Does this block make my butt look big?

It’s not that often that I get to do a post that is about knives, but not about metalwork. This weekend wasn’t my most productive ever, but I completed a couple of projects that I really needed to finish. Erica’s weekend was much more productive, and resulted in multiple sales! Her new Caustic Threads shop (www.etsy.com/shop/CausticThreads) has only been up for a week or two, and things keep flying off the shelves. If you like the name, I’ll take a little credit, but we did throw around quite a few names before she settled on that one.

Anyway, enough about my beautiful wife… (no, there really is NEVER enough about my wonderful wife).

In a way, this post is about clothing, but clothing for knives, not for people. There are a couple of different styles of knife clothing: Stands, Blocks, and Sheaths. I’ve done all three, but today I’ll talk about blocks and sheaths.

In the kitchen, you expect to see a knife block. Sometimes whole families of knives live in one block, sometimes they hide in a drawer (the knives, not the blocks), more rarely there is a block for a single knife. I haven’t made that many blocks, but they have all been singles, and I try to make them match the knife – for obvious reasons. Blocks are a handy place to store useful tools in plain sight.

This weekend I finished a knife block for Bdoodles. Bdoodles is one of my favorite customers, not only because she has come back for more, but because she likes to give me ideas, and let me go from there. She has her own etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/BDOODLES so please check out her stuff as well. A few months ago I made a couple of antler handled letter openers for her family. This time it is a knife for cutting up the deer that they bring home. The request was cedar and blue, slim. This is what I came up with:

And if you want more pictures, check out the etsy listing at: http://www.etsy.com/listing/45597659/custom-order-for-bdoodles

On the other hand, some people want to carry their knives with them. In which case, sheaths make way more sense. Sheaths can be made of wood, leather, textiles, plastic, and lots of other things I suppose. They can be hung from belts, stuffed in boots, or attached to anything as long as the hardware is designed right. Hopefully I managed that.

This weekend I also finished up a sheath for NJJ. On the other end of the spectrum from BDoodles, and just as much fun to work with, NJJ had some specific ideas, and as I kept him abreast of the progress, added more details, and ideas. I think that I made them work. This is a camp/utility/tactical knife rather than a kitchen knife. The sheath can be hung from a belt, snapped to a backpack or vest, or tucked into a boot. I’m pretty pleased with how it looks. Here it is with the knife safely tucked inside:

For more pictures of this one, check out it’s etsy listing at:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/45530150/custom-order-for-paraclete-please-do-not

Some alternate commentary is also available at www.hangedmandesigns.blogspot.com.

Adam