Nessmuk Knives

Okay, I've wanted a Nessmuk knife since I started reading his turn-of-the-century articles on ultra-light camping and canoeing when I was in my early teens. George "Nessmuk" Sears wrote about a three-edge system that covered all of the tasks that come with camping and travelling for extended periods. He suggested a good multi-blade pocketknife of the stockman pattern, a curved fixed-blade knife of his own design, and a small double-bit hatchet.

The fixed-blade knife became known as a "Nessmuk" knife. It served primarily for skinning and cooking duties. The hatchet went to heavier cutting, especially brush or wood-gathering, and the stockman handled the rest.

A couple of weeks ago I finally got my hands on a custom Nessmuk. I found it on that electronic bazaar ebay, a beautiful Jeff White cherry-handled, high-carbon masterpiece. It came out of the shipping box wickedly sharp, and thus far has proved a most useful kitchen knife.

With any luck, I'll get to try out its skinning capabilities in a couple of weeks.

An Itty-Bitty Dream House

So For the past couple of weeks the Missus and I have been scheming to build ourselves a little house on the farm I own in Mercer County. We had tried to leverage the loan last year, but getting loans last spring was tricky at best, and despite both of us being well-employed and reliable folks, we just couldn't swing the loan, mostly because it was a construction loan, not a mortgage, (I intend to build the house myself) and the bank wanted a licensed contractor to do the work. I was in construction for a decade and a half, and I know what I'm doing. By building myself, I'll save a chunk on the finished house (nearly 40-50%).

So, this spring we're going to try again. I've been talking to a more understanding banker, and he tells me that the farm will collateralize the construction loan, even if I am the builder, and there shouldn't be any problem at all. I own the farm outright (60 or so acres) and the farm values at roughly twice what I'll need to borrow.

So, new bank, new year, and hopefully a new house.

I spent today roughing out an architectural model from the floorplans and elevation drawings (entirely my own design and drawing). Here are a couple of photos of the rough. I'll post more pix as I move the model closer to completion, and if all goes well, you'll get blogs about me building this jewel come May.

From Fritz in Afghanistan

From Fritz in Afghanistan:

"We finally have a reliable connection for outgoing mail, so I thought I would write a few letters before the mail trucks begin getting bombed. It really sucks out here; all we do is drive around and get blown up. A roadside bomb hit my truck about a month ago, but I walked away with only a concussion. The bomb was 60 pounds of HME, and the blast ripped the back axle clear away from the 'mine-resistant' truck. Every day my hatred for this place deepens. In January it got well below freezing at night, and now the noon temperatures push 140, while the nighttime temps drop to 110. I've been away from running water and electricity for months. We take baby-wipe baths every few days. When any of us get blown up, if we survive, we get to use the sat-phone for 15 minutes. I should be leaving this place in two months or so. I can't wait to get out of here. How are things back in Kentucky? We are literally cut off from the rest of the world here. I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits."

Fritz

A VERY pleasant surprise

So, I've been trying to buy American. It isn't easy. Today, I went to the gun show in Lexington, and had a great time. I stopped by a knife booth that carried Kershaw knives. Now, I love Kershaw knives. They are, hands down, the best production knives made. They are manufactured by Kai Cutlery of Japan, which doesn't fit my buy-American resolution, but I love the Kershaw Ken Onion designed "Leek" model. It's clean, efficient, and surgically sharp. Everything I want in a knife. I wanted the plain model, but the seller - from my native Harrodsburg no less! - was out, left only with models sporting various decorations.

I chose the model with an American flag on the handle - something I love dearly - and commented to the seller on the irony of buying a Japanese knife with an American flag logo.


He smiled, turned the knife over, and showed me the "Made in USA" tag on the blade. No kidding. My favorite knife is made right here at home. Kai holds the patents involved, but at least some of the Leeks are made domestically. I got exactly what I wanted and got to support an American manufacturer and a small-business entrepreneur from my hometown.

What a fantastic day!

Home-made fly-tying vise

Sure, I could buy a fly-tying vise, but why would I? I'm cheap, and I'm a tinkerer. I'd rather make one. More importantly, I need to find uses for some of the junk my relentless scavenging/salvaging produces. I'll admit it; I'm a hoarder. Other, sensible, folks (including my wife) see junk for what it is: crap that gets in the way and needs to be disposed of. I, however, see a potential tool or widget waiting to be born. To protect my reputation as an eccentric (not a lunatic) I need to put some of my salvaged junk to use every so often. This was an opportunity.

I have about a dozen sets of hemostats I picked up at a gun show for 8 bucks - after a little haggling... I chose one of the short-nosed sets with an exceptionally stout spring. There's my vise. Next, I needed a way to fasten them to the top of my desk in a stable fashion. I scrounged an old footless clamp used to hold an architect's lamp to a table top out of the trash on an afternoon walk last fall. My wife rarely accompanies me on these walks. I can't fathom why. I also salvaged the non-functional lamp. The lamp needed re-wiring, which took me an hour. Rather than use the included-in-the-garbage clamp base, I made one of a block of wood that I screwed to my workbench.





The footless clamp was ideal, except that had no bottom screw-foot, and was not made to hold a hemostat. I made a non-scuff foot by soldering a flat-washer to a short section of brass tubing that will slip over the screw shank. I then had, for all intents and purposes, an aluminum C-Clamp.




Next I filled in the tube in the spine with epoxy and a wood dowel.

The next step involved cutting the loop from one side of the hemostats.




Afterward, I drilled the lamp base to admit both tines of the cut hemostat handle. Notice that I also notched the top of the tube. This gave me three points of contact between hemostat and base, making the attachment quite sturdy.

I epoxied the hemostat to the base and let it cure overnight. I finished the affair off with a coat of black paint to the base and a swatch of adhesive-backed felt to keep the base from scuffing my table top.



I've used it to tie a dozen or so new flies, and I'm pretty satisfied with it. I only hope my flies work as well...

Rifle / Pistol Cleaning Kit.

I've already written a short bit on modifying gun cleaning kits to have a straight wood handle as opposed to the horrible plastic T handle. This next bit is about making a storage tube for the new, streamlined kit. This is simple.

Take a cardboard poster mailing tube (my wife orders the occasional poster for her classroom, so these are in no short supply at my house) and cut it to the length of the longest rod, leaving about 3/4 of an inch extra for the cap and space. The cap on one end is usually stapled securely in place, and the other end taped. Cut from the taped end.





After cutting to length, seal the freshly cut end by running a band of plastic packing tape around the tube, leaving 1/2 inch or so overlapping past the end of the tube.





Cut the overhanging tape into 1/2 strips, then fold them over, sticking them to the inside of the tube. This helps keep the business end of the tube from fraying so quickly.





That's all there is to it. A 1 1/2 inch tube will hold a pistol rod and 3-piece rifle rod, with room left over for brushes, jags, and patch loops. Best of all? It takes up very little room in my range box.

Jim Moyer Knife maker

I like this guy. He reminds me of my Dad. Jim is a knife maker in Idaho City, Idaho, and he turns out some of the prettiest damn knives I've ever seen. His work is art, pure and functional. His video is such a pleasure to see, because it's a rare treat in life to be able to watch a craftsman ply his trade.

The best thing about Jim? There's no b.s. in him. He isn't a "bladesmith," "armourer," or some other such foolishness. He's a knife-maker. He's been a knife-maker most of his life. He's one of those happy men who takes pride in his work, and rightly so.

I could order a knife from him by phone - I love that he doesn't sell many knives on the Internet! and I may do just that after the gun shows this weekend and next. In any case, I want to see him work firsthand. Watching Jim make knives - watching a man of his skill work - is an experience one only gets a handful of times in life.

In short, I'm going to Idaho this summer, just to spend a day or two around his shop. I'll bet I can learn more in two days of watching Jim work than I could learn from reading a hundred books on the subject.

In the meantime, enjoy his video!

Watch this video on VideoSurf or see more Steel (The Twilight Videos or Blade Videos