Upcoming Trip.... Family, Friends, Bushcrafting...

I am taking a trip back to my "Home" in the PNW. It has been a year since I was last able to hug my kids, tickle my Grandkids, look into my Mothers eyes and tell her how much I love her, and share laughs with my dearest and best friends! Excited? Understatement, although I am not looking forward to the physically taxing travel. Have planned to go camping with my lovely Daughter and my 3 Grandkids (15 to 2 yrs), and get in some Bushcrafting lessons to whomever is interested (Kai, my Grandson, is 2 1/2)... Also have another outing planned with my soon-to-turn 20 yr old Son, Lieden, which we plan on doing in minimalist style.. Talk about excited! I plan on making many memories, taking plenty of pictures, and then sharing them with my tons of followers of this blog (that would be me and I think one other, LOL!) on this blog.. Returning on the 14th of July, and then have several orders I need to get completed. Stay tuned friends! I'm not only excited for the trip and great times to be had, but also to share what I think will be fun and interesting pictures of the trip... God Bless, and stay safe over the 4th! Christof

Latest Build.... Ya gotta love Oregon Juniper!

Well Mr. Lewis (my old Neighbor buddy) that ordered my first "official" custom knife, and subsequently had me build another 2 for his Grandkids, ordered yet another for his Son-in-Law Jimmy... I had gotten a sweet deal on several Solingen (Bavarian Steel Maker) Blades, and he picked out one he felt would be a good all-around blade for the outdoors and hunting.

I agreed with his choice and he agreed with mine on the scales.. Oregon Juniper..

He left the detailed choices up to me, so I picked brass for the front guard, camel bone and pitchwood for spacers, and black-on-white for spacers.

Also decided to copy my Mora and add deer antler on the butt since it adds so much (I think) to the Oregon Juniper.

I usually buy pre-made (simple punch outs) brass bolsters/guards but found a supplier online where I got a 2" x 12" bar for $32, which will make probably a hundred guards. The pre-made ones are about $3/each, so I made a smart purchase there, although it does add a bit of time cutting and shaping my own.
Here are a few shots of the shaping process, mostly done with rasps and files, then rough shape smoothed with drum sander arbors on my drill press...





















Final Sanding.......

First few coats of Tung Oil, then rubbing, rubbing, and more rubbing....

Finally, after 48 hr cure after 8 coats, the final product fully buffed and with complimenting sheath.. I'm proud of how it turned out, and although similar to my "Dream Mora", I was still able to produce a knife very similar, but still different enough to be fairly called another "One of a kind"
For larger pictures and more detail (for any who already arent aware of this), click on picture and a large version will pop up...

I've decided that it's about time for me to invest in the machine to put my "Makers Mark" or Logo, on my knives... He (that would be Mr. Lewis) came back over today (I just delivered Jimmies knife to him yesterday), and I guess Jimmy had to go show it off, and a buddy of his now wants one of my knives!! Boy oh Boy... I never would have dreamed that building one knife as a favor to an old friend would turn into this...

Hope you enjoy this build, and thanks for visiting!
I'm getting better at "progress along the way" photo taking, hopefully will get better at it.