Before I discuss the knife stand, let me give you a little of the back story regarding the knife. As some of you may recall, I enjoy building model sailing ship from kits; I am fascinated with the era of sail and those that sailed. One of the pastimes enjoyed by some of the old-time seamen was scrimshaw (etching pictures in ivory, shells, whalebone, etc). When I came across an artist that scrimshawed knife handles, I wanted one. So my wife and I went to see the artist and she purchased a knife as a Christmas present for me...it has a sailing ship in the background and a whale in the foreground (it isn't mine yet, so I can't show it). While we were visiting with the artist, I asked if he could etch a handle (the handles are bone from a bison rib) with the US Marine emblem on one side and my son's initials on the other, he said he could. Three weeks later he called that the knife was ready. Since I knew that both my son and I would want to display our respective knives I decided to build display stands. The pictures below are of the finished product (I am still working on the second stand). The wood is white oak; the pedestal is routed with a classic ogee bit; the holder is six laminations (1/8") which were steamed prior to bending around a form. All things considered, I am happy with the result. You can find similar stands from various sources, but those typically display the knife horizontally; I thought it would look better to have it displayed with a more angled pitch.
