Finished this today for tomorrow delivery: 440C blade professionally heat and cryo treated, Scales are presentation grade mother of pearl, the pins at nickel and domed. The spine has file work and hand engraving includes fire department maltese cross and the other side a state paramedic patch.

Beautiful knife, Rich.

Awesome

Beautiful work Rich!

Very nice! thanks for sharing

looks beayootiful :)! the pearl looks wonderful - wish i could get a loser look... must feel amazing to make such high quality work? :)

Beth I am not sure how to answer that..I like this knife a lot,,not sure I have made one better ever..But I not only find faults but I know that somehow I have to get better. May just never end..I do find that early on it was easy to improve. My mind is full of ideas for more..just h ave to figure out how to do them. SAme thing as smithing, learn then find a need to learn,,etc forever!

Another beautiful knife Rich!


Mitch

Rich,

Thats the ugliest knife I ever saw. Please send it to me and I will dispose of it in due proper manner! :D

yes rich i knew you would not be entirely satisfied with such a beauty - becasue if you did not have the drive to improve you would not have made such a beautiful body of work in the first place.. you can be pleased without being finished i guess! thats the joy of a proper learning curve eh? the whole process is an addiction.. wonderful wonderful work though, and even though i will never make a blade myself i shouldnt have thought, i am truly inspired by the Level of craftsmanship and passion for the task, and i aspire to the same type of thing myself.. one day :)

Really great knife Rich! It is nice to see you post a pic of one of your knives again. Could you explain the components of the scales? I understand the mother of pearl section, but what metal was used in the bottom half of the handle that appears to flow up to form a bolster as well? That is really slick! Did you do the engraving as well?

Wish I could see the file work as well. Your knives always have a nice flow to the lines.

Robert

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The metal on the sides is 416 ss, pinned in place. I did do the engraving. Here are pics of the other side and of the file work.

Rich, your work never ceases to amaze. The quest for perfection is never done, no matter how close one gets.
Tim

Awesome Rich! Thank you for the additional pictures. I've tried my hand at engraving, back in art school. Not the easiest skill to learn, and that was on plexiglass and zinc plates. I really enjoy looking at the File work of others. I've learned so much from you and the other Bladesmiths here. Thanks for sharing your hard won knowledge.

Until I actually tried to make a KSO, I didn't even know that people still did this the "Old Fashioned Way".
That is how I stumbled on this(IFI) amazing website. Again, Thanks for posting Rich.

Robert

That is a gorgeous knife.

Hey Rich, how long does it take you to complete a knife like this?

It's pretty majestic.