All About Pocket Knives

Randy sent me a knife that he wanted modified.
This is the original knife, an AG Russell Cattaraugus that was made in Japan.
Obviously not the original US Cattaraugus. This is the first time I have seen one of these knives. In fact before this I was not aware that anyone was reproducing the Cattaraugus brand. This is a well-made little knife, very similar to some of the Kershaws.
This is the knife in pieces.
This is called a peening fail! I had to replace one handle, except when I got a new set of handles in the proper color from Culpepper, the dye lots were so different that I had to remove both handles and replace them.
He wanted a guitar shield on the new handles what I found is a sterling silver guitar charm for a charm bracelet. Note that the charm is not flat on the back, the body of the guitar is deeper into the bone than the rest of the shield. The neck was much higher and then the end of the guitar for you tune the strings was again deeper than the neck but not as deep as the body. It proved to be challenging when inlaying the shield because not only were you trying to inlay a shield, but also the shield in this case was three-dimensional with three different depths. I think it was one of the most challenging shields that I have ever inlaid!
This is the process of inlaying the shield. The knife is held in a Knife Makers Vise and it helps to keep the knife level, or in this case perpendicular to the Foredom in the drill press.
These last two pictures are the completed knife. I hope you enjoy the pictures of the process.
As always I welcome your comments.

Very interesting, educational and just a joy to see. FANTASTIC job orvet!

Great job Dale. That looks fanastic.

Very nice Dale! Randy, you've got a cool knife headed your way!!!

Great work Dale, as always.

That really does look great. That shield really adds to the knife.

Boo- Yah

D) All of the above
That is really cool! Love the inlay.
You do beautiful work, Dale.

Thank you guys, you are all very kind!

I like it.

Can't wait to have it in hand Dale pictures look great. It's also good to have a new computer so I can get back on here.

Oh boy, what a beauty! Great work Dale!

As to the shield, couldn't you have hafted down the high spot in the backto make the whole thing one thickness?

Fantastic skillful work, love the color of the new scales, a real craftsman's job.

That’s a fine looking knife right there. Excellent and inivative work there Dale!

Super looking result and a great job to get it there. Thanks for sharing that.

Beautiful work, Dale! It looks like it could be a bit stressful doing the shield since everything else is pretty much perfect at that point.

I received the knife today Dale and all I can say is WOW!! Your pictures look good but just don't show how nice it is in hand. I've played guitar over 50 years and really wanted a knife with a guitar shield. So thanks again Dale for a beautiful job.