Hudson in the Big Woods of the Santanoni

First I want to say thank you to all the vets out there and all or members
of the armed forces. Thank you!

I also wanted to share some pics of the Santanoni Preserve up here
in the Adirondack's.  As you can see the first picture is of my
Hudson bay knife, at rest in between making some kindling for a
camp fire.

This is one of the historic buildings on the Preserve.
  

You all have a great Memorial Day
Thank you

Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

Woods Knife forged pig tail lanyard

 






This is a past work piece with a forged steel pig tail
lanyard at the but end of the handle. I think I may
have this posted on one of my past work galleries
but thought it would be nice to post here as well.

Handle was done in tiger maple and the blade has a
light pattern and patina aged finish.  Blade being over
4 inches in length.

Thought you would all enjoy this picture.


















Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

A Vintage Style Bowie Knife

This was a recently completed vintage style bowie knife
that left my shop.

Here is some info on this Bowie. 
The blade was about 10 1/2" long with a very nice
patina aged finish and forged steel guard.  The forward
part of the blade was tapered.

The handle is tiger maple set up in a 5 pin fashion.
the sheath was antiqued a darker brown and hand
stitched set up to be worn high.

Also most of you who have followed my work know I share the same
love as all of you for being outdoors, being in the woods, hunting,
fishing, and so on. 

As I can I like to post pics and info on some of my other adventures
and passions.  Maybe even add a separate page on the blog for
this in the future.    Anyway.  On a recent walk with my wife about 5
minutes from my house a local farmer had a flock of geese sitting in one
of his fields. 

The funny thing is all the geese seemed as if they were pointing in one
direction as if they were all looking at something and never did turn around. 
Wish I had a better picture, but the best I could get is below.

thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com/

Leather Handled Carry knife

The design of this knife is similar to the kephart with a spear point blade.

The one below is a prototype I am using and testing for now.  Here is
some info on the knife.  The blade is about 2 1/4" long  and
about 1" wide.  With a handle about 3 1/8" long and yes it is antiqued
hard leather.  About 8 to 10 ounce that is epoxied and pinned to the tang
and is very flat and seems comfortable to me. 
This also has been beeswax finished.  This would also work well
with an epoxy finish.

If you have been a follower of my work you know I have done
many leather wrapped handles, and I work with leather
but this is the first flat leather (Pinned to the tang Knife
I have done)

The spine on this one is 3/32 thick with filework after
the handle.

I will give more info and show more pics and maybe
a video to show closer pictures as time goes by.

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

Vintage style Antler Neck knife from Past work

This is a custom knife I made going back to 2004 I thought
would be a nice one to share.

This was done with traditional vintage styling, with a forged blade
about 3 1/2" long and a light forge pattern, light patina
finish.

The handle is aged crown Whitetail deer antler that the tang
was drifted back into.  The handle has 2 steel pins.

The sheath was done with aged leather and hand cross
stitching around the outside.

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

How the Selection of Handle material is done

A large percentage of my handle material is wood I cut into scales
myself.  A small percentage I do buy scales. 
Below is a new section of tiger maple for me to work from.

Cutting my own scales does take more time and sometimes can be
difficult.  You never know what you will find when you open up
a piece of wood.

There is allot involved from cutting to flat sanding and fitting but
this also allows me to select each piece of handle material individually. 
If the grain isn't what I'm happy with or if things aren't going good the
wood ends up in my scrap box as you can see below.

Scrap wood that just didn't make the grade or was
from a cut off..

The final results from each piece is very rewarding.  The grain each piece
of wood takes on is very unique and individual.  Below you can see one
of my kephart knives finished in tiger maple with a hand rubbed oil finish.

A custom kephart knife on a new tiger maple board

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com/

Happy Mothers day to all Mom's