These are the five knives I used to pass my American Bladesmith Society Journeyman Smith test. The knives are submitted to a panel of six judges who critique the overall appearance, fit, and finish of the knives to determine if the quality of the maker's work is up to a standard expected by the ABS.

This is one of my cigar knives. The blade is "Mind Melt" mosaic damascus with a nitre blue finish. The handles are unbelievable blue and tan mammoth ivory. The liners, back spacer and thumb stud are titanium anodized a matching blue.
Oal open: 5 7/8"
Oal closed: 3 3/8"
Blade: 2 1/2"

The PIT-VIPER is somewhat of a "midtech" design. I have farmed out some of the more laborsome tasks to help reduce costs. The Blade profile has been cut out by waterjet, and the handle scales have been cut out using a 3-axis cnc machine. The rest of the knife is completely built by hand, one at a time. I still do all of my blade grinding, heat treat, cryo, and final fit and finish.
Every PIT-VIPER comes with my personal guarantee against defect, FREE lifetime sharpening, and a certificate of Authenticity and Rockwell Hardness Test.

Specs:

Steel: CPM154
Thickness: .250"
OAL: 14 3/4"
Blade: 8 1/2"
Handles: Canvas Micarta
Handle Colors: Green or Black
Sheath: Kydex with Tek-Lok system
Sheath Option: Handmade wet-formed Leather.

The first run of ten were marked, "ONE of TEN"!! There will be none numbered after that.

Due to a large number of requests for a more "TACTICAL" version of my VIPER, I have designed the "PIT-VIPER" to fill those extreme needs!

OAL is 13 1/4" with a 8" blade. The guard and butt-cap are also Mosaic Damascus. The handle is African Blackwood and the spacers are nickle silver.

Ribbon Pattern Mosaic Damascus
Sculptured Nickel Silver Bolsters engraved by Darrin Reeves
Cream & Green Mammoth Ivory Scales

Steel: Mosaic Damascus from 1084/15n20
OAL: 11"
Blade: 5 1/4"
Handle: Fossil Walrus Ivory & Desert Ironwood
H/T: Differential edge quench
Fittings: Nickel Silver & Copper

note: This was the first Damascus knife with my new J.S. stamped on it!!
 

My Medium Bull Nosed Skinners are a great skinning tool. They are small and compact measuring just 6" OAL. They have a 2 3/4" deep bellied blade that is suitable for skinning even the largest of big game animals.

My line of Sportsman Series Knives were made for The Sportsman & Ski Haus in Kalispell, Montana for a limited time.

I forged this knife from 1084 tool steel.It has a clay back differential heat treat causing a striking hamon. The 5" clip-point blade has a full flat grind with a convex edge.. The handle is Sambar stag and ivory with copper spacers and a 416 guard.

Danaher Hunter
Forged 1084 tool steel (edge quenched)
Sculptured 416 Stainless Bolsters
Stabilized Afzelia Lay Scales
OAL- 10"
Blade 4.5"

I forged this knife from 1095 tool steel.It has a differential heat treat causing a striking hamon. The 5" clip-point blade has a full flat grind with a convex edge, hand rubbed to 1200 grit. The guard and buttcap are 416 stainless with copper spacers and the handle is Sambar stag. This knife won Best Hand Forge Knife at the 2005 MKA Knife Show!!

A limited run of Steel Flame copper stamped dog tags were created for MYCKS in November of 2016

For a small side project a couple dozen valve stem caps were produced for dirt bikes.

I got an e-mail a while back from a customer of mine. He was
inquiring about the possibility of making a knife similar to the one he
had just purchased from me. He said a friend of his had been admiring
his knife and wanted to know if I could make him one too.. So, far this
conversation was sounding like a no brainer....
Then he want on to ask if there was any way that I could use the
shrapnal that the doctors took out of his friend's body, in the Damascus.
Apparantly his friend had a not so friendly mortar explode and tear his
lower body and legs to pieces while deployed at everyones favorite war...

I told him that I had never attempted to use something like that in
Damascus before and had no idea if I could even make it weld to the rest
of the billet. He assured me that he understood and if it didn't work
out then there was no problems.. The shrapnel was just sitting in a jar
in a closet anyway..

A couple weeks later I received a package with a jar containing a piece of
shrapnel just a bit smaller than a golf ball.

I tried to figure out what I was going to do with it. Knowing full well
that this was a one time shot.. If I screwed it up, there were no 2nd
chances to make it work..

I decided to put the piece into the forge and try to forge it into a
small square bar. The whole time it was in there I just prayed that it
didn't burn up or melt, since I had no idea what this stuff was made out
of.. I was assuming it was something like old smashed up Fords or
Chevys or something...

God was kind enough to let that part sorta work out. But when I was
done, there wasn't really that much to work with. I mean it was a huge
chunk of steel to have thrust into the human body.. But, not much in the
whole scheme of a Damascus billet.

I wanted the shrapnel to be readily recognizable within the knife
blade. I wanted to be able to point to it and say, "this is the shrapnel
from your legs, right here!!!". So, I put the bar of shrapnel into a
can and encapsulated it in powdered tool steel and nickel. I then forged
that into a bigger bar that would work into the overall scheme of the
Damascus pattern I was trying to develop.

I wanted the Damascus pattern to look like an exploding piece of steel,
with the shrapnel as the center piece. So, I built a bar of W's and re
squared the shrapnel into the corner of the bar. I then 4 wayed the bar
and re welded it all back together.

I accordion cut the bar and ended up with just enough steel to build the
knife blade and bolsters.

I finished off the handles with camo green G-10, titanium liners and a
Damascus back spacer.

I did a lot of praying while I built this knife.. I prayed that I
wouldn't screw it up.. I prayed for the man that I was building it
for... I prayed for all the fine men and women who have had their lives
so drastically changed keeping me and my family safe...

I have to say that finishing this knife was probably one of the proudest
moments of my 10 years of knife making.. And, that I feel so honored to
be able to give this knife to such a fine man.

Simple words of gratitude can never express the thanks that we owe to so
many unselfish people who assure that we can wake up every day living
in freedom!!!