OMG! I made a pink knife!

[tr4252]

Sometimes, you need some space, and you finally put away something you thought one day you would pick up again, but at some point you realize you probably won't.

Some of you know I used to make knives. What you may not know is that I stopped some years ago. I'm more of an R&D guy than a production type guy. Once I was making knives of a quality and design I felt was capable of, I kind of lost interest. I had what I wanted. Dismantled the CNC grinder I built for grinding the blades and converted it to a CNC router for model airplane parts. Eventually I knew that I was pretty much done with building knives, and decided to put all related stuff away in more or less permanent storage. Several boxes of materials, odd parts, jigs, etc. to sort through, and I came up with these 2 almost finished knives.

The pink one was the result of a suggestion made by a lady friend. Personally, I never liked the scale color much but overall it's the best knife I made regarding fit and finish. All it needs is a sharpening and a little more polishing on the blade, and a wooden box to put it in, which I'm out of.

The white one is also complete mechanically, but the finishing (my least favorite chore). and some contouring of the frame is undone, plus I don't have a box for it either. Actually I kind of like the ground/unpolished look of the blade. The blue-black areas are the result of tempering. Never sharpened this one either.

So it's all up in the attic now, except for a few favorites. Thought some of you would get a kick out of these leftovers.



Photo quality not too good; sorry

Tom

[Killgar]

Beautiful work Tom.

Although pink isn't my color, I have no doubt someone's wife or girlfriend, who likes switchblades, would love it.

Or, it's not like the handles couldn't be replaced.

And I share your feelings about finishing. For me, once I get a knife to the point where it functions properly and I know it's going to be a success, the challenge is over, and then all that's left is what I call "busy work", which is mostly sanding (boring). But then once it's all finished there's the joy of completion, so that helps keep me motivated.

Thanks for posting more of your work.

[tr4252]

Thank you Killgar.

Now that you mention it, I often made spare scales, mostly in black polycarb; that gem composite material in my 2 examples is fragile stuff. Oh well, it's all packed up.

Note to self: get bigger attic.

Tom

[rock-n-roll$$$$$$]

nice work.

[fastr19]

With all the interest in do=nut knives with the sprinkles, you've become current with that pink knife.

[Wally J. Corpse]

Greetings, Mr. tr4252-

Nice pinkie! Perfect for the her to poke you to attention...
Now that you have unquestioned yourself's abilities, perhaps you could delve into the R&D, then bladesmithing of the "Doofus Emeritus Commemorative Knife", pink scaling fine, but the true recognition honor would be the release button shaped like a dog turd, and a rounded point tip...
Mayhaps a poll for voluntary funding donations fromst the inmates herein can be ordained to supply you with proper amounts of inebriants to encourage you to do anything eye suggest...

AS ever,
Your ol' pal,
Wally J. Corpse

[gravknife]

Fine work Tom

Really like the blades ,look sharp, pointy and very useable .Love the button placement aswell .Nice knives.
Pink ain't my go to colour ,but i'd still like that one in my collection .
Hope your keeping well Tom.

Ian

[john]

Hi Tom,
I recall seeing your knives that you posted many years ago. They were amazingly outstanding.
John

[sammy the blade]

Fine looking stabber and pink might throw of the police if used as a stabber. But we all know a girl would never shank a feller.

[jim d,]

Tom,

As you know, I always liked the look of your knives, and still do.

Jim

[natcherly]

Those knives look incredible. How about selling them as-is to someone here who enjoys sharpening and polishing to complete your vision. I'm sure you could also find others interested in completing unfinished examples. Worth a shot?

[tr4252]

Thank you for the kind remarks gentlemen.Talkblade members were very supportive when I was making knives. I've always appreciated that.

I remember early on remarking that I wouldn't mind selling a few knives if there was a market for them. Pushbutton who was a prominent member here advised me against it. He predicted that as good as I may get, so much labor goes into a knife that it would not likely be a profitable enterprise. I started keeping a log, recording all the labor I was expending on each knife. That, plus other considerations such as overhead, liability, etc., convinced me he was right. I still wanted to make knives though, and got into CNC machining around 2006 specifically for my knife projects. I "invented" this knife on AutoCad for CNC.

So finally the kind of knife I wanted to own was within reach, and I have merely repeated this design, with improvements along the way, the last 15-20 knives I've built. Half a dozen of the best are in my collection.

Actually, this all led to an unrelated career move, which is another story.

Though I've saved all the significant leftover junk (including these 2 forgotten examples), I don't know if I'll ever even open the storage boxes again. I'm 71, satisfied that I did a good job. Thank you for participating.

Tom

[Bonzo]

Mr. TR4252,

Here's a nice flatground pink damascus mammoth ivory 9" Michele Beltrame showed this to me at the Eugene show some years back, and I turned him down. After I got home, I had second thoughts and ordered it. Might look nice in your collection...

AB Pink Ivory Damascus.jpg (89.22 KiB) Viewed 1749 times

Best regards,

Bonz

[gravknife]

Great knife Bonz

Love that damascus and mammoth tooth combo.
Glad you had the second thoughts and bought it mate.

Hope your keeping well .

[tr4252]

Wow Bonzo, that's some nice looking knife. I like the way the scales are flush with the bolsters. Thanks for sharing it.

Tom