Concept to Reality

     Since this site is about my handmade knives, I thought it would be nice to show how a knife comes together from "concept to reality."  Some knives have few parts and only require a few photos to show the steps in the construction.  Others are quite complicated to build and warrant a few more photos to show what is involved in getting it from an idea to something that is a thing of function and beauty.  This page shows a small slide sequence that illustrates the basic stages of the construction of particular knives that I've built.  Of course, I will photo more of my knives in the future with this in mind.  I will try to include more detail, such as what is involved in the heat treating process and hand finishing a blade.  I hope this will be of interest and be enlightening to all who see it.  Check this page often, because I want to change the sequence to a different knife periodically.  Thanks, Lin.
     Knife Now Showing:  This southwest styled bowie is one of my JS test knives that I submitted for judging in Atlanta, June 2005.  It has a 9 inch blade of 5160 and the handle is desert ironwood.  The fittings are nickel/silver.  The first photo is just after forging the blade, getting it as close to shape as I can before grinding.  The second is after the blade is rough ground before the heat treatment. Third is after the heat treatment and the edge is shaped to a cutting profile and hand finished to 600 grit.  The fourth is of the finished knife after the guard, ferrule, and handle have been put on it.