Good Blackwood :) pro pic pg 3

[Danny Rowan]

That is beautiful Lin.

[Lin Rhea]

Thank you so much guys. I have looked at this thing for four days straight and have to regain my appreciation for what it is I guess.

I see every little flaw and worry that it might detract. While making a good knife is priority and I am certain that this is a well functioning knife, the desire to make it aesthetically "perfect" is always there.

[tomsm44]

Not trying to be nosey, but how many hours would you typically have in a knife like this?  I've just always wondered how long these high end Damascus bowies take to build.  I do appreciate you taking the time, on top of what you have in the knives you build, to post your work for us to see and to give us advice/help when we need it.  

Matt

[gudspelr]

Wow...  I enjoy your knives, both in design and really obvious craftsmanship. That one looks incredible. Blackwood is one of my absolute favorites and I thought the handle in the first photo looked very nice. But the finished knife made the handle seem even better. I suppose that shows how well overall design plays such an important role in each component making the others look better than when standing alone. Thanks for posting this one-I'm with Karl...wanting to save those pics....

Jeremy

[akaboomer]

Thats just stunning. I love everything about this knife. I am so glad we have this little corner of the interwebs where you share what you work on. Thank you for what you do here.

I do have a question though, if you don't mind. The pattern on this one looms a bit different than you usual ladder patter. What is the difference?  I love the appearance of both but am curious about both ways.

Chris

[Lin Rhea]

Thank you guys.

Jeremy, a car fender might be well made but it looks best when on the vehicle. That's true of the parts of anything including knives. The whole is more than the sum of its parts? One part is Meteorite btw. It's in the blade steel and the escutcheon plate is a slice of it.  

Chris, Sometimes the ladder just turns out looking different. I have some control over it but there is some "unknown" that remains. The thing about this knife is that I had one chance to make it and no extra material. It is a little different from side to side in pattern but not much. Even so, it cuts good and both sides look good, I think.

[2treks]

What a great knife.
Inspiring,
Thanks Lin

[Doug Campbell]

Wow, turned out very nice Lin. Is that the piece of Meteorite you showed me in AR last winter? How'd it weld up for you?

Matt, I've welded up much more than my fair share of pipe and pipe flanges. Spent 14 years in that field so flange works fine for me buddy.    

[jomama]

Nice job Lin.

[Lamey]

yep another knockout!

[Track]

Lin'
Another incredible job. You manage to make each knife a one of a kind with it's own look.

[srtben]

This came out great Lin! And the shiny hardware really works on this piece. Beautiful as always.

[Lin Rhea]

[/url] [/IMG]

[D.Ellis]

Very nice. I like the Damascus and overall shape a lot. Blade length looks to be 10 inches or close to that?

Darcy  

[Lin Rhea]

Yes Darcy. 10 1/2. I should have more pics soon. Thanks

[Bladepeek]

Lin, I'm afraid that picture went into my "Lin Rhea Knife" folder. One of your others is my current wallpaper. I have enough now to do a slide show screen saver    

Sure is inspirational!

[Lin Rhea]

Thank you Ron. That is Steve Arnold, one of the Meteorite Men from the Discovery network. This has been a year in the works to get from the time I talked to him to finish the knife. This is not his knife btw. It will find a new home eventually after some getting looked at and read about. The knife is being photographed today I think and will be posted pretty soon.

The blade has some of the meteorite that is on the counter in the photo in it. And the escutcheon plate is part of the meteorite showing the unique pattern that is found inside iron meteorites.

The challenge was to make a knife that has iron (meteorite)in it and still retain enough carbon to harden and perform well. For this to happen I wanted to be sure and achieve two things. Number one, I had to get the layer count high enough to let the carbon to migrate to the iron, in effect, making it into steel too. Number two, I had to treat it like a "mystery steel" since the draw back temperature was an "unknown" to me. So, I had to start low and climb till it acted right. We've discussed this in another thread a while back. Anyway, it worked out good.

[Lin Rhea]

[D.Ellis]

I was waiting to see the pro pics to comment further........the fittings "in the white" didn't look quite right to my eye, but I figured maybe I just wasn't seeing it right yet. Glad I didn't stick my foot in it. They look great when seen through the eyes of Chuck Ward. I guess I am so used to seeing Damascus fittings from you that these looked unfinished for a while.
I really like your ladder pattern, it is slightly less structured than the pressed in ladders of some other makers, and the randomness adds to it's appeal for me.
Thanks for posting, always a treat to see your work.
Darcy  

[2treks]

So much detail work.
Very nice Sir.
Excellent photo as well.
CTT