I was asked to build a 3.5″ bushcraft knife with a fine Scandinavian ground edge for review and testing by Kim Breed, an editor for Blade Magazine.  So, I built this Mini Woodlore model (a 3.5″ Scandinavian ground bushcraft knife in my regular product line) to my personal preference to use as a personal user following the review.  This particular knife is the 37th knife that I have completed which bears my logo.  The full article is available in the August 2019 edition of Blade Magazine.

It is in CPM 3V steel with high contrast, straight grained Arizona desert ironwood scales over 1/8″ ivory paper micarta liners with brass hardware and a brass mosaic lanyard tube.  CPM 3V is my favorite steel for this type of knife.  Arizona ironwood is one of my favorite hardwoods of all time, and the handle/liner/pin/tube combination are identical to the first two of this model that I ever made.  One of those two was supposed to be for myself from my original batch of knives, but it went to a dear friend as a matched father and son set; both Randy and Owen love their knives and still use them daily.  I thought about using some truly exquisite ironwood burl, but instead opted for a piece of more affordable, simple, high contrast, straight grained wood since this one is going to be a heavily used blade.  The handle contouring is full and completely fills my hand to improve control/handling and reduce fatigue during extended heavy use. 

The sheath is a hand fit, full coverage tooled leather pancake design using Harmon Oak leather with scalloped edge, drain hole, double row saddle stitched by hand with braided thread, and a removable dangler loop with removable D-ring.  This was a full featured sheath with almost all of the options because I really like leather craft and wanted something truly unique and special to carry this one in.

The Mini Woodlore was reported to:

• be “very aggressive in crunch cutting through 100 pieces of half-inch rope”
• cut 20lb copier paper “like a razor, very aggressive in its slicing”
• with cardboard, it “sliced very smoothly and aggressively” while making “loud noises” when cutting
• be “quite smooth in making great curlicues” in wood
• “has a very sharp edge, almost as if it were made just for whittling”
• “The handle was very comfortable while whittling.”
• when chopping antler, it “sent pieces flying”
• “sliced great” and “would be great to carry in the woods.”