My daughter, Martine, ordered a couple "Bushcraft" knives. The following are what I built for her:

The thru tang blade is hand forged fron 1095 high carbon steel. Forged to shape, it was then hand finished, to a satin. The knife is 10" overall. It has been differentially heat treated, and has a nice hamon. The bolster is poured lead free pewter, hand finished. The handle is Arizona Elk slabs with black and white spacers with stainless pins and a brass thong hole liner.

The sheath is from 10 oz. prime top grain veg tanned leather. It is hand stitched with faux sinew and has copper rivets at stress points. The sheath features a sharpening stone pouch riveted on the face. An accent string featuring beads, turquoise (faux), and a piece of Coues Deer antler. The sheath is double treated with neatsfoot oil.

The second knife is made from 1075Cr1 carbon tool steel, hand forged and hand finished to satin. The knife is 10" overall length. The handle is stabilized Prime Arizona Ironwood with copper handle rivets, and a copper thong hole liner. The blade spine is fileworked. The differential heat treating has left a nice hamon.

The sheath is from 10oz. Prime top grain veg tanned leather. The hand stitching is silk and there are stainless threaded rivets at stress points. Two cut-outs feature broken turquoise inserts. The basketweave is hand tooled, and is antique stained. The entire sheath is double coated with neatsfoot oil.

Just completed this piece and shipped it out. A couple years ago I joined "Classmates.com", and reconnected with a few folks I had been in high school with. One of these was one of my best friends, a guy named Jim. We have been communicating off and on since then. Jim ordered a knife from me, and this is what I shipped to him. I told him I could get it to him in around 30 days, but "stuff" complicated that, and it took three times longer than I planned. My friend has been patient, and I am very thankful.

The knife is hand forged 5160 high carbon spring steel 3/16" thick, full tang . The drop point style blade is double tempered and finished to a satin. The bolster is textured cast iron. The handle scales are Arizona Premium Ironwood, in a palm swell design, with pins and a thong hole. The spine is hand filed, and the Indian Creek makers mark is in the handle section. This piece has some heft to it, but fits well in the hand and is balanced.

Okay...I'm here to ammend the information in the post below this about "my personal carry knife". My lovely daughter in Utah, wanted one like it, and being staunchly committed to never make two knives exactly alike. I tried to make her a knife similar to the one I carried. I planned to use a file as blade material for her. Well, I ended up being unable to get the file knife to heat treat and temper to a finish I was pleased with. Many new files being made are not close to the steel of "older" ones, and can present an issue with heat treating. So, I sent the knife she liked to the mother of two of my fine grandsons. May she use it in good health and safely !! I did recently in answer to requests from clients, build a few "kitchen" knives. I've warned everyone that my "kitchen" knives could and will be made from high carbon steel. I will make some stainless knives as well.

For some time now, when I'm displaying my work in an effort to sell them, I get asked "How's come when you make knives, you're not wearing one?" I try to make the point that I'm in the business of SELLING KNIVES, not wearing them. At any rate, I figured maybe I'd make "Me" one. I did, and I like it, but if someone offered me enough I might part with it. HA !! The knife is a Scagel style Bowie, blade steel is 1/8 inch 1065, 6 3/4 inches, antiqued, hand forged and hand finished. Bolster and guard are textured nickel steel, antiqued. Handle is a large Arizona Mule deer crown piece, with stacked leather and a white spacer, 5 inches long. The sheath is top grain veg tanned 7oz. leather, riveted frontier style. Want one like it ? PM me, and let's talk.

I made this knife a while back, and built a plain pouch sheath for it. I figured it deserved a "classier" sheath, so I made this one for it.

The sheath is made from top grain veg tanned 12oz. leather. It is hand stitched with leather lacing, and riveted at stress points. The finish is antique stain. The insert is made from Arizona Diamondback Rattlesnake tailpiece. The knife is a "Heavy Hunter" style, blade steel is 440c stainless finished to mirror, with filework on the spine. The bolster is nickel steel, textured and finished to bright. The handle is Premium Arizona Ironwood with thong hole and stainless pins. The combo sells for $200 plus shpng, and is fully guaranteed for my life.

My uncle Walt played a very important and meaningful role in my life. He was a WW1 combat veteran, he was the point man for his platoon. He carried a modified Winchester 12 ga. shotgun, and his principal duty was to clear the trenches they jumped into of German soldiers. His job was the WW1 version of "Tunnel Rats", we had in Vietnam. A highly dangerous duty. Uncle Walt survived mustard gas attacks, and constant artillery bombardment. Not to mention the gazillion charges into German machine gun fire. And he shared many of the stories with me. I was in awe. My family lived only a mile away from the Mathewson farm in central eastern Illinois. Uncle Walt's farm was around 1200 acres, and in the middle of that there was a 500 acre hard wood timber. I think about half of the total number of standing trees in the entire state of Illinois were there in the Mathewson woods. Two rivers met in the center of the woods. Uncle Walt was a devoted supporter of the Boy Scouts, and allowed the area council to hold campouts and even Jamborees in his woods. In fact, the local council was named in honor of the woods, The Two River Council. My family lived near Mathewson Woods from the time I was 8 yrs. old till I was 14. I spent every minute I possibly could with Uncle Walt or out in the woods. There had been a Potowatomi Indian tribe who had called the woods home long before Uncle Walt acquired it. They had a large camp in the fork of where the two rivers came together. Uncle Walt had diligently collected artifacts from the area since he had bought the farm, and he had a marvelous collection. Fully intact spear heads, thousands of arrowheads, and......flintknapped knives. When he died, hiking in his woods at the age of 68, his wife donated his full collection to the State of Illinois. It was put up in the state capitol building, and might still be there. He had studied flintknapping, and was quite good at crafting arrowheads and even knives. He taught me the basics, and then set me loose and waited nearby, with a box of bandaids to keep me from bleeding out. He taught me to track everything from sparrows to fox, badgers, deer and the occasional stray sheep or dairy cow. He taught me to be still and watch. He taught me to move slowly but deliberately. He taught me to stand in the fork of a pawpaw tree, and to be able to touch deer ever so lightly as they walked by. He taught me how to overcome fear, and to function with confidence. He taught me to love and respect my elders and to listen to them......and learn. I could go on for pages about all that he imparted to me. I am a blessed man, to have had him, in my life. Here's a recent build, hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I enjoyed building it. It IS for sale !!

The "Oryx Bowie" is an awesome piece !!! As with all of my knives, I field test each piece to assure I am selling a knife I would buy...ha !! This bowie cut a 2 1/2 inch dry Emory oak limb in two in only 1 minute and 34 seconds !!! Needless to say, it passed my test, the edge showed no rolling or chipping, it retained its sharpness and its structural integrity. Now.....it's for sale. Priced at $ 200 +shpng for the combo, knife and sheath. The blade is hand forged and hand finished to satin 1095 high carbon steel. It is differentially tempered to create a hamon, ( the cutting edge is harder than the spine, which enhances flexibility and edge retention). The guard is wrought iron. The handle is New Mexico Oryx antler piece. The sheath is hand tooled top grain veg tanned 10oz. leather. Antique "emphasis" stained, and double treated with leather conditioner. Sheath is glued and riveted. Once again, ONLY......$ 200 +shpng, to own this unique, "user" bowie. Email me @ indiancreektradegoods@gmail.com

Big Knife Binge

 Got inspired by doing Josh's Camp Knife, to do a few BIG knives.  So.......here we go........

I had been out shooting photos with my daughter, Lori Anne.  She was down from Lake Stevens, Washington, for Thanksgiving.  I failed to realize I had my camera set on Sepia.....HA !!

I kind of liked the look of the shots, so........

The over-all length of this knife is 17", with the blade being 12".  The blade is hand forged 5160.

The guard is brass, silver soldered to the tang.  The handle is Arizona Elk antler tip piece, with stacked leather and brass and white spacers. The handle has a brass end plate.    Sheath is hand tooled 10oz. veg tanned leather.

This knife was a lot of fun to forge and finish,  the set is priced at $500+.

 

This blade is also from 5160, hand forged antiqued and finished.  The blade is 8" long, with the overall length of 13".  The guard is cast iron, the handle is Arizona Mule Deer Crown piece, with stacked leather with stainless and white spacers.    The set is priced at $450+.

 The sheath is hand tooled 10oz. veg tanned leather.  The inlay is Arizona Diamondback Rattlesnake skin.  

 

 

 

It had been quite a few years since I had Rattlesnake skin for my sheaths.  I only wish the markings were more defined, but I'll take what I can get.

 

This knife is forged from a file.  The guard is stainless and the handle is Arizona Coues Deer antler, with stacked leather and stainless and white spacers.  The handle has a stainless end plate.  The set is priced at $150.       SOLD

This blade is D2.  A real booger to forge and finish, but a very strong blade that will serve for generations.  I did kind of an Indian looking thing with this project.

The blade is finished with a chipped flint look, antiqued.  The handle is Arizona Elk slabs.  The sheath is 8 oz. veg tanned leather, overlaid with rawhide, with a brass head plate with rivets.  The sheath is finished with two coats of satin polyurethane.   The set is priced at $180+.