An early project. While John was visiting his stepson in Iowa, he unexpectedly assisted with a calamitous automotive situation; a very expensive car repair, that is. To mark the occasion, this knife and box were presented.
John is originally from Virginia, though he had moved out of there many years ago, and I struggled to connect two such places as Virginia and Iowa. Well, perhaps if we consider that this gift marks a point in time …
I found this Damascus blade made by a forge in Virginia, and as for Iowa, well, it’s not like there’s a tree that only grows there. But I did get a hold of some fallen & weathered maple, which upon running through the band saw presented some very interesting spalting. Then, I was able to get some enormously heavy eucalyptus support beams from an abandoned Iowa gypsum mine. This unlikely pair actually went together quite well, and I fashioned scales out of them, with an epoxy window at the end of the maple so the beautiful eucalyptus grain is visible. The box is eucalyptus with spalted maple trim, lined with black leather, and initialed in iron filings on the lid.
Sometimes the materials present the answer. We are all forged somewhere, and clad in our deeds, which we pick up here and there. The story of this knife is a zoom from the point of origin to the present deed, and much like Excalibur it only befits the one for whom it is meant.