A friend of mine is getting married but I'm unable to attend the wedding.
She and her fiance moved recently out into their own place. I thought hard about a gift and I know they both like cooking, but I didn't want to give them a Cuisinart or blender as I feel that it's very non-distinctive.
I am an amateur blacksmith and gunsmith as I may or may not have mentioned before. The word blacksmith is used today to refer to a craftsman of cutlery. I make knives out of the most premium exotic materials on the planet. I've decided to make them a custom chef's knife and I probably ruined the surprise earlier when I asked her if they had a quality chef's knife yet.
What I'm thinking so far is to make a chef's knife with an 8" blade out of premium imported VG-10 laminated Damascus steel. For those who aren't familiar with what that is (and I wouldn't be if this wasn't a hobby of mine) Damascus steel is a high carbon steel alloy that originated over 1,000 years ago in the Middle-East (most likely in Syria) where it was used to make swords because of its extraordinary strength and ability to retain a sharp edge. It was used for many of the swords in the crusades. VG-10 is a relatively new, Japanese made high-carbon stainless steel used often in very high-end cutlery. VG-10 laminated Damascus steel combines the best of both. You get extreme strength and rigidity, a very sharp edge, and the Damascus steel adds a very unique elegant grain pattern to the steel that you can see here on a knife that coincidentally design-wise is relatively close to what I drew out on paper a few hours ago with the exception of the handle.
(I won't put it in an image tag since I've been told in the past not to unless I own the image)
http://cdn2.ioffer.com/img/item/139/663/029/erUg.jpg
The difference in my design is that the steel will have a bolster forged into it. A bolster is a portion of steel where the blade widens to the thickness of the handle. You can see it on most of the knives in this photo, but the knife closest to the camera has an excellent example. Look at how the blade widens and then stops where the handle material (in that case it appears to be black Micarta) begins.
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/8140/all1zr.jpg
Also, the handle shape on the knife I mentioned above (the one closest to the camera) is much more similar to the design I'm planning to use.
Lastly, for the handles, I wanted to use an exotic wood that would compliment the beauty of the natural steel grain in the blade.
Currently I'm tinkering with the thought of:
Desert Ironwood http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/images//ew172.jpg
Cocobolo (a form of Rosewood) http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/images//ew108.jpg
Dark Rosewood http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/images//ew100.jpg
Honduras Rosewood http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/images//ew107.jpg
(I wanted Brazilian Rosewood, but it's a protected species these days apparently - this is what it looks like on a knife http://knivesbynick.co.uk/images/hi/...sche_knife.jpg - I'll search to see if anybody maybe has some scraps of it, because that's all I would need, but it's tough stuff to get your hands on)
and Tulipwood http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/images//ew109.jpg - which ordinarily I like, but I think it may be too lite to suit the Damascus steel look.
The steel fasteners that fasten the wood to the tang (portion of the blade that obviously connects to the handles) will be covered with custom inlaid wooden mosaic pins that will be flush with the handle. Also it will feature a full tang, which means that the same metal forging that the blade is a part of will extend the entire length of the knife and will actually be of the same shape as the wooden handles, and be sandwiched in between the wood. You've surely seen this before. Here is an example, which also if you notice has the bolster where the handle and blade meet like what I plan for it to have. http://z.about.com/d/culinaryarts/1/...ulltang400.jpg
After it's all done and polished to a high-gloss, my logo laser-etched on the blade, and triple sharpened by hand with synthetic saphire, the finishing touch will be the gift-box - this one exactly - http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/images//kkw312.jpg which I will have laser engraved with my logo too.
All in all, it's probably going to involve about $200-$400 worth of materials and other expenses, not to mention probably a full week of work, but it should be absolutely gorgeous when finished.
My only question is - is this a stupid gift? My mother told me that giving them a personally custom made knife would make them say "what the hell?" and think that I'm creepy or something. I've never really had to give a wedding gift before, so I suppose she could be right since I have no idea what is considered a good gift. I just thought that it would be the kind of gift that they could use, enjoy the aesthetics of, and perhaps pass on to their children one day. It would be absolutely unique. I see it in some ways as essentially usable art. Then again maybe I am just a creepy guy.
Anyways, your opinion please. I don't want to send the wrong message. I just don't want to give them something that they would want to take back to the store or that would be completely boring. The idea hit me because I remembered one of my older cousins who is an artist gave me a hand carved wooden box for my bar-mitzvah which I still think is beautiful. He took semi-petrified wood and on one side left the natural "break" where the wood had snapped from the tree, but polished it I imagine in a motorized sand tumbler so it because this textured but also somewhat smooth surface. Then he cut the other 5 sides, made a precision fitting lid, and heavily polished it with a little oil so that it has a glass-like gloss to it (the same thing I do with wooden knife handles). It sits in my apt and holds the cufflinks for when I wear french-cuffs with a suit (I'm old fashioned like that, but mainly I just got used to it when I interned in London where french-cuffs are very much in it seemed amongst the barristers).
So I just remembered how much I still to this day, 14 years later appreciate that box whereas I can't really remember what else I was given at my Bar-Mitzvah or who gave me it. It was so unique that it stuck in my mind. I was hoping to basically do something similar, but using my skills.
So, I don't know. Is it weird? Stupid? Lame? Creepy? Seriously.
She and her fiance moved recently out into their own place. I thought hard about a gift and I know they both like cooking, but I didn't want to give them a Cuisinart or blender as I feel that it's very non-distinctive.
I am an amateur blacksmith and gunsmith as I may or may not have mentioned before. The word blacksmith is used today to refer to a craftsman of cutlery. I make knives out of the most premium exotic materials on the planet. I've decided to make them a custom chef's knife and I probably ruined the surprise earlier when I asked her if they had a quality chef's knife yet.
What I'm thinking so far is to make a chef's knife with an 8" blade out of premium imported VG-10 laminated Damascus steel. For those who aren't familiar with what that is (and I wouldn't be if this wasn't a hobby of mine) Damascus steel is a high carbon steel alloy that originated over 1,000 years ago in the Middle-East (most likely in Syria) where it was used to make swords because of its extraordinary strength and ability to retain a sharp edge. It was used for many of the swords in the crusades. VG-10 is a relatively new, Japanese made high-carbon stainless steel used often in very high-end cutlery. VG-10 laminated Damascus steel combines the best of both. You get extreme strength and rigidity, a very sharp edge, and the Damascus steel adds a very unique elegant grain pattern to the steel that you can see here on a knife that coincidentally design-wise is relatively close to what I drew out on paper a few hours ago with the exception of the handle.
(I won't put it in an image tag since I've been told in the past not to unless I own the image)
http://cdn2.ioffer.com/img/item/139/663/029/erUg.jpg
The difference in my design is that the steel will have a bolster forged into it. A bolster is a portion of steel where the blade widens to the thickness of the handle. You can see it on most of the knives in this photo, but the knife closest to the camera has an excellent example. Look at how the blade widens and then stops where the handle material (in that case it appears to be black Micarta) begins.
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/8140/all1zr.jpg
Also, the handle shape on the knife I mentioned above (the one closest to the camera) is much more similar to the design I'm planning to use.
Lastly, for the handles, I wanted to use an exotic wood that would compliment the beauty of the natural steel grain in the blade.
Currently I'm tinkering with the thought of:
Desert Ironwood http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/images//ew172.jpg
Cocobolo (a form of Rosewood) http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/images//ew108.jpg
Dark Rosewood http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/images//ew100.jpg
Honduras Rosewood http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/images//ew107.jpg
(I wanted Brazilian Rosewood, but it's a protected species these days apparently - this is what it looks like on a knife http://knivesbynick.co.uk/images/hi/...sche_knife.jpg - I'll search to see if anybody maybe has some scraps of it, because that's all I would need, but it's tough stuff to get your hands on)
and Tulipwood http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/images//ew109.jpg - which ordinarily I like, but I think it may be too lite to suit the Damascus steel look.
The steel fasteners that fasten the wood to the tang (portion of the blade that obviously connects to the handles) will be covered with custom inlaid wooden mosaic pins that will be flush with the handle. Also it will feature a full tang, which means that the same metal forging that the blade is a part of will extend the entire length of the knife and will actually be of the same shape as the wooden handles, and be sandwiched in between the wood. You've surely seen this before. Here is an example, which also if you notice has the bolster where the handle and blade meet like what I plan for it to have. http://z.about.com/d/culinaryarts/1/...ulltang400.jpg
After it's all done and polished to a high-gloss, my logo laser-etched on the blade, and triple sharpened by hand with synthetic saphire, the finishing touch will be the gift-box - this one exactly - http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/images//kkw312.jpg which I will have laser engraved with my logo too.
All in all, it's probably going to involve about $200-$400 worth of materials and other expenses, not to mention probably a full week of work, but it should be absolutely gorgeous when finished.
My only question is - is this a stupid gift? My mother told me that giving them a personally custom made knife would make them say "what the hell?" and think that I'm creepy or something. I've never really had to give a wedding gift before, so I suppose she could be right since I have no idea what is considered a good gift. I just thought that it would be the kind of gift that they could use, enjoy the aesthetics of, and perhaps pass on to their children one day. It would be absolutely unique. I see it in some ways as essentially usable art. Then again maybe I am just a creepy guy.
Anyways, your opinion please. I don't want to send the wrong message. I just don't want to give them something that they would want to take back to the store or that would be completely boring. The idea hit me because I remembered one of my older cousins who is an artist gave me a hand carved wooden box for my bar-mitzvah which I still think is beautiful. He took semi-petrified wood and on one side left the natural "break" where the wood had snapped from the tree, but polished it I imagine in a motorized sand tumbler so it because this textured but also somewhat smooth surface. Then he cut the other 5 sides, made a precision fitting lid, and heavily polished it with a little oil so that it has a glass-like gloss to it (the same thing I do with wooden knife handles). It sits in my apt and holds the cufflinks for when I wear french-cuffs with a suit (I'm old fashioned like that, but mainly I just got used to it when I interned in London where french-cuffs are very much in it seemed amongst the barristers).
So I just remembered how much I still to this day, 14 years later appreciate that box whereas I can't really remember what else I was given at my Bar-Mitzvah or who gave me it. It was so unique that it stuck in my mind. I was hoping to basically do something similar, but using my skills.
So, I don't know. Is it weird? Stupid? Lame? Creepy? Seriously.
