Blade: 11+1/4" Overall: 16+3/4" Thickness: 1/4"
The Story: Okay, it's no secret to those who know me that I like squid, all kinds of squid; to watch, to study, to catch, to eat, and to immortalize in my art. My house is full of different artistic representations of squid, it makes its way into my leatherwork, and even my wardrobe, people keep giving me Cthulu-themed stuff just because he has tentacles (I've never even read any Lovecraft!). I chat on TONMO (the Octopus News Magazine Online) and admire the squid research of Steve O'Shea and Richard Ellis with Fan-boy enthusiasm.
Many years ago when I started blacksmithing I was inspired to sketch out a few squid-themed knives. After a couple years of smithing I decided that I had the skills to make the guard, which I did. It took acouple days to get it right, complete with the "funnel" (a squid's jet-propulsion organ) and the double rows of punch-marked "suckers" on its tentacles. At the time that I finished the guard I knew that I did not yet have the skills to make a blade worthy of it. It was years later, as an apprentice to Rod Chappel, that I finally got enough practice making dagger blades to make one nice enough for this guard. I agonized over the pommel for quite some time too, how to make it comfortable in the hand yet still look like the head fins of a squid? I finally settled on the abstract impression of that shape as a compromise, with double hollow-grinds on the underside of the pommel to represent the fins. The organic, writhing guard makes this knife an excellent Main Gauche a left hand dagger used in fencing. You can also open four beers on it at the same time!
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