A sgian day for the Ballards

[turpin]

Well, McFarkus beat me to posting about my stuff with his thread on the beautiful knife he just acquired, but it inspired me to get off my @$$ and take some pics. Here are the gains of a couple of very good trades. Mr. Woolery and I worked a sporran-for sgian-swap, as seen elsewhere. The knife he made is a really solid, attractive piece of work that will serve well for a long long time. 440c SS blade (sharp, which is relatively novel for me in a sgian dubh) hand-forged by himself. Arizona desert ironwood handle, a beautifully made piece.

Shown next to my dress sgian dubh for comparison


It fits the hand like a useful tool. The spine is around 3mm thick - quite a substantial blade


I have yet to make the sporran but never fear, David, it will not be a long wait.

Then Howard Clark contacted me. It seems he had an old knife kicking around that he had forged last year and wondered if I had anything to trade. Are you kidding me? For a genuine Howard Clark blade I think I could find something. We settled on a tartan for knife swap. 4 yards of 18 oz Gordon modern for this little beauty.

It's not your typical sgian shape, but it's an elegant thing. The handle is elkhorn.


Macro of the tight damascus twist


A bit of turquoise is deep-set into the pommel.


It also comes to hand nicely, due to the length of the handle. Feels really good to wield.


Both knives in their sheaths


Thanks to both gents. Two knives of very different character, both of which will give long and useful service. Two very satisfactory trades.

[Carolina Kiltman]

Those are simply beautiful; a perfect example of form following function. The "dress" blade is nice, but looks very Victorian to me. (Not bad in and of itself, but I prefer the more understated versions.)

[McFarkus]

Gee Turpin, you always have to one-up me. Those are two BEAUTIFUL blades.

[BEEDEE]

WOW!!!

Brian

[Highlander31]

Those are very nice. I especially like the Damascus blade.

[fudgeman]

[Mr. Woolery]

Technically, my work is ground, not forged (one of those knife maker things - forging means it gets heated up and pounded to shape, while I am grinding from clean bar stock). Just want to make sure nobody gets the wrong idea. There are a few folks who really do forge stainless, I just don't see any reason to do it.

That Clark knife is a gem, isn't it? Too many damascus knives I have seen seem to abandon the tool aspect of a good knife in favor of dramatic appearance. Mr. Clark doesn't seem to do that. I personally think that says something about the integrity of a product when it still retains the utility. Good score, Turpin!

-Patrick

[beloitpiper]

That damascus twist is amazing! I've never seen a blade look like that.

[Kerr the Walker]

Fine looking blades indeed.

I too am a fan of form following function. And those two definitely hit the nail on the head.

[Dirk Skene]

Them's jus down right perdy