Mick Wardell Custom Neck Knife

While at the Midlands Game Fair I was chatting with Mick Wardell, custom knifemaker, and as well as his more exotic works, he showed me a little ‘Neck Knife’ which he makes by hand from scratch – including all heat treatment. I liked it as soon as I saw it, as it is both nice looking and functional – it would make a great little ‘trout & bird’ knife – but most of all it has been hand made by a craftsman at the top of his game and it is not priced out of sight. Later on it also struck me that if you were starting a collection of hand crafted knives, this might be a good place to start.

The neck knife is made from 3.3mm stock 154CM stainless steel and the blade measures 58.5mm long and 21.5mm deep with a handle length of 71.5mm. The steel is Cryogenically heat-treated to 60RC. The handle is samba stag antler with the bark taken off, fixed to the tang with stainless steel pins, it also has a red liner. There are alternative handle materials available such as Micarta or Dymondwood.

It comes complete with a Kydex neck sheath which is bolted together with 4mm button head machine screws so that is can be dis-assembled and cleaned. The sheath grips the knife securely until it needs to be used.

The weight of the knife is 57 grams and with the sheath the total weight is 76 grams. The cost is £125 plus p&p. For more information visit www.wardellscustomknives.com or email Mick at [email protected] or give him a call on 01237 475 312.

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