Paring Knife

This knife I just finished today and is a gift for my Dad. Hopefully he doesn't see this post before Christmas. It is a small and simple, but rugged design. The blade is 1/16 inch thick D2 with a full tang Canvas Micarta handle. The rivets are all stainless steel Loveless style. This is about the most practical style of construction that I can think of. It really doesn't even need epoxy, but I used it anyways. He said that he was tired of having to sharpen the pairing knives at home all the time and wanted one that would hold a better edge. D2 should fit the bill. I have been very impressed with it's ability to hold an edge. Even though it technically isn't "stainless steel" (Most people consider steel to have at least 13% Chrome in order to be called stainless and D2 has 12%), I have never had issues with it rusting or corroding.

Here is another "kit" fillet knife that I made recently. A friend of mine bought it as a Christmas gift to himself. The blade is 1/16 inch thick by 5.5 inches long. The overall length is 10.25 inches. It is made from AUS 8A Stainless Steel. This is a Japanese steel with vanadium and chromium. This makes for a flexible blade that is easy to sharpen while still offering good edge holding capabilities. Many of my friends use this blade for more than fish. It has seen service with rabbits, ducks, deer and even elk. One of them has a home in my kitchen as well. The handle is Diamond wood which is a brand of plastic impregnated and laminated wood. It polishes to a nice shine and is waterproof. The fasteners are brass and stainless steel.

Basic Camp Knife

Sometimes you just have to do something different. Today I was chopping vegetables for a camping trip and I thought that it would be nice to have a kitchen knife for the event. So I dug through my box of old half finished knives and found one that I had started about 15 years ago. It was from an old band saw blade that was at the local sawmill. I left the pits and scratches on it, ground an edge and gave it a plain wooden handle. The wood was from a local Locust tree. I used a light brown leather dye on the wood and then sealed it. The rivets are brass bolt style. The blade is 5 inches long with an overall of 9 inches.

Kit Knives

These are some knives that I purchased the blades already ground, heat-treated and finished. Some would call them kit knives. From time-to-time I will do this. The blades that I purchase however are not marked with my "DVW" initials.

The fillet knives have seven inch long blades of AUS-8A and are very flexible. I actually purchased them to try as boning knives. I ended up selling the first two to friends before I ever got to try one out. I have made a few more and one of them I am going to keep for myself. The top one has a canvas Micarta handle. The middle one has a wood handle. The second to the bottom one has a black paper Micarta handle and the bottom one has a Diamondwood handle.

These knifes is actually sold as a steak knife. The blade is five inches long and 1/16" thick. It is fairly stout and I thought that it would make a good boning knife. I am guessing that the steel is either 440A or AUS-6A. For the top knife I installed a black paper Micarta handle and a canvas Micarta handle on the bottom knife.

Friend's Veggie Knife

I have a friend at work who is a picky eater. He likes certain veggies and cheese. That's about it. He prepares most of his own food and he doesn't like how his kids and wife abuse the knives. So he asked me to make a knife just for him. This was about three years ago, and last I asked, he uses it daily and has never had to sharpen it. I find this hard to believe, but the most important factor in edge holding is how you use the knife. So maybe it's true. The blade was ground from 1/8" thick CPM-S30V. The full tang handle is Cocobolo with stainless steel dovetailed bolsters and pins. I didn't want to make a sheath for a kitchen knife. That didn't seem appropriate. Instead I made a leather blade protector that was lined with thick plastic. I was pleased with it.

Wife's Letter Opener

The top and bottom knives were in another post already, however I have not yet talked about the letter opener that I made for my wife. It had a blade of 1/16" thick ATS-34. The handle was from Pink Ivory (wood) with mosaic pins that I made myself. I made this just before I moved to Moses Lake. We were not yet married and were writing letters to keep in touch. It was before the days of email and Facebook. She still keeps it on her desk.

Carving Knife

This was the only time someone asked me for a carving knife. It was for my fishing buddy in Moses Lake. The blade was from 1/16" thick ATS-34. The handle was a nice multi-colored Diamondwood with a stainless steel bolster. It turned out well, but I don't think that I would make one for fun.

Kitchen Knife Collection

A collection of various kitchen knives that I made. All but the cake knife were made in Moses Lake. All blades are made from ATS-34 stainless steel. I will list them starting from the top.

First is a fillet knife that I made for myself. I used it quite a bit for many years. The blade was 1/16" thick and very flexible. The handle is micarta and the guard is stainless steel. The guard was designed differently then any other knife I have done. I was concerned about the blade breaking off at the guard when it was flexed. This design proved to be very strong. I recently sold this knife since I don't do much fishing any more, but I kind of miss this one.

Second is a cake knife that I made for our wedding. The handle is white micarta and has red spacers between the micarta and the knife tang. The bolster is dovetailed brass and the blade is engraved with our wedding date.

Third is a kitchen knife that I detail in a previous post.

Fourth is a little one-piece bird and trout knife that I made for myself. I sand blasted the handle for a little more grip. It is still in my lunch box and gets used quite frequently.

Fourth is a paring knife that I made for my wife. It has a Pakawood handle and stainless pins. The handle is too small for her so she never uses it.

Kitchen Knife for the Wife

This is a little kitchen knife that I made for my wife while in Moses Lake. She didn't like it though because the blade was the wrong shape for her. It was too much of a "hunting knife drop point" shape for her liking. She wanted something that was shaped more like a chefs knife. It sat in the drawer for years until I sold it to a friend who wanted to use it in his kitchen. The first time his wife went to use it, she cut herself badly and he had to hide it from her, so it may never see much use. The blade was 1/16" thick ATS-334. The handle is blue Pakawood with stainless steel bolster and pins.