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Marine Vet’s Knife Memorializes the Ultimate Sacrifice of His Iraq Comrades

BLADE Staff
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Marine Vet’s Knife Memorializes the Ultimate Sacrifice of His Iraq Comrades

1 Knife for the Lima Company 11

BY MIKE HASKEW BLADE® FIELD EDITOR

*This article originally appeared in BLADE Magazine Winter 2013

The bond of brotherhood, sacrifice, and selflessness forged by fighting men in combat is, perhaps, the strongest emotion human beings can experience. So it is with Travis Williams.

Having just turned 18, Travis enlisted in the United States Marine Corps In December 2001. He reported for duty the following August and spent the next four years in the service. While he trained, his original reserve unit had already deployed to Iraq, and he was among a few who were reassigned to Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, another reserve unit, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Travis Williams (second from right, back row) stands proud with his squad mere weeks before the deadly IED strike. (photo courtesy of Travis Williams)

During its deployment to Iraq, Lima Company endured days of patrols in harm’s way, intense firefights, and the ever-present danger of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). With a strength of about 180 Marines, Lima Company lost 24 killed in action, and one in eight of its Marines received the Purple Heart for wounds received or death as a result of enemy action. By late 2005, Lima Company was the hardest hit unit of its size in the Marine Corps. Lima’s battalion lost 48 men killed in Iraq.

 

AUG. 3, 2005

Considering the tedium and tension that encompassed his time in Iraq, a single day stands out in Travis’ memory. On Aug. 3, 2005, during a patrol near the town of Barwanah, 11 Marines from his squad were killed in a massive IED explosion.

“We were going to start at 0600,” Williams recalled. “We loaded our amtracs, big transport vehicles, and about five minutes before we stepped off, a call came down from higher. For some reason the platoon commander and I got pulled out of our vehicle with 1st Squad and put in a vehicle ahead of theirs with Iraqi forces in it. We headed for town and weren’t going to take any roads in. It was about a month before we were to leave the country, and we had seen a lot of firefights and IEDs.”

After the patrol received word that the road was, in fact, clear, the catastrophic explosion erupted. “We hopped on the road, and right as we made the turn for town I was sitting down in the vehicle,” Travis continued. “Somebody has to stand up to provide security, and I saw the explosion in the glasses of the guy standing up in our vehicle.”

Williams still does not know why he and the platoon commander were ordered out of the vehicle that was hit. He was not injured. Fifteen men occupied the stricken amtrac, and he had known those Marines that were killed for more than a year. Among them was his best friend, Lance Corporal Aaron Reed of Chillicothe, Ohio.

Travis and Lance Corporal Timothy M. Bell Jr., 1983-2005, enjoy some downtime. Bell, 22, was killed by the IED. His awards include the Purple Heart, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with Combat “V” for valor, and the Combat Action Ribbon. (photo courtesy of Travis Williams)

When Lance Corporal Travis Williams returned home to Missoula, Montana, in August 2006, he brought with him the memories and the scars of his wartime experience. He worked as a private investigator for about five years, and then an opportunity that he could not pass up presented itself. Always fascinated and intrigued by knives, he met custom knifemaker James Behring, Jr.

“James moved to Missoula from Michigan in 2011, and he married my friend’s sister,” Travis said. “I would hang out at the shop and watch what he was doing, and finally he told me that he was looking to hire somebody. I jumped in from there, cutting out blades from bar stock, soldering guards and finishing handles and stuff like that—until I was able to make a knife.”

GOLD STAR FAMILIES

This past February, the Wall Street Journal featured Travis in an article observing the 10th anniversary of the war in Iraq. “They wanted to know how I was doing,” he commented, “and there was a video with it and a guy followed me around the shop while we were making knives.”

A fellow Marine veteran saw the article and contacted Travis, telling him that a benefit was being organized for Gold Star Families in Ohio. These are the families of those who have lost a loved one in battle. “He asked me to make a knife for a silent auction, and the proceeds would go to support the work of an artist that was painting life-size portraits of the guys that were killed from the company,” said Williams. “It was on short notice because the event was going to be in three weeks. I cleared it with James and then contacted Roger ‘Mudbone’ Jones of Waverly, Ohio, to make sure he could make the sheath if I got the knife to him in time.”

Mudbone is an accomplished knife and sheathmaker in his own right. A friend of the Behring family who considers James Behring “like my own son,” Mudbone agreed to make the sheath. His relationship with Travis has grown as well, and he simply considers the former Marine a second son. In fact, it is Mudbone who brought this compelling story to the attention of BLADE®.

“Travis called and said he wanted to tell me about the knife and get some pointers on it and the sheath,” Mudbone remembered. “It knocked me out when he said this was for his friends, and particularly his best friend who had been killed. It turns out Aaron Reed was from my hometown, Chillicothe, Ohio. I had never met the boy, but I knew of his mother, who had been a teacher in a local school.”

Travis set to work under the watchful eye and guidance of Behring. The finished knife includes a 6-inch drop point blade of O-1 tool steel, a thick brass guard, and a stacked-leather-washer handle with a butt of whitetail crown stag. Inserted between the leather washers is a piece of the nametape, typically worked across the top of the uniform pocket, of each of the 11 Marines killed on Aug. 3, 2005. The letter “L” for Lima Company and “3/25” for 3rd Battalion and 25th Marine Regiment are hot stamped into the blade.

Made by Travis under the watchful eye of Jim Behring, the knife has a 6-inch blade of O1 tool steel, brass guard, and a stacked-leather-washer handle with a butt of whitetail crown stag. Between the leather washers is a piece of the nametape, typically worked across the top of the uniform pocket, of each of the 11 Marines killed on Aug. 3, 2005. The letter “L” for Lima Company and “3/25” for 3rd Battalion and 25th Marine Regiment are hot stamped into the blade. (photo courtesy of Mudbone Jones)

When the knife was complete, Mudbone set to work. With only a week to complete the task, he crafted a leather sheath with the iconic image of the rifle turned down into a boot and topped by a helmet. A dog tag hangs from the weapon. The word “LIMA” is also prominent.

“On the back of the sheath there are 11 four-pointed North Stars,” added Mudbone. “Craftsmen of earlier times stamped these on guns and knives so the owner could always find his way home. They finished the knife on a Saturday. I got it on Tuesday and dropped everything else to get the sheath done. Sometime around 3:30 or 4:30 a.m. the next Saturday, I pulled the last stitch and put the last wax on it.”

Above: Working from the drawing, Roger “Mudbone” Jones employed a Marine theme of helmet, weapon, dog tags and boots to make the knife’s leather sheath, including the Lima Company name. On the back of the sheath are 11 four-pointed North Stars,” added Mudbone. “Craftsmen of earlier times stamped these on guns and knives so the owner could always find his way home.” (photos courtesy of Mudbone Jones)

SOLD for $7,000

The knife sold for $7,000, but not during the silent auction. “Doc” Wentworth, a Navy corpsman who had been assigned to Lima Company, was determined to keep the Lima Knife with the portraits so beautifully painted by artist Anita Miller. The memorial event at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus was moving and inspirational, and Wentworth succeeded through social media in raising small donations that bought the knife and will allow the memorial to remain together in its permanent home in the statehouse. An accompanying book, The Lima Company Memorial:  A Remembrance of Spirit and Choice, has also been produced.

UNBREAKABLE TIE

Learning the art of knifemaking and continuing to work with James Behring has proven therapeutic for Travis, and he is pleased with his opportunity at Behring Made Knives. While continuing to work in the shop, he attends events that help other veterans adjust to life after active duty. At some point in the future, he may begin making more knives and even taking orders. For now, he is content to continue learning.

“I like where I am with James’ company,” Williams said. “I do everything from heat treating to finishing blades and handles, and have recently gotten into making Kydex. On some of our CNC knives I’m doing the blasting, coating and sharpening of the blades. James is sitting there watching me, and someday I would like to get to the point where I am making knives on my own.”

Today, Travis finds contentment with his work and sees the future with optimism. There will, however, always be that unbreakable tie to his fellow Marines. Meanwhile, with a little help from his friends, he has created a lasting tribute to his fallen comrades.

Travis and his best friend, Lance Corporal Aaron H. Reed, take five. Reed was among those killed by the IED. His awards include the Purple Heart and Combat Action Ribbon. He was 21. (photo courtesy of Travis Williams)

For more information contact Roger “Mudbone” Jones, Dept. BL12, 320 Prussia Rd., Waverly, OH 45690 740-739-4562 [email protected], or Travis Williams, c/o James Behring, Dept. BL12, POB 17317, Missoula, MT 59808 406-926-1193 (shop) [email protected], www.behringmade.com.

Offset Kitchen Knife Handles? We Test 3 of Them.

Pat Covert
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Offset Kitchen Knife Handles? We Test 3 of Them.

The offset handle may just save your skin during meal prep

Most will agree that offset handles on kitchen knives look just a bit funky, but have you ever pondered why the unusual “stepped design” is what it is? Actually, there’s a method to the madness and it’s really quite simple. It’s to save your knuckles from getting banged up while slicing. Little has been written about this unusual handle, so we thought it would be both fun and informative to give a handful of o set-handle kitchen knives a spin around the cutting board.

It should be noted that such cutters often are referred to as bread* or sandwich knives which, when you think about it, makes sense, since loaves of bread typically have largish,  at bottoms that require getting the digits down low when cutting. Plus, like the majority of bread knives, most are serrated.

What’s an offset worth? In this case a half inch. At top is a Boker chef’s knife the author has used for years. The drop from handle to blade edge is .75 inch. On the Boker Black Damascus Bread Knife at bottom, the drop is 1.25 inches.

The test knives have full serrations and, interestingly, there is a slight bow to the blades as well.  The slight curve enables you to rock the blade back and forth on all cutting to make sure the cut is complete, a trait common to most cleavers as well. Serrations are a double-edged sword, so to speak, in that they make it easy to saw through most media.  The other edge of the sword is that they can be a nightmare to sharpen, a feat some prefer to job out to the factory or professionals. However, serrations work particularly well at food prep for many breads, meats and vegetables, which is why so many kitchen knives of all types have them. Note that the featured models are hidden-tang knives—all the better to keep unwanted fluids out of the nooks and crannies found on their full-tang counterparts.

KITCHEN CUTTERS 

The Boker blade is all business as there is no effort to etch the damascus, though the pattern is faintly visible.

The Boker Black Damascus Bread Knife is the high-priced spread, pun intended. It is a large bread knife but is extremely lightweight due to its very thin blade.  The blunt-tipped pattern has full serrations, each approximately .25 inch long. According to a Boker spokesperson, the blade’s core is VG-10 stainless.  The damascus pattern is forged of various stainless steels by Japan’s Takefu Special Steel, Ltd.  The blade is all business as there is no effort to etch the damascus, though the pattern is faintly visible.  The ovate handle is topped with a stainless steel bolster.

 

 The Spyderco Blunt-Tip Z-Cut is the smallest of the test slicers. Billed as a “go-to knife for all food preparation chores,” its blade has fine .125-inch serrations along the edge.  The CTS BD1N stainless blade steel is made by Carpenter Technology, a leader in the industry, and is considered much better than common culinary alloys.  The handle is yellow polypropylene, a common synthetic found on many kitchen knives because it is dense and repels water.  The Blunt-Tip Z-Cut is super lightweight.

The Blunt-Tip Z Cut is a smaller, handier version of the other two test knives.
 

The Victorinox 9-inch Offset Sandwich Knife is the largest and heaviest of the test bunch, edging out its Boker counterpart by a half inch and a half ounce. Victorinox has always been hush-hush about its proprietary steels but does indicate that the blade is stainless steel with a carbon content of .5 percent^.  e blade has .25-inch serrations and the ample handle is a black synthetic. After its acclaimed Swiss Army knives, Victorinox is well known for the Forschner brand kitchen knives, which it has owned controlling stock in since 1981.

The Victorinox 9-inch O set Sandwich Knife is the largest and heaviest of the test bunch, edging out its Boker counterpart by a half inch and a half ounce.

TASTY TESTING

I tested the two large o set knives sideby-side as their specs were so similar, starting with a 4×7-inch loaf of Publix Tuscan Boule bread. Unlike run-of-the-mill white bread, Tuscan Boule has a very tough rind. Using the knives in sawing strokes, I took off quarter- to half-inch slices. Both knives performed admirably, giving me any grief only on the  at base of the loaf due to its full 7-inch rind. Once I got used to rocking the blade on the final cut, this, too, made for quick business. My biggest takeaway, however, was that offset handles do indeed work! In fact, I didn’t come anywhere close to busting a knuckle. My knuckles tapped the cutting board top a few times, but nowhere near as badly had I been using a handle without the offset. Both the Boker and Victorinox were comfortable in the hand, with the latter having an edge due to its fat, curvaceous—not to mention slightly longer—handle, though you’d be  fine with either knife.

The Boker Black Damascus Bread Knife takes off nice, clean slices of Tuscan Boule bread. The bread has a tough rind but the serrated blade made quick work of it.

Next I took the knives outside the Bread Zone, testing them on other foodstuffs such as corned beef and Cajun sausage. Both knives sliced extremely well. Indeed, you could make an entire sandwich using these knives—but would you want to? By doing so you’d dull your serrations faster, even if minutely. It may be better to stick to bread and let your other kitchen knives share the cutting chores.

The author took the Victorinox 9-inch Sandwich Knife out of the “Bread Zone” and used it to cut neat slices of corned beef. You may or may not wish to use your bread knife in this manner, but the option is there.

 The Spyderco Blunt-Tip Z-Cut is a smaller, handier version of the two bigger models, mainly because you need not drag out a large cutting board to use it. It’s not going to slice its way through a large loaf like the Tuscan Boule, but it will whip its way through a smaller sub-style sandwich or your standard white bread lunch quickie. I also gave it a spin slicing tomatoes, portobello mushrooms and a 3-inch chub of summer sausage.  The knife performed very well and is limited only by its size.  The Blunt-Tip Z-Cut’s blade is scary sharp—not surprising since serrations have been in Spyderco’s wheelhouse for quite a while.  Where’s also a plain-edge version of the knife available—the Pointed Z-Cut.  These two make for good companion knives and the plain-edge version will cut down your use of the serrated one.

The Z-Cut proved to be a little powerhouse, taking slices off a chub of summer sausage with aplomb. The CTS BD1N stainless steel takes a sharp serrated factory edge—a Spyderco specialty.
The Spyderco Blunt-Tip Z-Cut is billed as a versatile knife for all sorts of food prep. The author sliced up some tomato and worked on a portobello mushroom cap. Note the precise slices.

CHOICES ABOUND

All of the test knives were wicked sharp. You might ask yourself, if the two large bread knives cut equally well, why pay such a higher price for the Boker? For the same reason some carry affordable Kershaw folders as their EDC and others spend much more on a Chris Reeve: choices abound in the culinary world, just as they do in the EDC realm.

*Editor’s note: Standard bread knives have conventional, straight handles.

^Medium carbon steel has a carbon content of approximately .3 to .59 percent. High carbon steel has a carbon content of approximately .6 to .99 percent. 

IT’S ALIVE! The Living Knife by Jean-Marc Laroche will grab you—literally

BLADE Staff
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IT’S ALIVE! The Living Knife by Jean-Marc Laroche will grab you—literally

“A knife capable of movement and gifted with intelligence …”
—Jean-Marc Laroche

“On fitting your hand into that of the knife, you already feel a strange clasping in response when, suddenly, the mechanical fingers close! You can’t get free! With the same movement, an eye opens and stares at you intensely. It’s awake! Now you are under its control, and the knife is master of you who dared to take it in your grasp.”

Above: The Living Knife by Jean-Marc Laroche features a mechanical hand for a handle that, as you grab it, literally grabs you back. The damascus blade is a composite of 15N20, 15LM and UHB11 high-alloy nickel and carbon steels in explosion, twist and random patterns forged by Swedish maker Roger Bergh. Overall length: 25 inches. (images courtesy of Jean-Marc Laroche)

In addition to the above, French knifemaker/artist Jean-Marc Laroche refers to his latest creation—this issue’s cover piece—as “The Living Knife.” Since it has a “hand” for a handle with “fingers” that close, an “eye” and an overall lifelike appearance, who are we to argue? As you grab the handle, the “fingers” actually grab back so that it’s hard to tell who’s holding whom. And, as the fingers grab your hand, the “eye” opens. The hand also is embellished with gears in the Steampunk style.

A close-up of the silver-plated bronze hand shows the detail of the gears in a Steampunk motif. (image courtesy of Jean-Marc Laroche)
The opening eye.

The Living Knife is indeed a most unusual creation—but then Laroche has been making otherworldly pieces for over two decades. Even by his standards, though, this one takes his knife art into uncharted territory.

“It was from the cinema of fantasy films that I drew my inspiration,” he notes. “It took me 12 years to implement my idea, six months to carry it out and a fair number of technical difficulties had to be overcome.

“Yet here it is, like a cunning thing from another time that a mad inventor out of the 19th century would have dreamed up. This biomechanical being activates its workings to move its fingers; it seizes control of the situation with its eye’s intelligence.”

The Living Knife is an assembly of mechanical parts, the prototype having been made in resin. A few rare versions in bronze, gold and silver are in the process of being forged.

“Swedish knifemaker Roger Bergh participated in this project. Indeed, I have been talking to Roger about it for 10 years and he has always been enthusiastic,” Laroche observes. “Roger first forges damascus steel to obtain various types of structures; he then assembles them into magnificent combinations. A world-renowned knifemaker, he has remained down-to-earth and open. Working with him is a real pleasure.”


In addition to knives, Jean-Marc Laroche sculpts skeletons on a lifelike scale. An example is his “Warlord,” a kind of Javanese king holding a kris.
The skeleton is resin on a steel structure. The crown is assorted animal bones, the eyes are natural quartz crystal, and the necklaces and bracelets are from “different ethnic tribes.” The knife is made from an old Indonesian kris blade, some teeth and hematite.

KNIFE SPECTACULAR

BLADE® first learned of Laroche at the 1992 East Coast Custom Knife Show, where his knives with “alien-head” handles were a show hit. The alien heads were those of animals he customized and coated with a special resin.

In 1997 Laroche’s “Mother Ship with Fighters”—a set of four knives including one large one and three smaller ones with dagger blades and curved, claw-like guards—was a winner of the annual BLADEhandmade Best In Show Award. His “Byakhee,” a spectacular knife with a handle resembling a large, bat-like bird inspired by the science-fiction stories of H.P. Lovecraft, won Best Fantasy Knife at the 1998 BLADE Show West.

Laroche introduced The Living Knife to an appreciative audience this past June at the FICX, an invitation-only knife show in Paris that also featured a few U.S. makers, including Kevin Casey. It was Jean-Marc’s first knife show since 2002. Since then he had been involved in other forms of sculpture and exhibiting them worldwide.

Actually, The Living Knife is not Laroche’s first attempt at such a piece, his “Devil Hand” predating it. However, the Devil Hand did not have the mechanical grasping capability, the same materials or other select features of Laroche’s newest rendition. Laroche said he also has made two knives similar to The Living Knife, the first being sold to the Instituto Ricardo Brennand (http://www.institutoricardobrennand.org.br/index2.html), a museum in Recife, Brazil.                   

For a video on how The Living Knife operates, watch the video below:

The Best Blade Grinds: What To Look For

Mike Haskew
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The Best Blade Grinds: What To Look For

As with most things knife, one type never fits all.

BY MIKE HASKEW BLADE® FIELD EDITOR

Finding the best blade grind for the job at hand has become the subject of some debate, but most knife users agree that certain grinds are better suited for certain functions. Combinations of steel, knife design and use influence the choice of grind.

“I’m a proponent of the right grind for the right job,” related author/knifemaker Abe Elias. “In small bushcraft knives, a thin, flat grind and a saber grind are hard to beat. It makes sense that clear cuts are best flat edged. Carving chisels have rounded convex edges to go into wood and take small cuts and come out.”

An inappropriate grind may produce drag, a ragged or erratic cut, and generally poor results. “For overall working of wood and good, straight, controlled cuts, you want a knife grind to ride flat against the surface so it cuts past certain levels and growth lines, riding flat on the wood between growth lines,” Elias added. “It’s just physics. That’s all, and nobody can really argue it.”

One of the most popular grinds for bushcraft knives is the scandi grind, and Elias describes it as a perfectly flat grind with no secondary bevel, starting at the shoulder with an angle that is perfectly flat and straight to zero.

One of the most popular grinds for bushcraft knives is the scandi grind. Abe Elias describes it as a perfectly flat grind with no secondary bevel, starting at the shoulder with an angle that is perfectly flat and straight to zero. He used it on the blade of his Woodcrafter model. (Abe Elias image)

“Scandi grinds will go on any steel you want, but there are limitations to them because of the shoulder,” he noted. “It doesn’t tend to go through soft surfaces well, such as processing meat. When the knife enters a malleable surface, it creates too much drag on the blade. Like anything else, the thinner it is the easier it enters into other masses. We run into problems when custom makers make them and factories produce them without following the golden rule of proportion. The angle should be proportional to the thickness of the steel and the design of the knife itself.”

CONVEX MODIFIED

Influenced heavily by BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Bill Moran, Bill Bagwell, and Don Hastings, ABS master smith Jim Crowell recognized early in his knifemaking career that the intent was to make a full convex grind from the spine of the blade to the cutting edge. He has adapted those original lessons through the years.

“I’ve found that it’s the edge that needs to be convex, not necessarily the whole cross section of the blade,” Jim noted. “Consequently, I have now, for many years, ground my blades flat from spine to cutting edge, stopping short of going to zero and then rolling the cutting edge on convexly. The trick is to get the geometry correct for the thickness the edge was ground to prior to sharpening in conjunction with the type and heat treat of the steel used.”

Crowell says he believes the convex grind is best for knives in the field, including bowies, fighters, and fillet knives. He uses the convex grind almost exclusively and indicates it allows for an uninterrupted transition from the cutting edge to the full thickness of the spine of the knife. No matter how thick or thin the spine of the knife, with convex geometry it will have the least amount of resistance when cutting through an object.

ABS master smith Jim Crowell has ground his blades in a modification of the convex style for many years, grinding them flat from the spine to the edge, stopping just short of a 0-degree angle, and then rolling the edge in a convex shape. His 15.5-inch bowie features W2 tool steel and walrus ivory. (Chuck Ward knife image)

As for sharpness, Jim gives the nod to the scandi grind. However, he believes that when the cutting edge is, in fact, the grind line as well, the edge itself is more fragile in comparison to other grinds.

“Scandi grinds are great,” he said, “and useful for a lot of small chores. Then there are special-purpose applications like some sushi knives that have specialized grinds. Still, for day in and day out I like and recommend the flat, convex grind.”

COMFORT MATTERS

Knifemakers tend to use the grinds they are comfortable with and which they believe fill the bill for the types of knives they make. The degree of difficulty associated with a particular grind lies more in the experience of the maker than in the grind itself.

“The hardest grind is the one you do not regularly do, and the easiest would be the one you do all the time,” Crowell reasoned. “When I started, I used to hollow grind stock removal blades. You could lay everything out and follow the lines—it is still hard though. When I started forging it was really hard because there were no layout lines to follow, and all the scale and hammer marks made it hard to tell what I was doing. Daggers are generally acknowledged to be more difficult. Some of the Russian and Persian stuff with a ‘T’ spine or center ridge would be tough.”

According to Jim Crowell, the dagger blade pattern generally is acknowledged to be more difficult to grind than most. Michael Jankowsky ground the blade to a double edge on his “Thor” model in Elmax steel and Siberian jade inlay. The engraving is by Kati Mau.(Francesco Pachi image)

“The hardest grind is the one you do not regularly do, and the easiest would be the one you do all the time.”—Jim Crowell

ABS journeyman smith David Lisch—shown grinding the blade of a custom collaboration knife to raise money for the African Wildlife Foundation in its fight to protect elephants from poachers—applied a Persian grind to his 16-inch integral fighter in Thunderbird damascus and walrus ivory. (SharpByCoop.com knife image; image of Lisch courtesy of Mark Knapp)

FACTORY APPROACH

Knife manufacturers gear their grinds for prospective use as well. Hollow grinds are usually the most efficient for manufacturing because both sides of the blade are ground at the same time. Flat grinds are ground one side at a time, and precise machining and good tooling create the even grinds for which manufacturers are known. Convex grinds are usually finished by hand, and such work is the province of a skilled custom maker.

“Hollow grinds are great for slicing,” commented Jim MacNair, new product coordinator and senior designer at KAI-USA Kershaw, “and they create a nice, thin edge geometry, and the panel of the grind stays thinner as you sharpen away the blade over time. These blades will feel very sharp because the grind scoops away more material and makes the blade thinner overall.

The hollow grind is great for slicing and feels very sharp because it scoops away more material and makes the blade thinner overall. Vasyl Goshovsky employs a hollow grind on his working knife’s 4.5-inch blade of N690Co stainless steel. (SharpByCoop.com image)

“The most obvious benefit of the flat grind is strength and toughness. The wheel is grinding a flat surface rather than a concave one like a hollow grind, and it removes less material from the blade. That added material makes the blade thicker and stronger.”

The most obvious benefit of the flat grind is strength and toughness, according to Jim MacNair. Kevin Cross flat ground the 52100 blade of his kitchen knife. The handle is spalted hickory. (SharpByCoop.com images)

MacNair sees compound grinds emerging in the custom market, including blades that feature a combination of flat- and hollow-ground bevels. These are often done to create a “cool” look, and the maker is also providing the best of both cutting options: a thin, hollow-ground edge for slicing and a thick, flat-ground tip for toughness.

Innovation continues to find its way into new and user-friendly blade grinds, while the emphasis on the job to be done is at the center of the decision. Putting the proper edge on the blade for cutting, slicing, skinning, chopping or any other task will always be primary.

SWORD GRINDS HOSTETTER’s WAY

Swordsmith Wally Hostetter focuses on Japanese blades and tailors the grind of each to its anticipated function. He forges the blades and sets up the edge geometry with hand filing.

“A lot of guys do hollow or flat grinds with a machine, but what I do has to be done by hand,” Wally explained. “I hand polish to the cutting edge, and there is no micro-bevel. Some have an appleseed [convex] edge—niku is the Japanese term—and some have the edge slightly rolled in for better cutting. For cutting heavy stuff, the niku comes to a finite edge but runs farther up the blade. There are many subtleties to it.”

According to Hostetter, other Japanese grinds, such as that found on the tanto, are fine and done to a thin edge because they are not intended for hard striking against surfaces. He uses 1095 carbon steel primarily and decides on the appropriate grind based on both the use of the blade and the historical time period that is being replicated.

Jerry Hossom makes a Navy-themed set for Capt. Ryan Heilman of the USS Nevada

Steve Shackleford
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Jerry Hossom makes a Navy-themed set for Capt. Ryan Heilman of the USS Nevada

Submariner Steel

Jerry Hossom makes a Navy-themed set for Capt. Ryan Heilman of the USS Nevada

Jerry Hossom had that twinkle in his eye again and this time it was by his table at BLADE Show in Atlanta, where he was all fired up about the latest set he had made for Capt. Ryan Heilman, USN, of the USS Nevada (SSBN-733).

Sporting Navy blue Micarta handles, the set consists of Jerry’s USN Mark I Boarding Hawk-Submariner Model, a Retribution fighter and one of his small Dog Tag knives. However, as with many edged sets, it was a project that wound up a bit larger than when it first started.


In addition to the Submariner Boarding Hawk, the Retribution fighter and smaller Dog Tag knife complete the set and are contained in a red-velvet-lined briefcase. A sign with the set’s and owner’s names appears on the underside of the briefcase lid.

“Ryan’s wife Karen wanted something for him and I made the Boarding Hawk. I dyed the handle blue and I wanted it to look like the sleeve of a captain’s uniform. Captain Heilman has four gold stripes on his uniform sleeve and this would normally be a star, but I can’t do stars,” he laughed, pointing to the brass pin above the four brass stripes on the handle. “And so I made this and sent it to him.”

The USN Mark I Boarding Hawk-Submariner Model by Jerry Hossom is part of a three-piece set Jerry made for Capt. Ryan Heilman of the USS Nevada SSBN-733), a ballistic missile submarine in the United States Navy.

Soon after that Karen texted Jerry with an additional request. “She said what Ryan really wanted was one of my Retribution fighters, and so I did that,” Jerry smiled. “And then Karen said maybe you can complete the set with one of your little Dog Tag knives.” Pointing to the Dog Tag knife, Jerry said, “So this was the last one I did last week just before the show.”

One of Hossom’s most recognizable knife models is his Retribution fighter. According to Capt. Heilman’s wife Karen it was the Hossom knife the Captain really wanted. Blade steel: Carpenter PSF-27 stainless. Handle: Navy blue Micarta® with bronze captain stripes and pin. Overall length: 13 inches.

Of course, Jerry outfitted both the Retribution and Dog Tag models with the same Navy blue Micarta handles and the brass stripes and pins to match the Submariner Boarding Hawk. In-between the stripes are thin layers of Navy blue G-10 that match the balance of the handles’ Navy blue Micarta. The handles of both the Submariner Boarding Hawk and Dog Tag knife have Jerry’s trademark palm cutouts that extend across the bronze pin and just north of the bronze stripes. The Retribution fighter, meanwhile, features a cradle handle style with the bird’s beak pommel on one end and the single guard on the other combining to form the cradle. The captain’s sleeve effect on all three is equal parts unmistakable and tastefully understated.

Hossom’s Dog Tag knife rounds out the three-piece set. As with the other three pieces, note the handle configured to resemble a captain’s sleeve with the four bronze stripes and pin. All the materials are the same for it as the Submariner Boarding Hawk and Retribution, including the blue G-10 in-between the stripes. Hossom would have made a regulation Navy star instead of the pin but, as he laughed, “I can’t do stars.”
From left, Jerry Hossom and Karen and Ryan Heilman enjoy themselves at BLADE Show In between Jerry and Karen in the background knifemaker Grace Horne interacts with a customer at her table.

Blade steel for all three pieces is Carpenter PSF 27 stainless, one of Jerry’s favorites. Respective lengths for the Submariner Boarding Hawk, Retribution and Dog Tag are 14, 13 and 7 inches. All are contained in a red-velvet-lined briefcase with a sign inside the lid that reads “USN Mark I Boarding Hawk-Submariner Model” over “Captain Ryan Heilman SSBN Nevada.”

 

For more information contact Jerry Hossom, Dept. BL10, 3585 Schilling Ridge, Duluth, GA 30096 770-449-7809 [email protected], hossom.com.

The USS Nevada

The USS Nevada (SSBN-733) is a United States Navy Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine that has been in commission since 1986. Its homeport is Bangor, Washington, and its motto is Silent Sentry. This nuclear-powered craft is 560 feet long, has a speed greater than 25 knots (29 mph) and a test depth greater than 800 feet. It boasts a complement of 15 officers and 140 enlisted men, and its armament consists of 24 Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles, MK-48 torpedoes and four 21-inch torpedo tubes.

Capt. Ryan J. Heilman, USN

Capt. Ryan J. Heilman, 

Capt. Ryan J. Heilman is commanding officer of the Blue Crew and captain of the USS Nevada (SSBN-73). He enlisted in the Navy as a machinist mate, nuclear option, and was selected for the Nuclear Enlisted Commissioning Program in 1991 and was commissioned from Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida, in 1994.

Heilman was assigned to the PCU Wyoming (SSBN 742) in 1996, where he served as Navigation Division Officer and in several other positions. In 2002 he reported as Navigator/Operations Officer to the USS Nevada. He reported to Trident Training Facility, Bangor, Washington, in 2005 as the Engineering Training Department Director. In March 2008 he became Executive Officer of the USS Nebraska (SSBN 739). In 2011, after graduating from the U.S. Naval War College with a Master of Arts degree in National Security Studies, he was assigned as a Military Professor in the Joint Military Operations Department at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. In 2013, he reported to Submarine Squadron Seventeen in Bangor, Washington, as Deputy Commander for Readiness.

Capt. Heilman is a graduate of the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College, the Navy’s Naval War College and is a qualified Joint Service Officer. His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Commendation Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal (four awards) and the Navy Achievement Medal (two awards).

How to Make the Price Guard

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How to Make the Price Guard

BY JORDAN LAMOTHE

The author fashions it in the style of the classic 19th-century maker

In 2017 I received a commission for a piece in the style of Michael Price, a mid-19th-century knifemaker whose knives are stamped “M. Price San Francisco.” The customer sent me an image of the knife I should use as my template: a spear-point bowie with elk antler scales and Price’s iconic “peanut”-shaped handle. However, he also asked me to add some filework and make it my own. This was not intended to be a replica of the historic piece.

BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Phil Lobred was a big collector of original 19th-century Michael Price knives, including this one with an abalone handle. (Eric Eggly image)

The Price knife whose shape I was to imitate was symmetrical and quite simple, but I found myself a bit baffled by the guard, struggling to answer the question, “How did he attach it?” From the single-side-view photograph I had, several explanations would have been possible: It might have been a frame handle, or the guard might have been slid on from the blade end and soldered in place; or perhaps the image was just an optical illusion, and the swell in the handle was narrow enough so that the guard could slide on from the tang.

Lacking access to the knife or to photos showing the guard/handle juncture, I voiced my confusion on the American Bladesmith Society internet forum. ABS master smith Lin Rhea responded promptly with the expertise of one who has extensively studied and taught 19th-century blacksmithing and knifemaking techniques.

Lin wrote that the knife had a full tapered tang and that Price likely “slid the guard on from the back and forged the tang wider.” Lin added that the shape of the handle would allow the guard to slide back far enough so I could still finish the blade, and the blade would have been hardened after forging the tang to shape.

The practice of passing one piece through another and subsequent forging to form a captive part is common in the traditional joinery found in ornamental and architectural blacksmithing. However, it seems to have been largely forgotten in the knifemaking realm. Meanwhile, I have always fitted the guard after heat treatment and final grinding. It struck me as a new way of thinking about the knifemaking process, one I was eager to try. With Lin’s excellent instructions, all I had to do was execute the design, carefully thinking through the order of operations.

 

FORGE, GRIND and SAND

Forging the Price-style knife was barely different from forging a hidden-tang blade—I just left the tang really beefy. I forged the blade shape and bevels and shouldered the tang ever so slightly. I left the tang as close to the stock thickness as I could for its entire length so I would have plenty of material to forge it wider and taper it later.

After forging I ground the blade to its final dimensions, knowing that any grinding would be more difficult after the guard was attached, and tapered the tang slightly on all four sides. Though I left the bevels of the blade with a 600-grit belt finish, I knew any part of the blade that contacted the guard must be finished as close to the final polish as possible. Any material removed in final polishing would affect the guard fit, so I hand-sanded the ricasso. I also sanded the edges of the tang from the shoulders back about 1 inch—any sanding beyond that would have been lost when forging the tang. In anticipation of the particular fit I wanted between the handle liners and the tang, I slightly rounded the tang’s edges. At that point, every surface contacting the guard was exactly the way I wanted it in the finished knife, and I was ready to fit the guard itself.

FITTING the GUARD

Fitting a guard for a full tang is only slightly more difficult than fitting one for a hidden tang. As always there must be no gaps between the face of the guard and the ricasso, or beneath the blade shoulders. The added challenge is that there must also be no gaps between the back side of the guard and the edges of the tang (the flats of the tang can be drafted slightly, because the handle scales will cover the transition). I used mild steel for the guard, which would be selectively blued to highlight my filework and would withstand the high heat of forging the tang. I also shaped the guard and added filework. Though these processes wouldn’t affect any of the fitting tolerances, they would have been much slower with the guard in place. I then sanded both guard faces to their final grit finish (Figure 1).

The author sanded both guard faces to their final grit finish.

BACK to the FORGE

After spending hours grinding, filing and sanding, I was ready for the nerve-wracking challenge of putting my hard work back in the forge. At the time I made the knife, I used a coal forge almost exclusively—it was the perfect heat source for this kind of forging.

In order to protect the carefully finished guard and blade, it was important to have a very isolated heat on the tang, which also allowed me to hold the blade in a gloved hand while forging to avoid galling the soft metal with tongs. A torch could also have provided such control, but a gas forge would have made it difficult. I kept my coal fire very contained so that I had a small area of intense heat to use.

To forge the peanut shape into the handle I first drew the taper in profile, keeping the thickness consistent, and then used the cross-pien on my hammer to forge the swell. Once the profile was adequate, I refined the tapers in the thickness of the tang with the face of my hammer, making sure to keep them flat or a little convex. Any “sway” in the flats of the tang would result in gaps underneath the handle scales that could not be removed by grinding (Figure 2). I then ground the forged tang to its final dimensions and drilled the pinholes. The blade was ready for hardening (Figure 3).

Figure 2

I hardened the knife using my heat-treating oven as I do on most of my knives. Nonetheless, in retrospect, heating it in the forge might have resulted in less scale to clean off the blade due to the more-neutral atmosphere. After hardening and tempering I used a torch to soften the tang, which would enable me to add the desired filework.

Figure 3

FINISHING

To finish the hardened and tempered blade, all surfaces on the knife and guard had to be re-sanded to remove oxidation. The setup sanding that I did prior to forging the tang enabled me to sand only small amounts of material off critical places—such as the ricasso and guard face—to minimize the changes to the guard fit. Though not flawless, the final guard transitions were very clean on both the front and back faces (Figures 4 and 5).

From this point forward, finishing the Michael Price-style knife was a fairly typical progression of fitting the handle materials and shaping them to meet the tang, making sure to properly mask the carefully sanded faces. After shaping the handle, I added the filework to the tang, bluing and polishing as my design required. After every piece had received its final finish, I glued them all together with epoxy and added three piened nickel-silver pins to complete the knife (Figure 6).

Figure 6

LEARNING & RE-LEARNING

The process of making a knife such as this requires more forethought and planning than most techniques that involve fitting a guard after all the forging is complete. It is also considerably more difficult to meet the high standards of fit and finish that are to be expected on today’s handmade knives. Working from a drawing helped to keep all aspects of the knife consistent with my desired result. Even so, reasoning out the order of polishing was still crucial, because each step limited access to certain places on the knife.

Such an inflexible order of operations begs the question, “Why use this process at all in our modern day and age?” If form, fit and finish are the primary goals, then using frame-handle construction would, indeed, give more reliable results for a knife of this shape. Additionally, it would be impossible to use this guard technique on any asymmetrical handles that flare directly after the guard.

From a practical standpoint, one answer is that forging the tang after slotting the guard is an expedient way to make a symmetrical handle without the meticulous and time-intensive machining that frame-handle construction requires.

Perhaps more importantly, however, practicing historical techniques shows attention to the history of knifemaking and adds a depth of craftsmanship to any given piece. It is a process of learning and re-learning that can yield different perspectives on what is possible in knifemaking, enriching the craftsperson and adding to the vitality of the craft.

 

For more information contact Jordan LaMothe, Dept. BL12, 1317 Count Rte. 31, Granville, NY 12832 518-368-5147 [email protected], jordanlamothe.com.

Medford Knife Moves For $100,000

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Medford Knife Moves For $100,000

Medford Knife listed a rendition of its flagship model for $100,000 last week and moved it out the door!

Truth be known, knives fetching six figures isn’t out of the ordinary. Typically, they’re the work of some semi-mad forging genius, who’s slaved away on his creation for months, if not years, and adorned it with the finest gold, a unique design and blood, sweat and tears. Yeah, these are the blades that get every mouth-watering and collectors scrambling for their wallets. Less common, a production knifemaker’ blade fetching such princely sums. However, this is exactly what Medford Knife did with a rather spectacular rendition of its famous Praetorian.

An intriguing rendition of Medford's flagship model, only one made.
An intriguing rendition of Medford’s flagship model, only one made. Photo: Medford Knife

Dubbed the #1 Praetorian TITAN OAK, the vibrant and exclusive version of the company’s flagship model. And on Black Friday, the folder was purchased for an impressive $100,000, an amount Geoff Oprandy, head of Medford business operations, confirm.

“Yes, $100k USD,” he said via email.

Apparently, it didn’t take long for the Praetorian to find its new owner. Oprandy said the timeline for the company’s virtual show Nov. 26 was a bit foggy, but it moved soon after it was listed.

The knife is certainly eye-catching with its colorful hand-sculpted Timascus handle and dark Damascus blade. And yes, it’s made of and includes top-end components—titanium pivot barrel, Timascus M signature clip and Lucite Safe and ZERO Halliburton presentation case. But those perhaps weren’t the driving factors in the Praetorian drawing top dollar. The knife’s description sheds some light:

The entire knife required new tooling and unique hardware as well as extensive engineering and prototype-free development. There is ONE of these knives in existence. We only had material for a single try and if it went South it would have delayed the knife for another year.

Weighing in a more than 1 pound, Medford’s top-end offering is beefy. Photo: Medford Knife

One thing can be said, if you purchased the #1 Praetorian TITAN OAK you wouldn’t have to worry about running into someone else with the same one. That’s certainly enough to motivate many buyers. What say you, would you have dropped that sort of coin to add the TITAN OAK to your collection?

The knife's Timascus handle and Damascus tanto blade are eye-catching
The knife’s Timascus handle and Damascus tanto blade are eye-catching. Photo: Medford Knife
Photo: Medford Knife
The #1 Praetorian TITAN OAK in all its glory. Photo: Medford Knife

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