Migration Cutter

[Scott Roush]

I finished this one recently and had it sent out to Sharp by Coop for my first pro photos. I'm very, very pleased with the results!

The knife is 19" over all with a W2 blade. This blade started out as a full length yataghan sword but broke after the quench and I left as much yataghan in the profile as a I could. I'm calling it 'Migration Cutter' because it reflects virtues of a number of different cultures... sort of a migration through my imagination. Sometimes I like to create stories when I'm making a knife that help with the design. The story of this blade is thus: It's origin and forging were in ancient Persia where it began as a princely sword but broke in the quench. The shards were discarded and ended up on a trading caravan headed to the Far East where they were picked up by a Japanese smith. This smith forged one of the shards into a knife to be passed on as a gift to a brother headed out to sea on a whaling vessel. This vessel struck and foundered somewhere in the vicinity of the Aleutian Islands where it was eventually salvaged and re-hilted by the local Inuit. :-)

The tsuba is wrought iron cold forged into a semi-lenticular shape and given a chestnut brown patina. I did a simple engraving of a dragonfly.. which is meant to represent a species of an exceptionally far migrating type known as the 'Globe Skimmer'. There is an ebony spacer and the grip is a wonderful piece of artifact walrus ivory that is just exuding with stories of it's own. The scabbard is wire brushed red oak, stained.. and with a rawhide backing. I'm going to steal Jim's term for this and call it a 'drum construction'. I've done this before and I like it because of the snug fit provided by the tension of the rawhide backing.





Here is my own photo of the tsuba:

[Kevin Jones]

Very unique and interesting. I think my favorite piece of yours to date.
I'm drawn towards the primitive pieces that look as if they are very old as opposed to those that look like someone has tried to make them look very old. Lot's of character in the walrus and scabbard. An appropriate display stand would certainly add to this very nice work of fuctional art.

[Mark Farley]

Very cool sword Scott.
Looks like something I would see in a really good museum.
I always enjoy seeing your creations.
Coop took great photos.
But......I think your style of photography shows off the spirit of your knives best.

I know you are working on new pieces.
How about some photos?