BDS auction knife

[digger9523]

Hi all,

Started this knife on Friday: BDS blade pictures by roestalker270 - Photobucket
It's going to be donated to the BDS as an auction item at some stage in the future. It's in 4mm 12c27 stainless steel and has a tapered tang. I've just finished the file work around the tang, there's my usual thumb grip area followed by a vine pattern on top, on the underside is a sort of celtic pattern that fades into a part vine. The holes in the celtic area will have gold inlays to fill them up. It's the first time I've done this pattern and I've never seen it on another knife before.

Haven't decided on what handle scales to fit yet, but it will either be antler or stabilised timber of some sort with a thin brass plate liner. As and when i do anything new I'll update the thread with new pictures.

Hope you all like it,

ATB,
Nick

 

[alaskagray]

Nice very nice look forward to seeing it finished
atb Graham

 

[ziggy]

ah mate, im seriously liking that, especially the underside

 

[digger9523]

Thanks fellas,

Going to give it a pre heat treat polish tomorrow. Heat treating will be done this week. Meanwhile, i have to decide on the handle material???

 

[Cry Havoc]

Digger
It looks fantastic so far, look forward to seeing the finished article. My personal choice for scales would be burr Elm.

 

[digger9523]

Digger
It looks fantastic so far, look forward to seeing the finished article. My personal choice for scales would be burr Elm.

Thanks mate,

I've got a guy on the case to get me some stabilised Amboyna burl. It's a fantastic material, doesn't tend to have the little gaps and fissures that other burrs have.

ATB,
Nick

 

[sakowsm]

nick
you have some serious tallent mate, that is stunning now thats going to be seriously a great knife

 

[digger9523]

Thanks Derek, you're too kind!

When it's done and the BDS finally get back to me about whether they want it or not I'll give everyone a heads up about when it might become available. I'm guessing they'll have to raffle it in the DEER journal as they can't auction knives on eBay. So for the cost of a few tickets some lucky punter will end up with it.

All the best,
Nick

 

[john clem]

That will be very nice when its finished.

 

[Peter Eaton]

Nice knife Digger, hope they auction it for you I tried to do the same for Help for Heroes and all I got was grief. I was told knives were illegal and prohibited items by a guy who told me he knew all about knives as he was an ex Sgt in the army, clearly he did not. I was also told no one was allowed to use the colours they have as they own the colours they use. That of course was rubbish as they dont own the pantones just a registered trade mark. It really was more trouble than you could ever imagine, kinda sad as just trying to help the poor guys in the field to be stopped by pen pushers.

 

[digger9523]

That's a shame mate,

Knives can be an emotive subject nowadays. With all the eejuts running around knifing each other in various places it's not surprising that a high profile charity doesn't want to be seen condoning knives. Funnily enough, i had two knives confiscated from me by Sergeants from the RAF. First was a Ghurka Kukri that I'd had for years, took it to Kosovo for an 8 month stint, used it to cut down the platoon Christmas tree! Get to the airport at Pristina to fly home at the end of the tour and this little speccy creature in an RAF police uniform took great delight in bawling me out in front of at least a hundred other blokes, some big knobs among them, for having such a stupid thing! I expect it hangs over his fireplace somewhere, and i hope that one day it slips off the wall while he pokes the fire. The other one was also an RAF policeman at Basra airport who confiscated a Gerber fixed blade off of me after I'd worn it on my hip for 12 months during some hard times. But he didn't feel the need to shout about it, just made me miss that flight and i had a night on the floor in the airport till the next one. Both of them Knew about knives! So it's a forces wide perceived impression that the uniform gives you the knowledge of all things sharp and pointy!

I reckon the BDS will take this one eventually though. They've held custom rifle raffles for the past few years, can't see them having an issue with a knife, it's just another essential tool to stalkers everywhere. Might be that it'll seem a bit cheapskate compared to a rifle? I've already spoken to Chris Howard about it and bounced a few ideas around with him, he seemed quite optimistic about the idea. P'raps as well as the message to the secretaries i should direct my letter a bit higher up the chain of command?

ATB,
Nick

 

[digger9523]

Given the blade a pre heat treat polish this evening. Some might be thinking, why bother at this stage, it'll only get tatty again in the fire! Well, as you can imagine, through all the grinding and filing to get the desired shape, you end up with quite a few undesirable deep scratches. It's important to get shot of them before the steel is hardened because it'll be a lot more difficult to do when the steel is hard!

I've also filed in another bevel on the upper tip area. I've used an Alan Wood/Ray Mears Woodlore knife for a good few years, like this BDS knife, it's 4mm thick at the tip and I've found it a bit harder than it should be to stab through the hide when bleeding deer in the past, so i thought it would be easier with this feature on this one.

Here's a few more snaps, two of which show the tools i use to do the file work round the tang.

All the best,
Nick

 

[Peter Eaton]

Like the grind and do you still want the grind jig off me you never said?

 

[digger9523]

Like the grind and do you still want the grind jig off me you never said?

Hallo mate, sorry for the delay! I'd forgotten about that jig! I reckon i can probably get by without it for now mate. All the stuff I'm doing at the moment is fairly simple, the bevels I'm doing are all coming out ok free hand, and i like doing it free hand as well, gives the end product a more personal touch maybe? Everything is dictated by my hand and eye, like a rifle shot, much more my style (if i can claim to have any!).

Thanks anyway old son! Was a gracious offer.

 

[flytie]

,

Knives can be an emotive subject nowadays. With all the eejuts running around knifing each other in various places it's not surprising that a high profile charity doesn't want to be seen condoning knives. Funnily enough, i had two knives confiscated from me by Sergeants from the RAF. First was a Ghurka Kukri that I'd had for years, took it to Kosovo for an 8 month stint, used it to cut down the platoon Christmas tree! Get to the airport at Pristina to fly home at the end of the tour and this little speccy creature in an RAF police uniform took great delight in bawling me out in front of at least a hundred other blokes, some big knobs among them, for having such a stupid thing! I expect it hangs over his fireplace somewhere, and i hope that one day it slips off the wall while he pokes the fire. The other one was also an RAF policeman at Basra airport who confiscated a Gerber fixed blade off of me after I'd worn it on my hip for 12 months during some hard times. But he didn't feel the need to shout about it, just made me miss that flight and i had a night on the floor in the airport till the next one. Both of them Knew about knives! So it's a forces wide perceived impression that the uniform gives you the knowledge of all things sharp and pointy!

ATB,
Nick

Riff Raff airlines strike again! Shame about the knives! Your work looks superb, but perhaps a little fancy for me, but i am an old fogey. Keep up the good work, it's very artistic and nice to see. thank you for the pictures.

Simon

 

[digger9523]

Riff Raff airlines strike again! Shame about the knives! Your work looks superb, but perhaps a little fancy for me, but i am an old fogey. Keep up the good work, it's very artistic and nice to see. thank you for the pictures.

Simon

Thanks Simon,

Yeah they're a bit over the top for looks! I like to think they work as well as they look though. Don't know why i like doing the file work really. It serves no practical purpose, but then, engraved game scenes on shotguns don't either.

Hopefully it'll be heat treated next week and ready for handling.

All the best,
Nick

 

[Peter Eaton]

Ok Digger , I think I will do some free hand grinds too, did some at first then started doing Scandi grinds.

Pete

 

[digger9523]

Well, after looking at a Lot of wood, I've finally picked one i like! Here it is:

It's a piece of Arizona Desert Ironwood burr, got it cheap at £40!

 

[Brithunter]

Now that is nice ................................. very nice. Look forwards to seeing the finished item in all it's glory.

 

[digger9523]

Now that is nice ................................. very nice. Look forwards to seeing the finished item in all it's glory.

You and me both mate! I've wanted to do something in Ironwood for a fair while now. Seen it on lots of knives and it never fails to impress me

This is another knife that has been scaled in the same stuff, but it's just normal grain wood, not burl wood!

For anybody who's wondering, this is a Spyderco Mule knife.