A while back, a customer asked if we could incorporate two family artifacts into a knife that he would use for fish.
He wanted us to use a quilt made out of his great-grandmother's Sunday dresses
and the cover from his grandfather's canteen which had seen the D-Day invasion at Normandy.
It was all a bit scary, frankly. But we took the job, knowing somehow that we might help preserve the memory of the people to which these objects belonged.
After some failures and tight moments, we were able to transform these two heirlooms into scales that would make a beautiful and interesting knife handle.
We cut the fabrics to shape, layered them with resin and compressed them. You can see the result in the picture above.
After grinding and finishing, the handle came out very well.
The quilt became a marbled, subtle version of the original material.
The canteen snaps and catches became a steam-punk kaleidoscope of metal and canvas.
That the blade is made from a Volkswagon front end and the canteen was made in Japan further complicates the story.
I am the grandson of a Dutchman who hid from the Nazis in haymows and survived a sniper attempt during the war.
It has been an honor for Luke and me to take part in this continuing story.
-david
