Custom knife request

[Ephraim]

Hello,

This forum was recommended to me. I was wondering if anyone would care to give me a quote on a custom knife. I am a Bookbinder and had a knife made for me a few years ago by a local knife maker. I can no longer locate him, but have had many requests by other bookbinders for this exact knife (used to pare the edges of leather). It is a cross between German and English designs for bookbinding leather knives.

I do not know what steel he used to create the knife, but it is so hard that you cannot sharpen it by hand. (I use a Tormek water wheel to sharpen it) It holds an edge for a very long time yet it is not very brittle. In normal use, the knife is held horizontally and sliced along the edge with the tip dragging on a marble or Limestone surface. It is possible to pare the leather finer than .002" with relative ease.

The knife I have is functional and tough. I would like something that looks more elegant, but with the same style. (The steel is dull and relatively unfinished and shows grind marks from it's manufacture, the Zebrawood handle is functional but not beautiful) Even as hard as the steel is, the Tormek sharpener leaves a beautiful edge on it, so I know it could be polished better. I assume it is NOT a stainless, but do not know for sure.

The steel is about 1/6" thick and the handle is 3/4" thick.

I have attempted a crude ascii art drawing showing the dimensions of the knife.

                  1 5/16"
                 |------|
            _
            |    |\
            |    | \    ___ Sharpened this edge only
            |    |  \  /     top side only
            |    |   \/
            |    |    \ 
            |    |     \    _
         5 1/4"  |      |   |
            |    |      |   |
            |    |      |  3 3/8"
            |    |      |   |
            |    |      |   |
            |    |      |   |
            |    |      |   |
            -    -------'   -
            |    |   |
            |    |   |
            |    |   |
         4 1/2"  |   |
            |    |   |
            |    |   |
            |    |   |
            |    |   |
            -    -----

                 |---|
                  3/4"

[Trenton Entwistle]

If you take and post a picture of the knife, I'm sure it would help a lot.

Trenton

[John I Shore]

Can't be difficult, only need a pic to see what you are referring to. Based on the design it would be simple to make, making it pretty is the easy part. Let me know if I can help.

John I.
Messermacher

[Crex]

Very simple design and mechanical geometry. ?1/6" or 1/16" (just curious mostly)?
As suggested above, a good picture or two would help clarify. Bling is not a problem for any of the talented makers here. I would think the handle a bit rough on the hands based on your "sketch", a little stiff so to speak, however it would be your preference for sure.
What kind of price range you expect will dictate the amount and quality of the bling. The knife design/mfgr itself would be very easy to accomplish.

Another curosity...not a bookbinder, but a sheath/holster maker....why do you need to cut on stone? I use a marble slab for tooling and stamping, but a teflon cutting board for any cutting.
Not trying to disrespect your talent and skills, but your blade edge would last much longer using a teflon cutting board.

[RandyScott]

Here is a link that contains photos of bookbinder knives and a video link of skiving on a marble slab.

http://jeffpeachey.wordpress.com/knife-catalog/

[Crex]

Thanks Capn Tapemeasure! Very informative link. Now understand what Ephraim was describing and why the stone backing. Always just called it a skiver blade. Yes, very simple and quick to make. Pricing would all be in the bling factor.

[BladeWorx]

i know im three years late...but i can do this, if you still need . email me at bladeworx@rocketmail.com