In the Shop - Lots of Kitchen, Hunting and Fillet Knives with plans for Jade!

[Redrummd]

I am preparing to carve a kitchen set for my Jade Symposium entry so I am doing some practice sets. Repetition is really needed to get the lines just right and the same from side to side. In addition the bright green Jade is incredibly difficult to polish to a high gloss as the mix of water on the wheel and the drag on the knife need to be just right or the Jade will "orange peel". So, tomorrow I start the Boulder Creek Jade set I plan for entry unless I get some bright green Ogden mine Jade from Jade West in June. If I do get the Ogden mine Jade I want to do a set in that Jade and then decide which I "feel" to be the better of the two.

Here are a set of photos of two of the sets.

2102PCS - 2106PCS

 

[Redrummd]

Here is another of the Boulder Creek sets I finished yesterday.

Redrummd 2106PCS - 2109PCS

 

[Redrummd]

This set was done with a very fine grained piece of Jade from the Frazer River in British Columbia. This Jade takes a high gloss polish fairly easily. The sad thing is this is all I had of this cobble.....

 

[Redrummd]

I have finished the set of four that will most likely be the set entered into the Jade Symposium show. I plan to get up to Canada to buy the Ogden mine Snowflake Jade being held for me by Jade West and once I cut this Jade I will make my final decision.

I though I would share the photos of the potential Jade Symposium set with you and I would be interested in your thoughts on both the looks of the set and the planned display on the burred maple burl.

 

[testdw]

Mike, the Jade is beautiful and I especially like the contour of the handles. The Maple Burl is exceptional to display your knives. As always, your artful talent is the BEST.
Dennis

 

[aksockeye]

I would really like to see your Snowflake set, even if you choose to submit the Frazer set.

 

[Redrummd]

aksockeye - I will not be doing Ogden snowflake as Jade West does not have any left. I hope they find more this mining season but probably will not know until late October when they bring the Jade down to their Jade yard in South Surrey, British Columbia.

 

[Redrummd]

I finished four more kitchen sets using Jade from the Jade West Polar mine. So, here are a few pictures of one of the sets in Polar Jade.

 

[Redrummd]

Here is another set from the very same piece of Polar Jade. It has much more of the white and "water" Polar Jade.

 

[testdw]

Michael,

These two Kitchen sets of Polar Jade are stunningly beautiful. Glad you are able to get the highest quality Jade. By the way, we sure love our 6 Steak Knife Gem Grade Jade set. It is amazing to see how friends and relatives react when they see your creations. Thanks again, Dennis

 

[Redrummd]

I just finished up three more sets using another piece of Polar Mine Jade that is darker than the last piece and thought I would post a few pictures of one of the three sets. I have yet another set in a different version of Polar Mine Jade that I should finish in September. It seems each piece works differently even in Jade from the same mine....

 

[hohenstreetroa]

Absolutely beautifully done, Michael!

 

[Redrummd]

A few months ago I got another block of the Polar Mine Jade that Kirk Makepiece selected for me! It is what I call "tiger stripe" Polar jade due to the pattern running through it. It is a WONDERFUL fine grained AA Jade that sands and polished easily. The block is big enough to do 7 Kitchen sets and these are photos of the first set I did with this piece. A few of you may recognize this Jade as this is the 2nd block I have managed to get but this block was much larger than the last one.

 

[Redrummd]

Here are a few photos I took of the Jade projects I am currently working on. The scales cut will take about two months to finish....

 

[David Stifle]

That jade is stunning! Beautiful work, Michael.

 

[Redrummd]

All of the scales have now been pre-formed which basically means carved and sanded close to the final size necessary for fitting to the knives. In fact I have just today finished polishing of the first 3 kitchen sets and two skinners. These photos were taken with just the window light from outside the shop and you can really see the polish the Jade has. The Jade used takes a pretty much mirror gloss. I took the photos before even doing the final clean up so they will look even better when they are done.

 

[David Stifle]

Michael. I think you need to get some glamour shots of your best work and post some pictures, or maybe even a WIP, in the customs forum. I sense you are busy, perhaps too busy, but your work needs to be seen by a wider audience of people who appreciate work of this kind. I still fully intend to send you one of my knifes some day fairly soon for you to do your magic on.:thumbup:

 

[Redrummd]

David,

I just don't like self promotion. So, I just let people find me for the most part. Heck, even Jade West found me! Kirk Makepiece, the owner, happened to attend a Jade group get together and I had a bunch of my knives with me and here we are today with over 12 thousand looks at this Jade knife thread.

Now, on Saturday and Sunday I will be attending the Jade Symposium up in Vancouver B. C. as I have one of the display sculptures - a four knife kitchen set! Voting for the people's choice ends in two day so if you want you can vote for my work. I have a link in the thread probably just below or above this one for the Jade Symposium.

Thanks for the kind words about my work too......