Ashdown Forest Crafts

Handcrafted Knives and Leatherwork - http://www.ashdownforestcrafts.co.uk

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This Helle Eggen came in for the full works, reset the bevel, clean and polish, grind down the marked spine, new handle and new sheath. The handle is Bog Oak with bands of lightly burred normal oak, white corian and various coloured vulcanised fibre spacers with a lanyard hole added. Sheath and mask both dyed dark brown and made from 3.5mm veg tanned leather.

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This is one my Woodsman design knives, going out to Stonewood Survival and Bushcraft’s head instructor. The scales are 800 year-old Welsh yew, with red and brown liners. The sheath is buckskin-coloured 4mm veg tanned leather, and can be used either as a neck sheath, or on a belt.

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I liked this one so much that I was very tempted to keep it! The knife is the Ashdown Forest Crafts necker design, and I made the sheath to Greencraft’s own design. The knife is 3mm 01 tool steel and about 6 3/4″ overall. The scales are fashioned from 800 year-old Welsh yew and furnished with brass hardware. The sheath is 4mm veg-tanned leather, dyed with acrylic dye then scrubbed off to give it a slightly aged look.

The ferro rod has a matching yew handle, and the loop is surface-mounted on the sheath. This piece of Yew is taken from the heart and sap woods, and I like the result, so I’ll be using that style again.

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This possibles pouch was a commission, made to the customer’s own design and specification. It is made from 4mm veg-tanned leather, dyed dark brown with matching stitching. It’s about 8x6x2 inches in size, with a pocket designed to fit an Opinel at one end and two MOLLE attachments at the other end. There’s two stout glued and riveted belt loops on the back, with two D-rings so that it can be lashed to a pack, etc.

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Since designing a mask for my own Robin Wood Carving axe, I’ve had lots of requests from people to make one for them, too.   They’re proving to be very popular indeed.  The two shown here are made from 4mm veg tanned leather.  One is dyed dark brown and the other is briar brown.  They each have contrasting stitching and a press stud retaining strap. http://bit.ly/1RLbWlB

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I was commissioned to make this knife for a young teenage girl, so it needed to have a more slender handle than usual. I chose a 77mm Polar puukko blade and made the handle from yew, with a band of elm, with brown, red and brick red spacers. The section of yew I chose is a part of the wood which doesn’t get used often, where the heartwood meets the sapwood, hence the unusual colours. The neck sheath is 4mm veg-tanned leather and is dyed briar brown.

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This Julius Pettersson puukko blade came in for handling. It is in cherry, cut from the centre of a branch, with bands of oak burr and a variety of spacers in reds and browns, with a lanyard tube. There is also a matching cherry-handled ferro rod. The sheath is dark brown initialed veg-tanned leather, with ferro rod loop, lanyard hole and a detachable dangler loop (not shown in these pictures).

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Mask for a Robin Wood axe

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First of a small run of neck sheaths for the excellent VC Works whittler, shown here with a Yew handle. In 4mm veg tanned leather available in various colours and threads. 

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This is a Karesuando puukko which came in for refurbishment. It needed the old Masur Birch handle removing, and a new one fitting made from Père David’s Deer antler, with a band of stabilised mammoth tooth, Finnish birch bark and the vulcanised fibre and polypropylene. It also had to fit back in its original sheath. This is the nicest bit of antler I’ve had the pleasure of working; there was very little marrow to it, so it could be shaped more.

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I made this interesting sheath for a lovely Nessmuk from Rhys Harris of VC Works. It’s a proper beast of a knife, due to it’s thickness. The sheath has a triple welt all the way round, with a fourth welt where it meets the ricasso, so it was 6 layers thick at that point. Sewing through 24mm of leather in a neat line takes some doing, and results in sore fingers! It’s dyed in dark oxblood, with Sam Browne fixings and the shape follows the knife’s own.

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This Woodsman has birch burr scales with red fibre liners, and a thin piece of brown polypropelene in there for contrast. I have also redesigned the Woodsman sheath, giving it a slightly different shape. The lanyard has a matching birch burr bead.

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I have had quite a few unusual and interesting jobs in lately.  This knife design, by Brian Griffin of Southeast Wilderness Survival, is called the Tibo and is made by Tops.  It was sent in for some removable scales and an inverted neck carry sheath.  The scales are made from grey Corian, with grey and white liners, held together with cut down and polished stainless motorbike screws.  The sheath is black dyed veg tan leather with a paracord lanyard.

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Camel bone seems to be immensely popular at the moment! This is a Woodsman with camel bone scales, with red and black vulcanised fibre liners, and brass hardware. It is sheathed in 4mm veg tan leather dyed mid-brown, with a thicker welt than normal, wet moulded for a snug fit.  See more at www.ashdownforestcrafts.co.uk

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The Woodsman knife has a three inch blade and is my own design. This one has olive scales with brass Corby bolts and tube, a leather lanyard and a matching ferro rod. On some wood, a knot showing through could be fairly unattractive, but both the customer and I were quite pleased with this. The knife and rod are in a sheath made from 4mm veg-tanned top grain leather, dyed in light brown and saddle-stitched with linen thread. It has a triple welt to accommodate the ferro rod loop, and to maintain a slim profile overall.

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What makes a good bushcraft knife?  Mors Kochanski explains.