Screwing

I was building my son a little house in the garden when it came to me....
​ I was looking at a snail shell listening to a song in my head ‘...on the bus go round and round’. I had a screw in one hand and thought - “hmmm, I wonder?...”

As soon as I got into the workshop I grabbed a piece of hardwood and a box of high quality screws and started driving them in, until the wood could take no more!

I put the now quite heavy wood into the vice and chopped off all the ends with the old angle grinder. 

Up till this point this project cost me very little. Then I tried to shape the handle. Turns out steel screws are really quite hard. In the end I chopped it into shape with the angle grinder but it started smoking! You can see the blackened wood below...

Blades and belts were quickly destroyed - £50 worth  - then sanding it took a couple of days. The screws get woodburning hot, fast, so it all needed plenty of time to cool down. 

But here she is, a proper one off as I won't be making another in a hurry! I really like the olive bolster with the black denim micarta.

I always say a knife is the perfect combination of practical and beautiful. Screws in one hand, electric screwdriver in the other and you can build a lot with wood. Seldom has the beauty of this modern wonder been explored. I have tried to keep the organic inspiration of the snail shell whilst letting the bold lines of the screws compliment the subtle grain of the wood.

This knife will be up for sale with a couple of others on this Friday's Knife Wall at Noon.