Crazy Carter handle

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Eamon Burke

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For those who didn't see it on Facebook...

He just did this knife for someone I know(who shall remain nameless, I guess, unless he wants to pipe up himself). He's a woodworker, so I'm sure Mr. Carter had that in mind.

This is an interesting take on things. A little weird, compositionally speaking, but it's a a material-heavy rethinking of a simple Wa handle from the perspective of someone who has seen, like, a bajillion Wa handles.

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Snakewood, Blonde Buffalo Horn, Purpleheart, and Desert Ironwood.

Crazy!

Thoughts?
 
One name: Estella Marie Thompson aka Devine Brown!
There is no classy about her, but you know she will do the job ;)
 
Hey, this has got class to it! It's a little busy, but I think it's interesting--wood-horn-burl? Don't see that much.
 
Not my thing but I am all for trying out new things. Maybe I should glue together some cut-offs for handles ;)

Stefan
 
I actually like it. It's kinda ugly-good-looking, like John Travolta or the girl from Fight Club.
 
I would compare this to driving a Trabant.
Its all right until your friends find out :)
 
Not my thing but I am all for trying out new things. Maybe I should glue together some cut-offs for handles ;)

Stefan

Do it! Let's see your patchwork handles.

OR just mix a composite up of sawdust and epoxy and call it the "golem" series. :idea2:
 
I'm really pleased with it. It is a bit overwhelming, but mostly because it's a lot of knife for a total newbie. Aesthetically, the ironwood is my favorite part of the handle. I've never worked with snakewood, but it is comparatively muted and subtle (which seems weird, because the grain pattern of snakewood isn't subtle at all). The purpleheart is a little much, I think. But I've worked with purpleheart quite a bit, and the 'purple' will get more muted as time passes. What I love most about the knife, though, is he made it for me. Heck, he even photographed it on one of my cutting boards. He learned who I was, he asked questions, and he crafted something that he thought I'd enjoy. And I'm enjoying it, even if wielding something like that scares the crap out of me. To me, this knife isn't a Trabant... it's a 16-year old kid getting to drive a cherry red Porsche. The kid doesn't deserve it, and he has no business using it, but man is he enjoying it. :)

John
 
That snakewood looks like Lacewood.
Other than the strip of purpleheart, I like it.
 
I like it. Murray has certainly got his own style. Even if I didn't like it personally, I would still respect someone with the experience and tens of thousands of hours of looking at knives and handles who is still willing to try something "different" and, first and foremost has his customer in mind.
 
If the purpleheart was replaced the blonde horn she would be a winner.
 
I like the style that is new (to me?). The use of woods (colors) is what is throwing me off, I can't pin point what is "missing". But on the whole I love it.
 
Murray makes great cutters. The handles go from fairly nice to yuck. To me, this one is more on the yuck side.
 
I think its quite a jewel, But it doesn't work on that knife, would look good on a blingy damascus parer.
 
Honestly, I didn't see the purpleheart until I was posting this. I loved the side angles, but then when checking what Jason told me the handle materials were, I was like "what do you mean, purpleheart spacers? There's no spacer..." and then I looked at the blurry pic I was ignoring and was like "Eh oh!". My judgement went from "fresh and classy" to "interesting and remarkable".

I mostly thought it was interesting that instead of making a handle the way we normally see them--I.E. wood/burl>exotic accent>horn ferrule, or wood/burl>exotic accent>exotic ferrule--it's like normal wood>horn ferrule>burl...uh...ferrulecap?
:scratchhead:


I think its quite a jewel, But it doesn't work on that knife, would look good on a blingy damascus parer.

You are right about that. I've found that little parers can take some pretty ostentatious or downright kitschy handles and pull it off. You've got quite an eye for aesthetics, dude.
 
If the purpleheart was replaced the blonde horn she would be a winner.

Yep its the horn that I seem to have a problem with. Probably some spacer working there. But that would be to busy. lol
 
If the purpleheart was replaced the blonde horn she would be a winner.

Yep its the horn that I seem to have a problem with. Probably some spacer working there. But that would be to busy. lol

MY typing skills suck! I meant that the purpleheart should be removed and replaced with blonde horn.
 
Do what I did and come back and look at it in a few hours. I bet you'll kinda be thinking about it while you're away and then when you see it again, you like it even more (or actually like it, depending on your current view).
 
lol I like the purple heart, it just needs something to incorporate the color into the top part of the handle. I did misunderstand, but I think the problem is either the horn not working with the purple heart. The purple heart wants to take the color flow (is that a term) one way. Were as the horn pulls it another way. I hope this makes sense, because right now my vocabulary isn't working how I want it to.
 
I actually like it, though I think it could do without the purple heart.
 
It looks horrible! Let me tuck it deep in my knife roll so no one will ever have to lay their eyes on it ever again.
 
Looks more like lacewood than snakewood to me. Is it round or D? Can't tell.

I tend to frown upon any radical departure from the norm (tried and true), so I don't see the reason to make an exception in this case.

Colors, proportions (length) of the components, and order really makes a bid difference in handle's look. Japanese have done a good job figuring that out.

I don't understand a reason reinventing a wheel, unless you can keep the harmony. I have rarely seen that coming from new sources. BK might be one exception.

I am not sure how seeing a bajillion Wa handles, most of them plain ho wood, will give you a better understanding of a harmony (size, proportions, colors, etc).

M
 
Oh, I wasn't saying that, though I personally think Carter has excellent design skills...some of his high end customs are mind-boggling.

It's just that after a bajillion Wa handles you get tired of the seeing ho wood with black buffalo horn on it. I'm already bored with it.
 
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