Loveless Style Dropped Hunter

[irbailey]

Good Morning!

Thought I'd share my latest knife with you.

This is a Loveless pattern small Dropped Hunter.

3" blade of 4mm stock AEB-L ground on a 10" wheel and hardened to 62.5 HRC.
Sambar handle which has been toned down a bit with Fiebing's Antique Leather Paste. Fittings are 304 stainless. Sheath clip is a Mummert set up for inside R/H pocket carry as per the customer's wishes.
This is a knife of firsts for me...my first commission for over twelve years, my first knife sold with my new makers mark, my first stainless knife for years, and my first knife with a sheath clip rather than a belt loop.

Anyway, a picture's worth a thousand words, so here it is.

As always, thanks for taking time to look.

Cheers,

Ian.

 

[i4Marc]

Very nice work.

 

[Dawkind]

Beautiful rendering of a Loveless-style….

 

[Ernie1980]

That is very nicely done! What have you been doing the past 12 years?

 

[irbailey]

Thank you very much.

For the last 12 years I've just made what I want when I feel like it. I stopped doing orders after it all got a bit much for me. I only do this in my spare time, and at one point I had a six year backlog of orders. It became more stressful than enjoyable. I've recently decided to take on the odd order...just a couple at a time.

This is the other order I'm working on. A customer designed sub-hilt.

Ian.

 

[1911bphil]

That Loveless style hunter looks awesome. You have a lot of talent. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jfk1110]

Great job..... Beautiful!

 

[Hickory n steel]

Beautiful work.
A small Loveless style drop point like this is probably my dream knife when it comes to an everyday belt knife.

 

[scdub]

This is the other order I'm working on. A customer designed sub-hilt.

Beautiful work!

I have a quick question: I noticed that you have a small dished-out section on the handles of those blades and I’m curious what that’s for? Does it help the epoxy stick somehow?

 

[irbailey]

scdub - The dished out section is to make tapering the tang easier. The handle is ground with a contact wheel along it's length before being ground flat. That way you're only taking of the steel around the perimeter of the handle rather than the whole thing.

Like this....

It just makes things easier and save time and belts.

Another brilliant tip picked up from Bob Loveless in his 'How to Make Knives' book.

Thanks for all your comments. They're very much appreciated.

 

[jfk1110]

scdub - The dished out section is to make tapering the tang easier. The handle is ground with a contact wheel along it's length before being ground flat. That way you're only taking of the steel around the perimeter of the handle rather than the whole thing.

Like this....

It just makes things easier and save time and belts.

Another brilliant tip picked up from Bob Loveless in his 'How to Make Knives' book.

Thanks for all your comments. They're very much appreciated.

The little things you learn, that save time and money!!!!! Always nice!

 

[irbailey]

Absolutely! I remember reading this in the book many years ago before I had a decent grinder with contact wheels. Grinding tangs tapers was a hard job on a flat platen, especially with a low powered grinder which virtually stopped if you pushed too hard.
Using this method is ten times easier.
Bob Loveless was a seriously clever man.