Heya Pards,
Been awhile since I've been round these parts ! Got a PM about a knife this mornin so I thought I might drop by and say hey.
I haven't taken any orders in a looooong time, lol. I had been spending all my time working towards the goal of a Journeyman Smith rating in the ABS (American Bladesmithing Society) which is a huge commitment to performance and quality. It's a fun journey and one I'll reach eventually as time allows. I've got my Performance test knife done an sittin in the cabinet but still haven't gotten around to testing yet.
Life just sometimes get's in the way of the important stuff like making knives
Sad but true
I guess for the last 8 months or so I've hardly been out in the knifeshop at all. My inlaws are gettin up there in age a bit and their house in Pennsylavania is not ideal at best and down right dangerous at worst. Being a 3 story home on hill with a STEEP set of stairs to the basement (where washer dryer and freezer are) and to the second story and some health issues to boot we all wanted to figure out something better suited for them now and in the future.
Long story short I commited to shopping, finding, buying a place for them here in Fl near my wife and I (of course I wasn't payin
) We got very lucky and found them the perfect place in a 55+ community only 1.5 miles from our house. Of course before they could be there comfortable there were lotsa projects for me to do. Replace porch rails, build a fence for the dogs, replace garbage disposal, get the overgrown lawn and bushes in shape, run some cable lines, replace some fixtures etc etc etc. Also fully furnished the place with great stuff on the cheap shopping Craigslist for deals which of course entails finding , buying, picking up, delivering home.
I knew going in that this adventure was gonna totally derail knifemaking which it did almost completely. I did manage to eek out a couple paring knives as gifts and a nice little Sambar stag hunter for my 11 year old nephew who I'm happy to report has been doing alot of hunting with my dad in ohio
That whole house adventure is pretty much done now and the inlaws are quite comfy enjoying the winter in their Florida home. I'm very fortunate that my Inlaws are just fatastic folks and helping them out like this was a pleasure I didn't mind at all. Glad to have it behind me now and getting back out in the shop though
I'm currently working on a pair of knives for the Hometown Heros military appreciation build at knifedogs. This is the second military appreciation build they've had. Makers who sign up get the materials to make a knife for free and the finished knife goes to one of our fine servicemembers free of charge. I couldn't think of a better way to get back into the swing of things in the shop than participating in this build.
These military builds are obviously NOT CAS related but for any knife nuts who are interested I did do a WIP (Work In Progress) on my first build here-
http://knifedogs.com/showthread.php?13885-Josh-Dabney-Servicemember-Knife-build-(pic-heavy)
And also have a current WIP on the two I'm working on now here-
http://knifedogs.com/showthread.php?22806-Hometown-Hero-build-WIPThats where I'm currently at Pards.
St George- I f you feel it inappropriate to link to a non CAS related forum drop me PM and I'll delete the links. Some forums think it's a no-no others are fine with it
Here's a shot of that Sambar hunter. The nephew specified he wanted a small game knife. IIRC cutting edge is 3 1/4" and of course I made the sheath also. Some of ya may recognize the damascus on the fittings. Those tiny pieces were scraps from a Belduque I made awhile back
Y'all may like this one also. This was made in Jan 2011 for my dad for use in the kitchen in his camper. It's forged 1095 with an antique patina. The "guard" is wrought iron with a copper space and the handle material is curly hickory with a copper pin. About an 8" blade I think.
I think thats about it Pards, other than to say knifemakin gets in the blood ! Once your hooked you just can't stop
Take care fellers- Josh
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