Ken Erickson Knives: A Retrospective

I wish I would have kept better records. I had to have made both yours and Charlies knife one after the other. I hope I have my time line straight in my mind.
 
That's the old Westinghouse micarta if I'm not mistaken. Ken would know for sure, or at least what he was told when he purchased the material. It's good stuff.
 
hmmm on second thought, this one is a touch larger

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but it is interesting to see more variation of those
 
I think you know the backstory, Jeff. I had challenged Ken to make it from the image I supplied from the old Remington catalog pages...since he was looking for a challenge and didn't quite know what to build. I completely forgot about it after that and then he got me good at the Blade Show when he told me to come up to his room to see some of the knives he brought. To say my jaw dropped would be an understatement, since I had not only forgotten about it, I figured he'd never even make the attempt. Foolish me.

No plans. No go-by. Simply inspiration and exceptional ability.
 
Blues said:
That's the old Westinghouse micarta if I'm not mistaken. Ken would know for sure, or at least what he was told when he purchased the material. It's good stuff.
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Yes, I was told that it was old Westinghouse micarta. I have been cleaning and taking inventory and have 2 1/2 sheets of it still. The scrap parts and knives are sitting on what I have left.

Tales from the scrap pile! LOL.
This is just a small sampling that I came across as I clean the working area of my work bench. The farmers jack was the last knife I started when I put the shop in mothballs. Sad to say it works well at this point, the overall dimensions as far as frame profile not quite right. I had just started roughing out the grinds and pulled the plug on it. Single spring with catch bit.

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black mamba said:
Elliot, that first whittler you show has to be one of the finest, most difficult builds around, and sooo exact to the original.

I'd really like Ken to comment on that one.
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At the time that Blues suggested I build the knife it was far and away the most technically difficult build I had attempted. Even getting the overall "look" and dimensions right was tough. I had no example to hold in my hand and with the Remington being such a rare bird I had no one to ask to give me measurements of theirs. I was glad that the Remington reprinted catalog had some good artwork! Getting the springs , blade, locking bar and spacer thickness correct was a guessing game on my part. Charlie (Waynorth) probably can relate to me asking many times when he would post a picture of a knife to include the all important view knife makers needed, the top down looking at the back spine and the well opening! lol,

I think possibly Schatt and Morgan did a reproduction but if you ever look at one and compare to the Remington a major manufacturing difference becomes apparent. The Lock bar/tab on the Remington is tapered right along with the taper spacer. The S&M made a concession and the lock bar/tab was parallel sided. When I built mine I made it as faithful to the Remington as I could , including the tapered locking bar. I had to borrow a magnetic sine plate from a machine shop in town to grind that taper in on my surface grinder!

The actual build after working out my blade and frame profiles actually was not too terrible and did not leave me permanently scarred as I thought it might, LOL, JK.

Hope this is what you where looking for as far as comment?
 
lambertiana said:
This stockman has some of the nicest bone I have ever seen.
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Thanks for that.

What we were trying to do, (at my request to Ken), was to try to mimic the jigging he created on the cattle knife...which I'm still awestruck by.
It so much captures the feel and essence of the old timey cattle knives of yesteryear...
 
ken erickson said:
At the time that Blues suggested I build the knife it was far and away the most technically difficult build I had attempted. Even getting the overall "look" and dimensions right was tough. I had no example to hold in my hand and with the Remington being such a rare bird I had no one to ask to give me measurements of theirs. I was glad that the Remington reprinted catalog had some good artwork! Getting the springs , blade, locking bar and spacer thickness correct was a guessing game on my part. Charlie (Waynorth) probably can relate to me asking many times when he would post a picture of a knife to include the all important view knife makers needed, the top down looking at the back spine and the well opening! lol,

I think possibly Schatt and Morgan did a reproduction but if you ever look at one and compare to the Remington a major manufacturing difference becomes apparent. The Lock bar/tab on the Remington is tapered right along with the taper spacer. The S&M made a concession and the lock bar/tab was parallel sided. When I built mine I made it as faithful to the Remington as I could , including the tapered locking bar. I had to borrow a magnetic sine plate from a machine shop in town to grind that taper in on my surface grinder!

The actual build after working out my blade and frame profiles actually was not too terrible and did not leave me permanently scarred as I thought it might, LOL, JK.

Hope this is what you where looking for as far as comment?
Click to expand...
As I have said many times in the past......it's one of the best custom knives I have ever seen and handled, and without sounding arrogant I have handled many! 👌 ;)
 
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