it.

Thank you for bumping the thread, George. I missed it in 2010 and am happy that I'm allowed to admire this piece of jewelry now. It's not only the perfection of your work that impresses like always. It's another example of your work that shows the enormous width of your skills. It seems that just anything that your hands touch will get a piece of art even if you do it the first time. Did you ever create a tool or an instrument that isn't breathtaking?!!

In awe
Klaus