Newest Davis just in. Nicely sized gent's folder with Sambar stag scales, bronze TextureTech bolsters and a 3.125" Markus Balbach Damascus blade in his herringbone pattern. Everything about this one is perfect (but that goes without saying!) Alan must have thought I would do my best to snag this one, because he put his makers mark on the inside of the back-spacer! He knows I don't like it cluttering up the pattern of a Damascus blade!!!

TextureTech bolsters !  That is just the icing on the cake right there!  LOL, he knew...this one screamed DENNIS!!!!  Congrats my friend, it is just beautiful

Since I missed it, I was hoping it was you who snagged it. Well played. It is gorgeous!!

Thanks Rick and Jan.  I really like this one.  Gotta say something, and it is nothing that will surprise or offend Alan.  While I consider myself to be somewhat of a hack when it comes to photography .... Alan just plain stinks!!!  I am certainly glad his knifemaking skills don't mirror his photography skills!  I view this as a plus.  When I see him post a pic of a new knife (having owned so many of his pieces), I kind of know what it will look like in the flesh, so to speak, rather than what the photo depicts.  That gives me a little edge when it comes to snagging a piece!  I don't have to think as much as other might.  When I saw his posted pics of this one, I knew immediately that it would look fantastic in person, despite Alan's somewhat underexposed and washed out pics.  For this, I thank him ... because the knife now resides in my collection!  One more thing ... I don't care for many of Markus Balbach's Damascus patterns ... but his herringbone is out of this world.  It has a chatoyancy that photographs just can't capture.  Beautiful stuff.

Alan is on a roll with stag folders!  Here's my latest.   First, the stag is absolutely phenomenal. More importantly, I like adding new things or firsts to the collection. The bolsters on this one fit that bill. Alan is always trying new things and he made the bolsters by fusing sterling silver to copper. A really nice rustic kind of look to it. Scales are some superb natural amber Sambar stag with great character. The slabs are a little oversized and fit my hand very well. The 3.125" blade is some of Vegas Forge's stainless Damascus in their sharkstooth pattern. Overall, just a great looking knife that will spend a lot of time in my hand. 

It's been almost 5 months since I last acquired a new Davis. Mainly, because Alan had some serious medical problems.  Fortunately, he has now recovered and is back making knives!!   This beauty arrived yesterday. It's another gent's size folder with a 3.125" blade made from Bertie Rietveld's Dragon Skin Damascus which Alan heat colored. Bolsters are also Dragon Skin (etched). The Mammoth bark scales have nice color front and back. Double anodized / file-worked back spacer and brass thumb stud with and inset blue diamond complement the knife very nicely.

I was lucky enough to be able to pick up another knife that Alan made using Bertie Reitveld's  "Dragon Skin" Damascus. (Beautiful stuff ... but oh so difficult to photograph.  Have to use heavily filtered lighting to prevent reflections in the blade.) This one is just a hair smaller and and narrower, with a 3" blade.  It is also a front tab opener, rather than employing a thumb stud.  The bolsters on this one are Timascus ... which goes great with the heat anodized Dragon Skin.  Alan put a lot of different colors into the carved and file-worked back spacer.

Dennis, well played. Another stunner from Alan. My Alan Davis knife lust is awakened like the skin of a dragon.

Thanks Rick.  Alan keeps turning out the beauties!

Here's a new Davis to add to the collection. Dressed in some very nice snakewood, this one has 3" Burke multi-bar (2) Damascus blade.

Very nice, Dennis. I may be paring down my own collection of Alan's knives. Would you be interested in a list and/or images? If so ping me at rickpropas@comcast.net.

Here’s an outstanding new Alan Davis gent’s folder with Mammoth bark scales and Steve Standish (Standish Steel Works) Damascus blade (2.75") and bolsters made from 1095/1075/15n20.  As always ... Alan dun good!!!

Love the matching blade and bolsters.

Thanks Rick ... they are super nice.  I had never heard about Steve Standish before, but he forges some really nice Damascus. 

Added a new Davis to the collection.  Beautiful black lip MOP scales with copper snakeskin carbon fiber bolsters and a 3.0625" A2 blade.  He also added some texturing to the blade spine, much like on one of the slip joints I got from him.

New Davis in the house! Pounced on this one faster than a cat on a mouse! This liner lock sports nice Sambar stag scales, a 3.0625" blade made from Burke's Dragon's Breath Damascus, and Tony Metsala Damascus bolsters. A real beauty!

That is a stone stunner!!

!! . ART . !!

Trust me ... looks even nicer in person!!!!  Going to work on the edge sometime soon to fully polish it.

So, I'm not the only one who polishes maker's edges . . . Though I must say that Alan's edges are exemplary.

They are, Rick ... it is just that I don't like to see remnants of the etch on the edge bevel of a Damascus blade!  A beautiful knife deserves a polished (or often ... mirror polished) edge!!!  I do this to EVERY knife that I plan to carry .... and some that I don't!!!

Okay Rick ....  Did the polish on the new Davis yesterday.  Also did a sharpness test before and after using the EdgeOnUp.  As I said in that post discussion, not sure if the BESS score really means anything, but it does serve as a benchmark.  Alan's edge scored a BESS score 362 (new high end cutlery edges).  His edge bevel was 24 dps.  I sharpened and polished to 23 dps to make sure I removed as much of the etch at the edge shoulder as possible.  After sharpening and polishing, tested again and my BESS score came in at 198 (utility razor blade edges).  Here are before and after pics using the same background as my original pics below:

Before:

After:

Makes the knife look SO much nicer with a polished edge contrasting with the beautiful Damascus.

There's a new Davis in the house.  This smaller slip joint arrived yesterday.  Sports some nice natural Sambar stag covers, copper pins, and a 2.75" modified Wharncliffe blade made from some of John Gulso's random pattern Damascus.

Another Alan Davis slip joint made its way into the collection. The more I look at it … the more I am thinking it will be part of my daily carry for a long, long time! Bolsters and handmade shield are antiqued copper, which … along with the copper pins … go really well with the jigged bone covers. The 2.625" blade is made from some of Del Ealy’s random pattern Damascus.

Another Davis slip joint arrived yesterday.  And ... it's another beauty.  The natural Sambar stag covers look and feel great.  Blade is 2.75" and made from some of Doug Ponzio's Damascus.  The rat tail bolsters with some texturing, along with the textured shield and pins, add something extra.

Newest Davis arrived yesterday.  This one is a liner lock with stag scales, a 3 inch blade made from some of Del Ealy's ladder pattern Damascus, and carved/antiqued bolsters with rat tail. Alan also antiqued the hardware as well as the Roman knot back spacer.

This one is stunning. No other word for it. 

Thanks Rick.  This is an absolutely fantastic knife.  The only thing that could make it beyond fantastic would be if the presentation and pile side stag were a better match.  Unfortunately, that is sometimes hard to do with stag!

New Alan Davis arrived and couldn’t be happier. It’s similar to the stag liner lock I recently got from him, but has a slightly larger frame and dressed in copper and mammoth. The blade is just under 3 inches and made from some of Rob Thomas’ bold raindrop pattern Damascus.

This new one has already become my EDC for the time being.  Really like it, despite it being just a little larger than I prefer, with a 3.375" blade.  Lately, Alan has been forging his own Damascus.  On this knife, he used a multi-bar, random pattern for the blade and bolsters.  The scales are nicely dyed giraffe bone.  And, of course, he did special file work, texturing, and double anodizing on the back spacer and liners. 

Was able to pick up another Davis from another Alan Davis collector and am thrilled with it. It's a smaller slip joint with stunning Sambar stag covers and a 2.375" blade made from some of Del Ealy's T-Rex pattern Damascus. Del makes some very nice Damascus. Bought my first knife with his Damascus back in 2013.

If this one were not sweet enough .... have another, even sweeter, inbound as I type this!!

Okay .... here's a real beauty (well, to my eyes!).  This gent's liner lock has some absolutely stunning blue mammoth ivory scales.   The bolsters and the 3 inch blade are made from some of Chad Nichols' "cheetah" pattern Damascus.  To further jazz things up, Alan did some extensive file work and double anodizing on the liners and back spacer.  Took me all of about 10 seconds to know I wanted to add this one to the collection!

[Update: This one has been gifted.]

Newest Davis added to the collection. This one is big and beautiful. Actually, much larger than would normally appeal to me. But, beautiful won out over big! The 3.375" blade is made from Burke feather pattern Damascus. The textured bolsters are from Ponzio Damascus. What really drew me to this one were the mammoth scales. Nicely matched and they have an almost stag-like appearance and texture.

Got this one in yesterday.  While it looks brand new, Alan made it as his personal carry knife in 2017.  Naturally, he gave it a little spa treatment before sending it my way!  Sized just right (for me) this slippie has a 2.875 inch blade made from Del Ealy's Damascus.  And .... I really love the mammoth on this one. 

I got my first Alan Davis knife in 2012 and started this blog in 2016 to showcase Alan's knives. Since the beginning, I was intrigued with his style and the fact that every knife he made was virtually a one of a kind. He didn’t seem to make just one or two patterns that he outfitted differently. Many of his knives (especially his earlier ones) also had a sort of rustic appearance that really appealed to me. Yesterday, nine years after my first Davis, the 100th that I have owned arrived in my mail call. I had been working with Alan on this one for quite some time. Normally, when I have him make me something, I just tell him to go wild and make something he thinks I will like. This time, I tried to put a little thought into what I might want for number 100. I decided to go with a black/white color scheme. So, sent him a mock-up of what I was looking for, along with the materials I wanted. Couldn’t have turned out better. Scales are some white giraffe bone with black striations. Bolsters are sculpted titanium that Alan blackened. The 3.25" blade is Damasteel in the Björkmans Twist pattern. The gold anodized liners are file-worked and textured. The back spacer is the first Alan designed in this pattern. It’s titanium and incorporates blackened and textured gold anodized sections. Super happy and, as always, … Alan dun good!!

Dennis, that is a stunner. Congratulations!!

as always, … Alan dun good!!

Well that is an understatement! Not only has Alan become quite the knifemaker over the years but you have also become quite the designer.  As the 100th this one fills the bill for EVERYTHING, congrats Dennis

Thanks Rick and Jan.  When I made that "100" comment to Alan many years ago ... I thought I was making it in jest!  Whudda thunk it?!   Someone asked me what my plans are for # 200.  Fortunately, I doubt I will live that long to even give it a second's thought! 

Knew I couldn't stop at 100!!   Newest Davis arrived recently.  It's a slip joint with incredibly nice, caramel brown, mammoth bark covers and a 2.75" CTS-XHP blade.

Picked up another great looking Davis last week.  This one has some great looking stag, textured copper bolsters and a Fat Carbon back spacer.  Alan forged the 2.25" twist Damascus blade from 1080 and 15n20.  This is my first knife that has some of his own forged Damascus.

Nice piece! Well done!! It would be interesting to see the blade anodized to pick up the tone of the bolsters. 

Thanks Rick.  While Alan has nitre blued many blades, not sure I have ever seen him give a copper wash to any of his Damascus blades.  Hard to envision how a copper wash would look on this one, given the wide spacing of the twist pattern.  I did have a knife with a copper washed blade .... gave it to a friend long ago.  It was a Theuns Prinsloo knife.  Here is a pic of it.

Looks great on this one with the thin pattern spacing. 

Dennis, thanks. I've had a couple of Prinslows, but never one that stayed with me, whereas I have just about all the Alans that I bought I still have. More than anything, though, I was just spitballing. Idle speculation. As it stands that is a very nice piece.

I don't know if I ever told you the story of running into a William Henry rep and showing him my favorite Davis knife which I was carrying, a stag with Damascus bolsters. He would have bought it on the spot had I been willing to sell it.

Dennis,

Congrats on the first with his hand forged Damascus. Looks great!

Here's another new Davis.  Arrived the beginning of last week ... but getting half decent pictures of it turned out to be a challenge.  This is mainly due to the fact that Alan gave the smooth, brown mammoth bark a super high polish.  Very hard to capture the depth in the Mammoth under bright lighting without the inevitable reflections!  So, had to struggle with multiple diffusers to eliminate them.  Just wish I had more hands!!  Anyway, this is a great looking gent's knife with a 2.875" blade and bolsters made from a billet of Steve Standish's mosaic Damasic.  Great package that fits very well in hand.

And .... here's what I mean about those blasted reflections without using additional light diffusers .... even when I tried to position the knife on an angle away from the direct lighting.

Dennis, even for Alan that is just extraordinary. Wow!! Double wow!! I just love not just the mammoth (though it is exceptional!) but also how the bolsters and blade integrate almost as if they are one. Wow wow wow! Would you mind if I asked him to do something similar for me??

Thanks Rick.  Go for it!!  Not sure how much shop time he is going to have for a while. His wife had some surgery and in addition to everything else going on ... he'll obviously be taking care of her (and everything she used to do).

I'm not picky...any Alan Davis knife will be just fine. You do remember I like Halloween too, right. We talked about this before!  :-D

You have a most handsome Davis collection...well done you!

Lars, if you are in the market for one of Alan's knives, let me know. I have a few that I could stand to part with as I pare down my knife collection.

Oh sure...wave the chocolate in front of me! I wasn't in the market, but I might be now. 

Let's take this off the boards... you can reach me at Szabla.collector@gmail.com. I do not check that email often, so if you don't see me respond soon enough, ping me here on my page.

Sometimes you just have to rub my nose in it!