[Michael Pikula]

I woke up this morning, birds singing, a warm 35 degrees out, the snow is melting, and spring is around the corner. Life is grand!

To go with the wonderful weather I finished up 2 large by-knives with W2 steel for the blades, Curly Oak of the handles, 3 brass pins in the handle and a copper bolster. I was playing around with different ways of putting these together and I'm happy with the way that they came out. I do think that soldering or riveting the bolster to the blade is a better way of going about it to get a cleaner line at the top of the bolsters, there was a little bit of shifting which gives is a handmade look, but for the price and little inconsistencies I think that these will make someone super happy.

I also have two smaller knives from the last batch that were still kicking around so a shameless bump! http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...highlight=

1- Blade length, 11.25" SOLD
2- Blade length, 10.25" $150
3- Blade length, 8.5" $190
4- Blade length. 4.1" $85
5- Blade length, 3.8" $85

[Scott Roush]

clean stuff Michael... I've never seen that kind of bolster construct...

[Owen Bush]

I too am taken by the bolster .......

[Addison C. de Lisle]

Elegant and simple; I love it! Great job!

[Jean Thibodeau]

If #1 is still available I'm very interested, I assume you could make a simple leather scabbard for it like the previous by-knife I bought.

E-mail sent.


Really like the elegance of all the By-Knives but I especially like the proportions of #1.

[Michael Pikula]

#1 is sold pending me making a scabbard for it

Thanks Jean!

[Jean Thibodeau]

Really love the smaller By-Knife I bought previously and a bigger one is also going to be put to use in the kitchen but I'm also curious about how it will handle as a period general purpose knife that could in a pinch have been useful for weapons application.

Funny how these period knives have become almost the standard model for kitchen cutlery and chef's knives.

My small By-Knife takes and holds a very good edge and instead of buying a modern high end kitchen knife I can have a period knife made of superior materials cheaper than some of the more expensive modern production knives.

[Jean Thibodeau]

Michael just sent me pics of the scabbard for approval and it looks really nice and the By-Knife should be shipping soon.

I really like the way the belt strap is attached by bronze rings.

[Jean Thibodeau]

Received the knife on Friday and I'm very pleased with it and here is a bit of a mini review of it:

Total length: 16"
Length of blade: 11 5/8", measured from end of bolster the edged part is 11 1/4"


Width at it's widest ( Shoulder ): 1 1/16"
Thickness of blade: 1/8" approximately 50% distal taper to point.

Weight: 6 oz measured on a food scale.

Very nice knife and very pleased with it, although light and multipurpose I think it would be very effective " in period " for self defence: Good reach and razor sharp after a couple of passes with a white ceramic hone. Very much like a huge SCARY scalpel, light but seemingly not fragile with a certain amount of stiffness in the blade with good distal taper.

The blade does flex under pressure but not as much a thin fish filleting knife.

I will certainly put it to use in the kitchen but in won't go into the cheap knives drawer to rattle among those .... good kitchen knives should not be jumbled together and should either have individual scabbards or put into a kitchen block for ready use.

These By-knives do look very much like kitchen knives but would work very well in a hunting or survival situation and are so light they wouldn't be a burden in a soldiers pack.

As a fighting knife there is a lack of a true guard that could make a thrust a little dangerous but if one grips the handle so as to have the palm of the hand/little finger on the butt of the knife one could have a secure grip: I would for this maybe round the corners of the handle that is presently cut square, but this is an easy fix if I wanted to do it or something I would recommend Michael to do if tactical use is " theoretically " envisaged.

As a cutting instrument the long hair popping edge " not exaggerating here " compensates a great deal for the low mass and it would be wicked in a draw cut.

The scabbard looks just a good as in the pics in my previous post and is nicely moulded to the knife's blade and handle profile for a very secure grip on the knife without a retaining strap.

The scabbard is of tough but thin leather but uses a double thickness of it and the back seam adds some stiffness to it.

Because how sharp an edge this knife can hold I think it a good idea to pay some attention in putting the knife into the scabbard so as to not cut it but if one makes sure to have the back of the blade in contact with the scabbard and one doesn't bend the scabbard I think only an over fast scabbering by someone really clumsy could make this an issue ( With a duller blade I don't think it would even be worth mentioning.

The blade has a perfectly flat ground blade and the edge is unsharpened or butter knife sharp for the first inch or so of blade past the shoulders and then transitions into razor sharpness.

Although I like fighting knives more in general these " civilian " period knives are fascinating and attractive in their visual and functional simplicity.

Anyway, excellent work and these simple By-knives are a great value for the money and the aesthetics of the whole package is fantastic.

[Michael Pearce]

Very nice work, Michael! I really like the 'period' style bolsters and know what a pain they are from experience, but you executed them very nicely. Likewise the scabbard made for Jean. At these prices I can't imagine that you will have any trouble selling them all if you haven't already.

[Michael Pikula]

Thank you Jean for the wonderful review! And thank you Michael for your kind words. I enjoy making these "smaller" blades as a break from larger projects.

I am offering free shipping to the lower 48 on the two larger knives for this week. (aka payment received by March 20)

[Michael Pikula]

I am offering a 10% discount and free shipping until April 22 on the remaining 4 knives. After the 22nd I'll be putting them to use in my kitchen

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Jean Thibodeau]

Well, it's official #3 is mine mine mine.

Michael is making me a scabbard for it for a modest extra cost as I don't like naked razor sharp blades lying around without a scabbard and the scabbard he made for me for the first knife was very nice.

[Jean Thibodeau]

Just received #3: I really like it and I think it gives me with the other By-Knives I got from Michael a good variety of kitchen knives.

This one closer to a " Chef's " knife general purpose kitchen knife. The longer #1 knife would work well as a carving knife and the small one good for small detail work.

Oh, the handle on this one is a bit more comfortable because of the angles and rounding on the butt end than with #1

Excellent quality work and at the prices for these for hand forged knives a real bargain.

The scabbard is also really good.

[Michael Pikula]

Thanks for pointing out the comfort difference between the two styles that I decided to use. I am happy that the knife got in safe and sound, and I hope that the blades serves you well and stays away from your figures!

The other knives are getting put to use in my kitchen and aren't for sale anymore at this time, by the way.