WooHoo!!! (Several posts below.)


Here's 4 of my blades that are ready to go. I'm pretty pleased with them.

These are all Peerless 8670 Tool Steel, from 1/4" stock. Heat Treated and Cryo-Cycled by Gene Martin, Provision Forge. Awesome heavy steel, and treated by a consumate professional bladesmith. They're as good as they come!

#8 and #11 are extremely tapered tangs, 12 and 17 are slightly tapered, only a little. They're all full tang style knives.

They're finished by hand to 400, ready to either hand finish to 600 or 1000, or to blast, or to hand finish to 600 then buff to a mirror finish.

You can see my thoughts in the pin hole patterns when I built them, but I'm not limited to those if the grip material dictates otherwise.

Here's a pic...






Top to bottom...

#17, (SOLD PF) 9" overall, 4" blade. Very deep hollow grind on this one. Big grip.

#8, (SOLD PF) 8 3/4" overall, 4 1/4" blade. Lots of blade, super forward balance.

#12, (SOLD PF) 8 1/4" overall, 3 1/2" blade. Coffin handled single edged boot style pick.

#11, 7 1/2" overall, 3" blade. Real ergie handling skinner.



I'll be building these out in a while, I have several ahead of them that are pre-sold.

If you're interested in having one of these built to your own specs, just contact me, I'll make it the way you want it!

Thanks guys!!

Great looking stuff, can't wait to see the finished product!

Steve those are quality looking blades. What kind of steel is the 8670 your using? I've been out of the knife making thing for quite a while and don't know that one.

It's from a modern sawmill blade, made by Peerless. It's being used quite a bit lately.

Thanks Steve. I was using sawmill planer blades years ago, but had to temper them back so they weren't so brittle. Right now I'm carrying a knife made by a fella in Montana. His name was Rob Simonich. He passed on a couple of years ago in a terrible car wreck. His wife is still running a semi-custom knife business.





I worked in sawmills around here for a bunch of years when I was a young guy. They ground the planer blades down til they got to thin to run and then just threw them away. Great steel for knives. Sadly most all of our mills are history now.

Sweet knife, Bob. I have about 150 planer blades. They're M2HSS, I belt ground one without having it annealed, it ate about 7 belts! (Look at the Maple gripped knife on my gallery page up near the top, my 6th grind.) I cold ground 3 more in a water bathed stone wheel. Took hours. Now, I have to have them annealed or I'm just not going to mess with them anymore. They're too hard on me and my equipment!


Here's 3 more, ready to build...

These are from an antique sawmill bandsaw blade, probably from the 50's. They're 1/8" thick. Probably L6, but I'm still researching. They're also Treated and hardened by Gene Martin, Provision forge.




#5, 8 1/4" overall, 3 1/2" blade. Short Hunter, real grippy.

#4, (SOLD!) 9" overall, 4 1/2" blade. False edge on the spine, kitchen or camp style knife.

#3, (SOLD!) 8 1/4" overall, 3 3/4" blade. Lite utility style, nice handling.

These knives are thinner and more precise handling than the 8670. They'll be a little bit cheaper. They can grip up nice or basic.

Contact me if you want to reserve one!

(I have 3 1095 blades and 2 more 8670 blades that I'm still cleaning up and rubbing out!)

Oh, hey! I forgot about this one.

This little 3 finger knife was custom ordered with every i dotted and every t crossed. So, just to be sure, I built 2! He took #14.















#15 is SOLD! 6" overall, 2 3/4" blade, air hardened A2 tool steel. Convex grind.

The knife built is almost identical, built with silver pins, stainless mosaic pins and lanyard tube, and Exhibition grade desert ironwood. (I took 2 pictures because this is such an awesome piece of wood! I HAVE MORE OF IT TOO!!!) Bookmatched scales, but there's so much figure you can hardly tell! Black carbon spacers. Hand rubbed 600 grit finish.

I realy like the looks of ironwood my last 3 customs have ironwood handles, the wood on yours is outstanding.
Great job.
Gary

Just beautiful work Steve. I've got some ironwood around here I've been thinking of using for a set of grips on my Taurus Ultra-light snubby. My father in law is a amature wood worker and he picks a lot of ironwood up when he winters in Arizona. He's given me several bunches of his scraps.

Yup I ran into the same problem with the planer blades. You've got to anneal them before grinding then temper them back to a reasonable hardness. I never beat one into shape, but always wanted to try forging one. I like small knives with 3.5 inch or under blades.

I ran a small gunsmith shop for a bunch of years and the knife making was just a hobby for me though I did sell a few. I'm not near the artist you are.

I used to make steak knife sets out of the big band saw blades. There was always a lot of that around as we would brake one once in a while and it was easy to grind without annealing.

I sure appreciate good work, thanks for the pix.

Wow Steve it really turned out nice!! Can't wait to get my hands on it!! I want you to know I appreciate you making me the custom from a pic.

Hope it works out right, berettaman! It's as pictured, only with the mods you asked for. It's sharpened sticky at every molecule of the edge! (400 belt until it pulled a real even foil along the whole edge, then blended and stropped on the oiled 600 paper, then finished with the steel.) Careful with that pig sticker!!!

Thanks for the fun project!




#3 is spoken for.
#4 also.
#8 is back up again....

#17 is Sold PF.




#8 ' s buyer is out of work and had to back out, so Blade #8 is back on the block.

That's what I like about A-2 Steve, it just gets so sharp it's scary!! Please let me know when you ship it! Thanks!

Gary, no only is Desert Ironwood beautiful it is extremely stable which is also important to me. I've got a couple of custom knives done up in that wood that are 35 years old and have not checked or anything and still as beautiful as the day I got them. I rub teak oil on all my handles sometimes but really not necessary with the ironwood.

More shuffling, now 11 is back up and 17 is sold.

I'm going out to clean up 3 1095 blades, I'll post them later today if possible.

Ok, here's 3 blades in 1095. Heat treated and Cryo-Cycled by Gene Martin, Provision Forge. 3/16" thick, slightly tapered tangs...






#18, (SOLD PF) 8 1/2" overall, 3 1/2" cutting edge. Deep skinner.

#10, (SOLD PF) 9" overall, 4 1/2 cutting edge, single edged boot.

#9, (PULLED to be built to spec...) 8 1/2" overall, 4" cutting edge, traditional multi-purpose.

#10 Single edged boot blade has been spoken for.

15 is sold

Here's #3....







Here's #4....







Both were custom gripped to the buyer's specifications. #3 has a matching enclosed reed echo chamber bleat/bawl call.

#8 and #18 are Reserved...

#15, and #10, both basic and clean working knives...

Micarta and Brass,





Desert Ironwood and Nickle,



Both will wear Kydex....

Oh I like both of those but I am drawn to #10 for some reasson Looks real nice Steve perfect.

I feel the same way about #15...how long are those blades?

Joe

Joe, #15 was 6" overall, handy little A2, "3 finger knife" for a member here...



#12 is also taken now....








.

4 of you guys had Kydex coming on these, so I waited until I got them all done to spend a kydex afternoon!

Steve I got the knife today and am very pleased with the craftmanship and deseign of this knife ,very well done. It is a smaller knife with a lot of back bone to do fish cleaning all the way up to the bigger chores a good all around knife . Anyone in the market for a great blade talk with Rainshadow great knives at a good price with porject updates cant beat that.

Blade #12



















Musk Ox bolsters, Nickle Pins, Quilted Sapele Scales, White and Brick Carbon spacers.

I really like this Coffin handle once it's finished, looks very cool and feels great in the hand. Gonna do more of these, that's for sure!




.

Here's #18.




















Deep skinner with a hefty grip, Mid Range build. Moose Antler double bolsters, Red/white carbon spacers, Musk Ox Horn Scales, Nickle pins, Stainless Mosaics and Lanyard Tube. Stabilized.

Very nice Steve!!

Steve,
They are all beautiful! Are there any left?

Thanks Gentlemen.

5, 11, and 9 are left from this batch. I'm expecting a batch of (I think) 7, back from the heat treat any time now. I think 6 of them will be the last numbered blades. I'll post them here in this thread when I get them.

#11 is sold pending funds...

5 and 9 are still available...




Here's 6 more back from heat treat......



Starting top left at 19, and going as reading thru 24, They'll all be marked and numbered. 19 and 20 are dremeled, 21 and up will be etched.





These are all 8670 Peerless Tool Steel. I've blasted them to clean them up, but will finish them out when I build them. No more blasted finishes on Carbon blades.








Thanks guys!

22 (middle right) is taken...





.

Rainshadow would you be willing to sell the blades unfinished as blanks? I really like the look of #21

Once I get past 25 I will, but not now.

Here's # 17, Moose antler double bolsters, Brown Mallee Burl, Nickle Silver Pins, Stainless Tube.

Beautiful!!!

# 11 For the Bocote man! Moose Antler, Bocote, Brass, Dark Red Carbon....

Oh yea! #11 is mine. Thanks to my wife for the extremely early Christmas present and thanks to Steve for the fantastic job! He knew what I wanted even better than I did.

#5 is taken...

Ol' #11 showed up in my mailbox today, and it's a beauty! The sheath is a THICK, heavy duty piece of leather that'll last a lifetime, with some scrolls and my inital stamped in - beautiful! And if that weren't enough, there were two calls in the box that are real screamers. Not sure what Steve has planned for those calls, but they sound great.

I'm glad I got one of the numbered blades. Get one before they're gone!

Thanks, Steve - great job!

Thanks Steve, I'm sorry for the confusion! Hope that piece serves well and you get many years of pleasure and use out of it.


In case you missed it, here's #22....

That call & matching custom knife are super nice Steve!!

Thanks Larry!


Here's #5. I didn't expect it to come out so nice, honestly. But I cut into a fabulous piece of cocobolo, and the butt (which is the actual back edge of the antique sawmill blade) turned out beautiful! Spaced with silver carbon and bolstered with bone... a favorite of my designs.

Pics...

Another winner! Very nice!!!!!

Steve,

#5 turned out EXACTLY how I wanted it to. I can't wait until i get to try it out. Thank you very much.

Jay

Jay, I've been practicing my edge geometry on that heavy 8670, and when I got to this 1/8" L6... well, it's just STUPID sharp! I really have to respect it when I handle it, it cuts what it touches!

I'm gonna start calling that design the "Troy Special!" It makes a difference when you happen onto a piece of wood like this one!

Just dyed the sheath, it'll head out Friday.

#19 is off the block, I'm going to build it myself for Spec.

I have 21, 23, 24, and 25 in the numbered series, and I just got a BUNCH back from heat treat. I'm going to be photographing them individually and posting them. I also got my budget blades back, I'll be photographing them too.

#20 is taken now too...


Here's #9 in case you missed it...






And #19.....

Here's a few more 8670 Blades for Custom build orders....



SOLD! The LAST numbered series blade!!! SOLD!





Humpback bowie.





Humpback skinner.





SOLD! Deep skinner, erg handle. SOLD!






Flat grind hunter/skinner, erg handle.





Flat grind hunter skinner.





Coffin handle boot skinner.




.

Here's 23....


















Had a repeat customer see the Laminate series I've been posting up here, and asked for a Call Style Knife! I've been making Knife Style Calls, but this is my first knife with laminate game call influence! It's a base block of Zebrawood, with Red Pauduk and Black Palm white spaced Lams. Then it's pinned with 10, 1/8" Hickory pins and 1, 1/4" Oak pin. My first wood pinned knife!

That's WILD! Very nice.

Here's #20, a matched set, for the Bocote Man!

Absolutely beautiful, Steve! Thanks very much!

Here's #25, etched maker's mark and number.

Buffalo Horn Double Bolsters, scaled with Wooley Mammoth Ivory. Pinned both in Gold (Brass) and Silver (Nickle). The Buff pins and lanyard tube are silver, the Mammoth pins are brass. The Mosaics are silver tubes with gold clover leaves.

Here's some pics...

Fantastic Work! This one's mine fella's, first class working art by a great craftsman.

Steve, thanks for putting this together for me. Truly awesome!

Here's #21. I won't post the sheath, as somebody might figure out who's getting this for Christmas!!!

It's Moose Antler double bolstered, scaled with Desert Ironwood, pinned with a mosaic lanyard tube, a mosaic 1/4", silver nickle, hickory, Oak, and more silver nickle. All lined with red carbon.

Here's some pics....


































Merry Merry Christmas, Guys!!!




!

Awesome work Steve! Congrats to all the new owners of Steve's
outstanding craftsmanship!! A very wise investment, get 'em while you can! Merry Christmas!
Dave

Great looking knifes, those handles are a work of art.

Glenn

Steve, number 25 showed up in the mail It's a great knife and the sheath is way cool.

Thanks for the awesome job!

That is some pretty work!

Steve, those are great looking.
I have a question for you. I am trying to make a handle for my knife. Do you put a clear coat on the handles? and if you do, do you apply it after glueing the handles to the blade or before? Again, very nice...........

Thanks guys.

No, nboost. No clearcoat. They have to be built tight, then stabilized, then oil and wax buffed. There's no "finish" on them, it's just the hand work before hand that makes them shine.

Got another batch back from my Heat Treating Bladesmith today!

Good variety, some D2, some ATS34, and 10 more Budget blades.












These are all built now, check the budget blades for sale thread.










These are the D2, Fired and Cryo'd. This is Super steel. There was actually come confusion at first since the manufacturer of the planer blades these came from said, "They're such good D2 they're almost M2!" Turns out they're D2, but it is a higher grade D2... This is fantastic stock. Numbered D2-1, D2-2, and D2-3. These will be built to order and quoted individually based on the build.







These are the ATS34 Stainless Blades. Fired and Cryo-d. Several designs. These are sweet blades! Also will be built to order and quoted individually based on the build. Numbered A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5.



Let me know if you want any one of these fresh blades!

Here's #28...

Another High end Musk Ox build. Mirror Finish. 2-tone sheath is underway, built, but unfinished.

Buffalo Horn Double Bolsters, Silver Pins, White Carbon Spacers, Musk Ox Lam inside Musk Ox scales. Brass Lanyard.

WOW! What a gorgeous piece of art.

A1 is also sold.

Here is D2-#3.

Desert Ironwood, Red Spacer, Nickle Pins, Stainless mosaic and Lanyard, thumb traction .... Sorry for the poor pics! I'll edit after I build the sheath. In a hurry today....

WOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!!



Thanks for the teaser pictures Steve!

Work of art my friend.

Here ya go, Scout...

Better pics of D2-3...





















Sheath is still curing a little, so it'll ship Monday.

Did #30 for Spec... SOLD

Here's A3, Custom Ordered. Nickle, Micarta, Desert Iron... Blast Finished...














You're up NEXT, Knock'emdown!!!

A5

Knock'emdown's Knife!



















Buffalo Horn bolstered, Bookmatched Sonoran Desert Ironwood (They look very different, but a close look will confirm, this is the same piece of wood slabbed in half! Great figure!), Silver Nickle Pins, Mosaic in place, stainless tube, bronze and brass inner pins.

HOLY FRIGGIN' DOG POOP!

That's mine???

YOU ARE THE MAN, STEVE! It looks just incredible! Better than I could have imagined!

I am not worthy

Your right Knock 'em...your not worthy better send it to me! haha j/k That thing is sweet!
YNH

Another beauty Steve, but then they all are!

Thanks guys... I appreciate it every time.

Packing it up tonight, Fred!









Here's some more steel ready for custom build.....



Damascus 1






Damascus 2






Damascus 3





D2 - 4
(Larger holes drilled for balance, they won't be used, they'll disappear under the grip.)





D2 Hidden Tang 1






D2 Hidden Tang 2






D2 Hidden Tang 3

Those damascus blades are beautiful!

Thanks Steve, I bought the billet from a blacksmith who sells on e-bay, Craig Barr. I ground those 3 blades from it and had them heat treated. Then I cleaned them up and etched them out. I'm really happy with how they came out!

Great job Steve!!!

Thanks Larry,

Damascus #1 is reserved...

Steve those Damascus blades look fantastic you did a superb job on them. I hope you post some finished pictures when they are done so I can drool. Im a real sucker for Damascus I love the stuff Kerry

Definately will, Kerry. I'm getting some real fancy and intricate build inquiries on them! Hope they come out like they deserve!

FINALLY!!! #8...

Checkered Moose Antler, Black Carbon Spaced, Nickle pins, Stainless Mosaic Tubes...



















Will wear a black leather sheath.

That last one is very nice Steve. That antler looks good. I can't wait to see the Damascus blades finished.
Nice work.

Jim

Steve where do you get your carbon spacer material.

All the knifemaking supply houses stock it.

Here's A1


Black Micarta, White Nylon, ATS34 Stainless, All Blasted, Nickle 1/8" pins, brass 1/4" pin...

This one got snagged, in person, before it even got posted. Same guy as A1. He wanted all 2 of my big picks!


ATS34 Stainless, 12" overall, Buffalo and Leopardwood, Silver hardware...

I've been CAUGHT! My wife caught me looking at your knife pictures and was sure I was
A: Looking at porn.
B: Instant Messaging with a young hottie.
C: Had a stroke.
I guess it was the far away look in my eyes and the drool on my shirt?
If you don't mind, I'd like to print out a picture of that last knife and hide it from her.

Print away! Thanks Weas!

Here's a new sheath design this customer & I came up with...

It's two layers of leather, a front, a fitted middle layer, then the back layer is Kydex, molded to the knife. The belt clip is fitted and spring loaded, but can be manipulated for easy on/off.

I'll be making more like this!

Beautiful stuff Steve!

Steve those look fantastic

Thanks, I'm really tickled with the design, very slick.


Hey Guys... I've got several orders on the pegs, but I'm waiting for components on all of them! Soooooo..... #24, #31, and #A2 have been pulled to be built on speculation and will be placed up for sale soon. Probably by April 1 or 2. They're all built, just have to do the finish work, and photograph them!

Also... as soon as I get the next batch back from heat treat (very soon), I'll be updating the photos of the blades that are still up for sale, and posting them right here in the tail end of this thread, so it's easier to see what's available.

I'm leaving all the old photos, so you can look back and see the blank that the finished knife came from. But if you're interested in a Custom, watch here for the updated pics... All available blades will be posted together.

Feel free to PM any questions or inquiries.

Steve,

Man your stuff is really looking great. I really like the checkered moose antler knife, that thing is sharp...

As of Today, 4 / 9 / 2009 , These are the blades I have available for sale/build...



All of these have been ground by me, and heat treated by Gene Martin, of Provision Forge... except for the 3 production units, of course.

Lettered A thru X. Please feel free to contact me and ask specific questions... or to request dimensions and close-ups. (The production Chef's Knife at the bottom center is 12.5" overall.)

A and B are 8670 Tool Steel.
C thru J are ATS 34 Stainless.
K, L, M, are production 440C Stainless.
N thru V are D2.
W and X are Damascus

J is sold...

Here's a couple pics of Damascus #1...


Ended up doing an elk antler grip, triple spaced, with musk ox ends and silver nickle pins. I put a twist damascus guard on it. Came out really nice!

D2 Specialty Bird Blade "R" is also Sold...

This is what "N", "O", and "P" will look like...

















This is the "Yu-tin" model. The first model I'm going to try to make the same as the last one. I'm giving this one to the Apache Guide on the San Carlos Rez who found likely Cougar country with me (and it ALMOST paid off! We had one yelling at us!) He didn't know this was coming.

If you'd like a similar one, Please let me know. I have those 3 and will make more. They'll all be different, but the same, as handmade items tend to be!

Damascus Blade "X" is also Sold...

Dibs has been called on production blades L & M as well....

Love the damascus knife Steve. A great piece of work from the hands of a true craftsman!!!

Jim

Man I wish I was made of money!!


You have been putting out some SCHWEET blades buddy!

Thanks guys!


Damascus blade "W" is also claimed....

Blade "I" has been claimed...

Ok...



HERE'S AN UPDATE OF WHAT I HAVE AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW....










Feel free to contact me for more info!



Thanks!

That's a beautiful assortment of blades Steve

Good choice Barry. That one is as good as it gets.

Dang nice work there Steve! I agree with Barry on the damascus and wouldn't mind having one myself one of these days. Keep up the good work...

Thanks guys, I truly appreciate it.

Barry, I'll send you a note soon, we'll start the dialogue. I'd LOVE to do a matched husband wife set!

Barry, you made a good choice of steel! I really like that design too! You will be happy!!

Here's Blade "W" aka Damascus #2, and a custom ordered set of Fancy Necker Knives....



"W" built with Moose Antler, Buffalo Horn, silver pins, and an acrylic inlay. It's sheathed with a custom checker pattered decorated sheath with the form fitted kydex back and a snap closure over the finger hook.





























The Necker Knives, built with customer supplied Antler, Turquois, and Silver Pins. Blast finished S30V Stainless, polished grips, and custom inlayed Crown carvings special requested by the buyers. These will also be sheathed with the Kydex/Leather combination sheath, but the design will work for lanyard as well as belt carry.














Here's the double duty sheaths...



They'll hang from the neck, or clip on to the belt as crossdraw units. I'm really happy with them, they came out great!

Steve...PM sent Todd

Got it Todd, Thanks for the note.

Got these three all finished out today. All three for hunting-washington members... Blade "J" and Blade "R" are here, the damascus was a complete one-off, ground up, custom order...









Top is a Black Micarta gripped ATS34 Stainless Bird/Trout/Boning knife. Killbilly, Robodad, and I were at my dining table looking at a heavily modified, kinda shabby Case knife I sheathed for a friend of Robodad. We thought it was a neat idea, so I built one, and Killbilly just had to have it!









Middle is Teacherman's knife... Finally!!! Frank Isom damascus billet, ground by me, gripped with Moose antler and Amboyna burl, pinned with brass, and inscribed with the date of build, the birthday boy's initials, and black bear tracks. All CA stabilized. Came out really nice. What a sweet handling knife!











Bottom is Craig's three finger caping skinner. ATS34 and Jerusalem Olive Wood. Sweet little worker. It's a slight modification of my #1 knife. Sorry it took so long Craig! (The wood actually came from Israel! I thought it was in a warehouse here, but it came from the desert!)














Again, sorry for the delay, guys! I'm back in the saddle now!

Very nice Steve!!
The Damascus knife is a great piece of work.

Jim

Thanks Jim! I've got your blade set aside, but haven't got to it yet. Check out the Buffalo Skinner in a thread I'm posting up now, I'm thinking of using that rubber for part of it... soemthing new, I'll practice on you!

Thanks Steve but don't worry about me. My next day off work will be in November. Keep up the good work!!

Jim

Great to see you are still working your artistry Steve! I'm droolin' ova hea...

Here's #27, Also billed as "A"...

Here's a LOT of 6 Frank Isom Damascus Blades.

They've all got welded mild steel tangs, ground, tapered, and then heat treated for hardening and temper. Isom damascus is some of the most beautiful steel I've ever dealt with. These will be awesome knives...






































Sorry for the low quality, dining room table pics... but they're good enough to get the idea.

Let me know if you want to have a project built up on one of these!!!


Thanks guys!