Knifemaking

It’s a long, hot summer—so why not fill the time by reading Knifemaking with Bob Loveless and learn how to make knives the way the legend himself did?

    Durwood Hollis knew Loveless and visited the Loveless shop many times. Hollis wrote the book and takes you through making knives the Loveless way in word and color pictures, including the tools, blade, handle, sheath and edge work, and much more. There are also chapters on knife care and the people who worked with Loveless over the years, as well as color pictures of some of Loveless’ greatest knives, including some of those from the John Denton collection.

    For more info on how to obtain your copy of Knifemaking with Bob Loveless, click on http://www.shopblade.com/knifemaking-with-bob-loveless/?r+ssfb062912

For more on the latest knives, knife legislation, knifemaking instruction, knife trends, knifemakers, what knives to buy and where and much more, subscribe to BLADE® Magazine, the World’s No. 1 Knife Publication. Click on http://www.shopblade.com/blade-magazine-one-year-subscription-us/?r+ssfb062912 for more information.

by Joe Keeslar

Silver wire inlay is one of several forms of embellishment—along with scrimshaw, decorative filework, metal engraving and carving—used on knife handles. For me, none of these decorative enhancements should replace what the basic knife should be: a well-designed, functional, well-made tool using the best materials and workmanship possible. Take a knife with these criteria and add some form of embellishment and you have a piece that a collector, user or aficionado of fine cutlery would drool over and want to own.

Simply put, silver wire inlay serves no functional purpose, but it sure makes a knife look pretty if it is done well—with a good, artistic design and well-executed technical application.

My introduction to wire inlay was some years ago while building Golden Age flintlock rifles. Many rifles of the period were relief carved with silver wire accents. The transition from wirework on rifles to knives was a short step.

In this two-part series on wire inlay you will be introduced to the tools used in the process, pattern/design development, the procedure for inlaying silver wire and final finishing of the handle.

So often in undertaking a new aspect of knifemaking, a large financial outlay is required up front to get started. This is not so with silver wire inlay. You can make nearly all the basic tools you need on a modest budget.