A Couple Recent Projects From My Shop
Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 5:24 am
I frequently get emails and PMs asking if I am doing knife repair again. I haven’t turned a lot of work out of my shop this year because of an ongoing series of health problems. I am reluctant to work on a knife for someone else when I am unsure of my ability to do the work properly. One of the major health issues that have slowed me down as been problems with my right hand. I have had a number of diagnoses for the pain, lack of control of the motor functions and other symptoms I am experiencing in my wrist, hand and fingers. They recently added one more diagnosis to the list, a big “massive case of tendonitis.” This one makes a little more sense to me than some of the others and they are at least attempting to treat it. How effective that treatment will be remains to be seen but it seems to be helping up to this point. I am guardedly optimistic.
That being said, when you love to work with your hands on knives, you have a shop with all the materials and a small mountain of knives to work on; it is hard not to at least try to fix a few. I have slowly over the summer worked on a few knives and just brought a couple to completion. These were knives that I bought to restore, not customer knives because I don’t trust my hands that far yet.
The first is an Ulster #10 Barlow. It had very ugly handles that were not in particularly great shape so I did little restoration work and changed them. I had some handle material uniquely fitted for use with Ulsters; it was called “Honeycomb Jigged Bone.” I saw this offered for sale one time it Culpepper’s probably seven or eight years ago. I bought several sets and every time I use one it strikes me that this looks so much like the composite covers Ulster used on a series of knives for the Moorman feed company, probably in the 1960s. Once I got the new bone put on the Ulster Barlow I knew it was the right choice. I have included a picture that shows a well-worn Moorman jack knife with those old handles.
Those of you who have read my posts or looked at the knives that I have customized and restored know that I have a real love for Western brand knives. I love the steel that Western used and the way they did their heat treat and temper. I know a lot of guys today that collect all sorts of knives but use an old Western when they’re in the field hunting and fishing.
I got this old WESTERN/BOULDER, COLO. fixed blade in a lot of old knives and parts. I think the model number on this knife would be 265R with the celluloid handles. The handles were beginning to decompose and the blade as seen a lot of use but it is a Western and there’s at least one more lifetime worth of service in this blade.
I used amber CSB bone on this knife and the result of this shows that you never know how two pieces of bone have absorbed the dye and how they will look when they’re finished. The pile side handle looks like Culpepper’s classic amber CSB (carved stag bone) but the mark side handle looks more like a new coloration they call “Sunshine Bone.” Nevertheless I thought both sides had a nice look to them even if they weren’t a perfect match.
The old sheath for this knife was rotted and falling apart. I finished disassembling the sheath and used it as a pattern to make a new sheath. It’s not an exact copy but it’s very close. I punch the holes and stitched the sheath by hand, and added the rivets for strength and to protect the stitching at key points, just as was done on the original sheath.
These projects were far from perfect but I had fun doing them. Hopefully my hands will continue to improve and I can start working on the backlog of knives for customers.
That being said, when you love to work with your hands on knives, you have a shop with all the materials and a small mountain of knives to work on; it is hard not to at least try to fix a few. I have slowly over the summer worked on a few knives and just brought a couple to completion. These were knives that I bought to restore, not customer knives because I don’t trust my hands that far yet.
The first is an Ulster #10 Barlow. It had very ugly handles that were not in particularly great shape so I did little restoration work and changed them. I had some handle material uniquely fitted for use with Ulsters; it was called “Honeycomb Jigged Bone.” I saw this offered for sale one time it Culpepper’s probably seven or eight years ago. I bought several sets and every time I use one it strikes me that this looks so much like the composite covers Ulster used on a series of knives for the Moorman feed company, probably in the 1960s. Once I got the new bone put on the Ulster Barlow I knew it was the right choice. I have included a picture that shows a well-worn Moorman jack knife with those old handles.
- This is the Moorman’s jack with composition handles compared to the honeycomb bone handles on the Barlow.
I got this old WESTERN/BOULDER, COLO. fixed blade in a lot of old knives and parts. I think the model number on this knife would be 265R with the celluloid handles. The handles were beginning to decompose and the blade as seen a lot of use but it is a Western and there’s at least one more lifetime worth of service in this blade.
I used amber CSB bone on this knife and the result of this shows that you never know how two pieces of bone have absorbed the dye and how they will look when they’re finished. The pile side handle looks like Culpepper’s classic amber CSB (carved stag bone) but the mark side handle looks more like a new coloration they call “Sunshine Bone.” Nevertheless I thought both sides had a nice look to them even if they weren’t a perfect match.
Hope you can continue to find ways to enjoy your passion. I love that Barlow!!
Hope you find some relieve for your hands Dale. I can relate, I have arthritis in both hands. On top of that the bones that connect the thumb at the wrist have been removed from both hands. The remaining long bones were wired to form a pivot point. I can use them just fine. But if I over do it I know it! For pain the doctor gives me Tramadol in place of Vicodin. It does a good job without turning my brain to jelly. I take it Aleve when I need a little more relief.