Small (Utilitarian) Knives

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The knives on this page are ones I made since I started and are shown for reference purposes only.

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ARCHIVE PHOTOS OF VARIOUS KNIVES I MADE TO DATE

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VINCE O'BRIEN'S

PAUL STRANDE DAMASCUS SCANDI

This nice knife is based on a Paul Strande 90mm long hidden tang Damascus blade. It's basically made up of Red Deer Antler and Black Buffalo Horn with red fibre liners and a 3mm brass spacer. For extra security I put a brass pin on the side and another one at the pommel end. As can be seen, the leather work is minimal and yet functional - it's meant to be worn on the belt or as a 'Necker'.  Here's what Vince had to say about this knife:

DAMASCUS SCANDI IN BLACK BUFFALO HORN, ANTLER AND CAMEL BONE.

Sometimes I act and turn out something a bit unusual if someone asks me to.  Vince O'Brien has similar tastes to mine and likes this sort of thing, so I made it at his request on a 'see it before you take it' sort of deal.

The quality of these USA made Damascus blades has to be seen to be truly appreciated.

The 'Eagle' head is from the tip of a Black Buffalo horn, with mother of pearl inlayed eyes. The rest is made up of Camel bone inserts and Red Deer antler, finished with a 3mm thick brass guard.

It so happened that Vince liked this knife and it's now in his possession. I love making knives for Vince as he's enthusiastic and is all for originality and is therefore happy to allow me free reign to exercise my ingenuity.

Jasper B Nielson Hunter Knife

in RWL-34 (#02)

The second of the three JBN Hunter blades made up with Sambar Stag handle and a bolster made of nickel steel and red liners spacers. Acquired by Vince O'Brien and this is what he said in response.

 

"Hi Paul,           Knife arrived today safe and sound, you said you thought I would like the knife that is a big under statement. I think it is an absolutely superb looking knife and the sheath is equally as good, the quality of the workmanship is amazing! So thanks again for your hard work the only problem is how do you top such a great knife. Thanks again I am over the moon with knife Vince"

USA DAMASCUS SCANDI

in Afzelia Burl

Another of the Damascus Scandi blade made up with a solid naturally coloured Afzelia Burl. Photo just doesn't do it fair justice. This was made for Derek H. in November 2010.

Jasper B Nielson Hunter Knife

in RWL-34 (#03)

The third of the three JBN Hunter blades made up with a G10 handle with black liners spacers. Made for Derek H. November 2010.

David's threesome in Damascus Steel

Black Buffalo horn with Camel bone inserts and finished with silvered plate pommel and spacers.

Camel bone over 3mm brass liners together with solid brass bolster and pommel.

Well seasoned Red deer antler over red fibre liners.

The two Dagger sheaths are well worked, but the Bowie sheath was left fairly plain and well oiled/waxed.

Poul Strande Damascus Antler knife

A pal of mine gave me a book on Scandinavian Antler knives a while back and although found it very interesting, it took me a while to have a go.

The 85mm Damascus hidden tang blade from Poul Strande seemed ideal for such a knife, and I dare say it worked out fine albeit quite removed from the original traditional Sami type knife.

The proper traditional Scandinavian Antler knives' sheaths extend further and ends at an angle, similar to a Hockey stick in profile. As usual, I had to be different though improvising as I went!

I really liked the knife itself and it fits my hand perfectly.  However, I was not at all keen on the Sheath and would have been better off using thinner Belly leather rather than thick shoulder leather.

After some time, I looked at the knife and Sheath and decided to rework both and do a better job of it. The end result is as can be seen on the right, with which I was fairly pleased with. Maybe one day I'll make a proper full on Sami type knife as they are really nice as well as practical.

At my second attempt I was happy enough with the sheath is it holds the knife just right and whether drawing or inserting the knife it makes a faint 'plop'. Rather than hide the knife's handle away, left it well exposed. I've made the sheath so it can be worn on the belt or around the neck.

The knife only goes in the one way, easily achieved through aligning the spiral file work  on the knife with that of the Sheath. 

Peter Lomas Scandi Skinner

The hand forged blade was sent to me by Peter to make up into a knife for him. Being a stick tang I can always do a bit more and used Black Buffalo horn and Red Deer antler for the handle.

The little Rabbiter

The blade for this knife was acquired for me by my mate Dave who had already bought one for himself. It made up into a very nice little knife ideal for small game based on an 01 tool steel blade. Handle is Red Deer antler and Black Buffalo horn.

Custom Poul Strande Damascus Knife in Coronet Antler handle & matching Firesteel

Unique Custom Damascus Scandi Bushcraft Knife with Crown Antler.

Blade:  Scandinavian Damascus steel hand forged by Poul Strande, of Denmark.  He represents the epitome of Scandinavian blade steel forgers.  Poul Strande is one of the top professional blacksmith blade makers in Europe who has has been forging knife blades for more than 20 years and his familiar initials - 'PS' - stamped on the blades. are renowned worldwide.  He's best known for his Damascus steel blades...

Blade Dimensions: 95mm x 24mm x 4mm.  The blade type is Scandi type stick tang with a flat grind on both sides.

Handle:  Select Crown Antler contoured for a comfortable safe grip.  The crown is left plain, which can be scrimshawed or embellished with a personal piece of jewellery.  The bolster is heavily embossed/filed solid brass.  The handle is epoxied inside the antler handle and further secured by a 5mm brass pin.

Overall the knife is 240mm long.  The actual hand grip part is 105mm long.

Firesteel:  Quality 8mm x 9mm from Bearclaw Bushcraft Ltd., complete with antler handle, a good sized piece of flat natural Leather thonging and, the original Striker steel and chain.

Sheath:  Made from natural colour Veg Tanned 3.5mm leather, with firesteel holder. Sheath is embossed with and fancily stitched.  The sheath is fully treated with with oils and waxes for a satin smooth finish, hence the darker colouring..

About this knife:  I normally source my Damascus steel blades from the USA, but I long wanted to have a go at making up a real proper Scandi blade - hence choosing this blade from Poul Strande.  I don't mind admitting that the cost of Damascus blades from Scandinavian countries has always put me off.  This blade wasn't cheap, but once I got the blade in my hands I realised that in this case, you get what you pay for.  The quality and feel of this blade amazed me, so in reality I got excellent value for money - it certainly won't be the last Scandinavian Damascus steel blade I'll be working with!

This little beauty oozes quality and classic functional styling and, best of all, it's a real tough working knife... 

Jasper B Nielson Hunter Knife

in RWL-34 (#01)

This one of three RWL-34 blades that were made by Jasper B. Nielson of Denmark.  The handle is Black Buffalo Horn and Red Deer Antler with a solid brass Bolster and end cap.  I have two more of these to make up sometime in the future!

JEANY'S ETCHED KNIFE

This is an Enzo 01 steel bladed knife that I made for my very good friend Jeany.  The handle is made up of Camel bone over Tulip wood.

The blade has been deeply etched with various shapes of Roses - as one would expect for a gift of this sort to a lady.

The contrasting Sheath is made from 3.5mm Veg Tanned leather dyed in Red and Brown Mahogany and finished to a medium gloss.

Above is our friend's Bruce little Scandi in Antler and Horn.

Damascus Straight edge Utility Knife

in Black buffalo horn over White American Holly

Damascus Laplander type Knife

in Red Deer Antler Coronet

Robert Mattsson Laminated Scandi knives

Robert Mattson's knife blades are some of the sharpest I've ever come across.

This one was destined as a Birthday gift from father to son.

Mini Damascus Talisman

Last of the small Damascus talismans. Handle is matured White Deer Antler over black liners.

A special knife for a very special caring, loving lady - Kimmy, my partner! 

Damascus knife with Buffalo horn Eagle Head handle & matching Firesteel holder

Full hidden tang 200 Layers Damascus 5/32" steel, 7 3/4" Over all length.  Blade is 3 1/2" long, 1" at its widest. Original wooden handle knife purchased from the USA.

Handle is 4 1/4" long made from Black and cream/brown buffalo horn.  Three horn pieces with brass inserts make the first part of the handle, with the Eagle head part of the horn (3" long) making up the rest of the handle.   Handle is well seasoned and sealed with oils and waxes.

Bolster is in solid brass and flush with horn and unsharpened part of knife blade.

Sheath is hand double stitched 2.5mm leather designed specifically for this knife for a tight fit.  Belt loop will accommodate belts up to 2" wide.  Whole Sheath is thoroughly oiled and waxed for durability...

This is a very nice knife and it really feels good in the hand with all the contoured bits fitting comfortably, whether you're a left or right hander.  Yet another one of my fiddly experiment and I can't even remember what made me do it in the first place!

It turned out OK although instead of an angry mean looking Eagle, I ended up with one having a slight sarcastic look about it!  I just couldn't make it to look mean and angry!!! I could have turned it into something else, but I liked it so left it as is as I'm sure someone else will too.

I ended up making a Firesteel Holder to match this knife and as luck would have it the same person who got this knife has also got the matching holder.

Damascus Knife with Antler and Horn

200 Layer Damascus Blade 90mm long by 25mm wide and 3mm thick.  1085/15N25 mix. Original wooden handled Knife purchased from the USA but the steel looks  like it's of Indian or Pakistan origin.

Hidden full tang internal handle made up of Red Deer antler and buffalo horn within brass spacers (handle is 24mm thick).  Brass Bolster and end cap.  Handle parts are epoxied and also secured by threaded 7mm end cap.  Knife feels good in the hand.  Blade takes and holds a good edge.  Over all length of knife is 190mm.

Same blade but with Buffalo Horn Handle

Damascus Skinner with Cocobolo and Ebony handle

The handle is Cocobolo with Ebony inserts forming main part of the bolster.

The shape of the handle lent itself admirably to incorporate a 'blood' channel on the underside of the handle.

Damascus Blade Skinner Knife

200 Layer Damascus Blade 100mm long by 35mm wide and 4mm thick.  1085/15N25 mix. Original green coloured plain bone handle knife purchased from the USA.

Full tang handle with Red Deer slabs (handle is 25mm thick) fronted by S/S grooved Bolster.  The whole lot secured with 4 pins (2 on bolster and two on handle) and epoxied onto the tang.  Lanyard hole (6mm) included.

Very solid feel to knife.  Blade takes and holds a good edge.  Over all length of knife is 200mm.

Workman like Leather sheath with snap holder, fully treated with linseed oil and bees/carnuba wax.  The Antler handle is also treated with Linseed oil and prodigiously waxed.

A really nice chunky skinner type knife - it just feels right and looks the part too.     

Damascus Hunting knife with

Full tang 200 Layers Damascus 5/32" steel, 7 3/4" Over all length.

Damascus Falcon Hunter

with Black Buffalo handle

Blade:  Damascus Steel - 95mm x 25mm x 3.96mm made in the USA from 1095 and 15N20 (1075 with 2% nickel with an RC of 56-57.  The blade type is a classic hollow ground type with a full visible tang.

Handle:  Made up from solid Black Buffalo Horn over red fibre liners.  It's 90mm long and lightly contoured for a comfortable safe grip.   The whole is epoxied and pinned with brass pins.  The lanyard hole is brass lined.

Overall the knife is 185mm long.

Sheath:  Made from natural colour Veg Tanned 3mm leather, double row stitched and wholly treated with oils and waxes hence the darker natural colour.  Belt loop suitable for up to 50mm belts.

What a fantastic Damascus blade!  Looks good, feels good, cuts good and is as tough as they come.  Nothing more to say about this knife - what you see is what you get...   

A problem I find with Buffalo horn is that if polished too much it looks like plastic, hence I don't go the whole hog as if I'm preparing a knife or stick for show purposes.  It's easy enough to get a super full gloss finish with a bit of extended elbow grease... But then what will one do - not handle it for fear of marking it?  Knives and Stick are meant to be handled and used as long as they're properly cared for afterwards...

Damascus Timberline Hunter

with Purpleheart and Black buffalo horn Handle

Blade:  Damascus Steel - 90mm x 27mm x 3.96mm made in the USA from 1095 and 15N20 (1075 with 2% nickel with an RC of 56-57.  The blade type is of a classic hollow ground type with a full visible tang.

Handle:  Made up from approximately 80% Purpleheart wood and 20% Black Buffalo Horn over red fibre liners.  It's 105mm long and well contoured for a comfortable safe grip.   The whole is epoxied and pinned with brass pins.  The lanyard hole is brass lined.

Overall the knife is 195mm long.

Sheath:  Made from natural colour Veg Tanned 3.5mm leather, double stitched and wholly treated with oils and waxes hence the darker natural colour.  Belt loop suitable for up to 65mm belts.

Another fantastic Damascus blade.  I envisaged this as a true working knife, hence the rather contoured handle from Purpleheart.  This hardwood is beautiful and although if not treated right the original purplish colour will turn darker.  But, so what?  As it does so it becomes even richer and deeper in colour.  It's a fairly dense wood, so I don't know why it's not used more in knife making.

Chris's 3 S/S Knives

I bought these three the original blade blanks - in Surgical Stainless steel - to experiment with.  But once I got them, along with the big S/S Bowie, I was very pleasantly surprised that the quality was pretty good.

I made the big Bowie up first and that turned out nice. During a telephone conversation with a mate of mine, an avid knife collector, I mentioned that as I didn't have any Damascus blades to play with I was about to start on three stainless steel ones, intending to keep one for myself.  He asked me to let him see them first and he'll most probably take the the other two.

 I sent him some photos of the knives at the 90% finished stage and he asked me if he could have all three of them!  Now Chris is so enthusiastic and appreciative that it's nigh on impossible to say no to him - so I let him have them.     

Ebony and Horn Handle Helle Knife

A Special knife for Chris

A triple laminated steel blade from Helle, the 'Turman'.  What a fine blade!

Handle is chunky and made from a solid piece of Ebony flanked with horn.  The thumb rest is faced with mother-of-pearl with another matching piece adorning the leg ties.

I went a bit fancy for the Sheath, after all, it was specially for Chris...

Little Black Number

I was given this mini Tanto in a Kydex neck sheath, which I played with and messed up!  As Big Kev had given me some rather strong small magnets I thought I could use them to do a Necker where the knife is held in place by magnets - 7 to be exact. The result is as you see above.

The knife handle and the sheath are in Black Buffalo Horn, decorated with some shallow file work and topped with a piece of reconstructed Turquoise.

Rabbit Knife

A little Rabbit knife in 01 tool steel handled with

two tone Amboyna handle scales.  It has a Scandi grind on both sides and is 2.5mm thick.

Three Utility knives

Top knife is in Seki Damascus with Black Palm handle.

Middle knife is USA Damascus with Black buffalo handle.

Bottom Knife is an R.R. Middleton of Sheffield knife that I re-handled in Camphor, which smells very nice when being worked on.

Hunter & Scandi Damascus bladed knives in antler handle

The blades are the usual 200 layer like I used before, but these came with a useless handle made from cheap bent goat horn.

I got three knives originally and as is my want, I decided to put on some sturdy Antler and make them safe and functional.  I even made one of them for a left handed person.

Well, someone liked them as they went as fast as I finished them   I did state however, that they're only suitable for light to medium work... 

Allan's GL Damascus Talon

A nice little number that was sent to me to put a handle on by a fellow enthusiast from Wales.

I recognised the blade maker straightaway as he's a favourite USA based bladesmith of mine.  It was only a small blade of about six inches total length and as Allan likes a bit of fancy work, I had to think hard as to what handle configuration I'll end up putting on it.

I decided on a seasoned red Deer antler and black Buffalo horn combination over red fibre liners.

I wanted to retain the natural characteristics of the antler and horn so I didn't go all the way with reducing and finishing, leaving just enough 'roughness' for antler to look and feel like antler and for the horn to look and feel like horn.  It's all too easy to go mad and end up with a 'plasticized' look and feel which would detract from the knife's quality.

Allan was very happy with the result and so was I.

It so happens every so often that I get contacted by folk who ask me to build them a knife based on blades they bought. I often accept to make them a knife complete with sheath as that's the part I enjoy doing the most. So if you happen to have a blade you'd like me to consider making up for you, just get in touch and we'll work together towards a mutually fulfilling and beneficial outcome...