Does it have to have a purpose?

[M&J]

Have you made something because you just wanted to even if it was a knife that would not likely be used? More of the challenge aspect be that the grind, something fancy, etc?

This recent one comes to mind because of the desire to grind out a long and slender piece. It has a twin brother as well with this one having the bolsters on it.

[Ray Rogers]

I made this fillet knife because I found this pair of African fish net repair needles (is that the right word?) and thought that it would be cool. Interesting factoid on the scrimshaw: although these tools were made in Africa by African fishermen the scrimshaw is identical to that found on similar Eskimo tools. The reason is that back in the wooden sailing ship days traders carried some items that had Eskimo scrimshaw to Africa for trade and the natives copied it with little to no modification . . .

[M&J]

Nice Ray!

The quest to sell there are times it sucks some of the fun out of it. Some of the enjoyable ones have been unplanned random pieces from cut-off's that were just enough to make something with.

The Xacto knife was a bit short to reach something so this came from that thought.

[Ray Rogers]

About 20 years ago I had a scrap of some pattern weld I made and apiece of Mammoth ivory so I slapped them together to make a letter opener. Been using it ever since . . .

[Crex]

I always have in mind that the knife needs an occupation to really be called a "knife", however I'm guilty of making a few that aren't really for use, just had to make them. Yeah, probably would have been used back in the day, but not much use for one like this these days.

[M&J]

That's a visually nice combo there! An assertive menacing type of look. Have seen a variety of unexplainable pieces sell because they are outside of the "normal". I like that artistic expression and it feels good when it speaks to the collector that way.

[Crex]

Originally Posted by M&J

That's a visually nice combo there! An assertive menacing type of look. Have seen a variety of unexplainable pieces sell because they are outside of the "normal". I like that artistic expression and it feels good when it speaks to the collector that way.

Thank you, I try to make them look nice. That big hawg jaw (350#r) was just begging for a new occupation. Had been sitting on a moonshiner's shed for a year or two and had a real nice growth of lichens, oxidation and dirt. Perfect for the final patinated look I wanted. Love working through challenges like these.

Picked up a couple of Velociraptor meta tarsal bones at one of those mineral shows that just begged being used as handles. Lucky I still had some of my lapidary tooling as they were no longer "bone". Primitive looking but very comfortable with an indexing grip. Would make very good users, but doubt they'll see much action. The top one is fossilized antler (solid mineral and heavy), but the fella tossed it in the mix for free so....