I bought this from, I believe, BudK, and they are the purveyors of all sorts of economy knives. It's an Expendables II movie knife, with the Gil Hibben stamp. Gil probably designed it for a fee, and the Chinese have ginned them out by the millions. I liked the looks of the piece, especially that "Arkansas Toothpick" style blade with the brass overlay, but I had a problem with the handle. The thing was so massive, I couldn't get my fingers around it and it just didn't feel comfortable. I wanted to preserve the Expendables logo, but Duke said it just shattered when he was trying to cut off the old handle. Oh, well, that's life.
Meanwhile, I saw this wild piece of crown stag carved by mountain man aficionado, Neil Fehr, of Plum Coulee, Canada. It was massive, nearly 7" long and I bought it. I think I gave more for it than the knife. The cool thing was that it fit my hand great, even though most of the carving was on the 'off' side. (Neil must be a lefty.) Once I had both pieces in my hands, then it was only logical to combine them, and for this I enlisted Duke's help.
Duke happened to have that wild stainless guard lying around, which reminded him of a pirate cutlass. I think it looks stellar. He also welded on a piece of threaded stud, not that we could screw on a pommel, but just to give the glue some extra bite to hang on to the tang.
Duke added a piece of black micarta and a couple of stainless washers after shortening up the new handle just a bit. His instincts were right on.
It's a big knife, and it doesn't look pretty old-timey and piratical, but that's totally perfect for a crazy fool like me. I am indebted to Duke again for his fine craftsman ship and I constantly wonder why he puts up with me.
That's my story, and I am sticking to it. Your comments, questions and suggestions are greatly appreciated. More crazy posts to follow. (BTW all pictures being hosted by https://imgbox.com/.
