New knife from Kim Ralston

[CraigC]

He sent me some shots of the knife he just finished for me. This one with a 4" spey blade, ivory micarta with red liners and mosaic pins. We're in knife heaven with all these new blades!

 

[Barry the Bear]

Sweet Zombie Jesus!!! Didnt you just get a new knife? But I find myself adoring this one even more than the bowie.

 

[CraigC]

Yep! I ordered this one about this time last year. Plus I still have to take pics of the damascus bowie I ordered last March. It's "paired" with the custom Ruger .500 that's also nearing completion. Whole bunch of stuff commissioned at different times seems to all be coming in at once.

 

[bannockburn]

CraigC

Something about "when it rains, it pours" comes to mind here! Another finely crafted knife! Thanks for the look (outstanding photos too)!

 

[Valkman]

Oh man that is tasty!

 

[Barry the Bear]

I've never seen a knife in a bolo style blade only machetes, but I'd love to grab that knife take my .45-70 marlin and my bisley 44 mag and look around for a buffalo, really digging that knife!

 

[Bobson]

Beautiful knife.

Question for anyone in the know:

There are "lines" traveling the length of the steel - easiest to see in the first and third pics.

Is that just a result of the finish technique? In contrast, the spine looks to have a smooth mirrored shine. Just curious, not a critique.

 

[Valkman]

Those would have to be sanding lines, never saw them before as usually it's sanded so fine you can't see them. Or maybe something like a preservant wiped on the blade?

 

[Piraticalbob]

I'd agree that's a spey shape, but the spey is associated with slipjoint folders; in a fixed blade like that, I'd call it what it is - - a butcher pattern.

 

[CraigC]

I reckon the maker can call it whatever he wants and he calls it a "swayback spey".

Makes a lot more sense than calling a 4" blade a "butcher".

 

[AlfonsDeWolf]

I'd like to understand the spey point concept to understand what it's for. I would guess this one would be a good skinner but what would the humpback point be useful for vs a droppoint in this or is it just asthetics? This would be awesome in sheepsfoot

 

[JShirley]

I think that "hump" is just one way to add mass toward the tip. You're increasing chopping potential without adding length.

 

[Piraticalbob]

The Russell Green River company has always sold short-bladed butcher knives. Here is an old illustration, with blades listed as short as 5":



Texas Knifemaker's Supply and other companies still sell Green River butcher patterns with 4.5" blades to this very day. The Butcher knife is not defined by its length but by its shape and purpose.

 

[tubeshooter]

That's a beautiful knife - very nice specimen right there.


I love a handsome fixed blade.

 

[CraigC]

The Butcher knife is not defined by its length but by its shape and purpose.

But the spey is not but rather defined by its presence on a folder???

Ralston's typical "swayback spey" is 3" and they're intended as skinning blades. I wanted the spey design specifically due to having used them extensively on small game and finding them to be excellent skinning blades. I asked him to do this one at 4" because I prefer a bigger knife. The hump allows slitting the hide with less chance of the tip perforating the intestines. Not for chopping mass. One must keep in mind that Ralston is an accomplished handgun hunter and that has a direct impact on the design of his blades.

Yes, I'm very familiar with the Green River knives. I own several and am even contemplating building basic knives from their blades to offer for sale with period knife sheaths. The Green River butcher pattern has been popular as a field and trade knife for two centuries. Note how much Ralston's spey blade has in common with the Green River skinning blade.

 

[AlfonsDeWolf]

Spey point purpose originally used for livestock castration?

 

[hso]

In this case it would be for skinning because it has a bit more of a "belly" like in a trapper pattern folder than the spey on a jack which would be for castration. So you can see that there's some variation in spey blades even on folders and what their applications were. Then you toss it on a fixed blade and it becomes a butcher/skinner somewhere between a spey and a Nessmuk.

 

[Jaymo]

I'm late to the party, but, nice knife.
Spey and sheepsfoot blades are two of my favorites because I've used them so much. Spey, for small game, and sheepsfoot for carving wooden fishing lures.

Color me envious.