Blade as Received

Blade after Modification

Detail

The underlying philosophy in the construction of my knives is to make the most durable knife possible while maintaining the traditional look and feel of natural materials.

All of the knives (unless otherwise noted) are of hidden, through-tang construction. The tang of the blade is completely surrounded by the handle materials, and extends the entire length of the handle. This is a commonly used technique in Scandinavian knives. Often however, the handle is secured only mechanically, generally by the end of the tang being peened-over to form a rivet. My knife handles are fully epoxy-bonded, and use a threaded nut rather than a peened rivet.

Making a rugged, long lasting knife with a handle formed from natural materials presents some challenges. All natural materials experience some degree of dimensional change as a function of temperature, humidity and aging. These factors can result in stresses that develop in the handle. If these stresses are compounded by strain already existing in the handle due to assembly techniques, handle failure is likely to occur. For this reason I go to great lengths to avoid building stress into the knives. All handle materials seat flush against each other and against the knife tang without pressure being applied. Handle components are assembled with a close, but not forced fit. During final assembly the tang nut is tightened to bring the handle materials into even contact for a secure epoxy bond - not to force poorly fitted components into place.

Every knife blade has a threaded tang extension silver-brazed to the tang using a slotted, stirrup-type joint rather than a simple butt joint. In destructive testing this joint has proved to be stronger than the parent metal.

The epoxy used to bond the handle was chosen after considerable experimentation. Bonding dissimilar materials can be difficult. This especially true of natural materials where varying porosities, oil content and surface pH compound the problems. The epoxy used is very slow-curing, allowing adequate time to recoat all porous surfaces (particularly wood end-grain) before assembly. It is also formulated to be compatible with a wide range of pH and oil content in the bonded materials.

The handles are finished by impregnating with a low-viscosity raw Tung Oil solution. This durable finish is in rather than on the handle, and thus will never flake-off. The inevitable scuffs and scrapes that befall any well-used knife can easily be sanded and touched-up without refinishing the entire handle. Periodic re-oiling and/or waxing will keep the knife looking good.

Sheath and Wooden Liner

The leather sheaths are made of vegetable-tanned cow or horsehide, wet-formed around the individual knife and its wooden liner. The wooden sheath liner is laminated of aircraft-grade Finnish birch plywood. A solid wood throat piece with a flared opening protects the edges of the plywood. The leather is wet-formed, dried, glued to the wooden liner, and then handstitched with heavy nylon thread. Leather sheaths are protected by a two step water repellent treatment. First, the sheath is saturated with an aqueous wax emulsion. After that dries, a finish coat of a grease-based wax is applied.

Kitchen knives are supplied with various types of wooden blade guards with magnetic blade retainers. These guards are finished with a Tung Oil solution and wax.