the stamps don’t bother me so much. I figure it was decoration in lieu of any sort of handle or wrap.
You really should. Of all the knives I’ve made, the kitchen stuff is always the most rewarding due to the feedback. After all, that’s where most of us actually use knives. When someone uses a quality hand made blade for the first time you can almost hear the jaw hit the floor. Most people have no idea how easily a good knife can cut or for how long they stay sharp and when they experience it, they are shocked.
I made my mother a carving set a couple of decades back. O2 steel, edge hardened and back tempered (back dead soft and graduated hardness from edge to center beginning at 60 C at the edge and quickly dropping to 50 C mid blade), acid engraved, cocobolo handle with flower pattern pins and a silica bronze bolster, and rose and vine file cut pattern on the spine. It still comes out at least twice a year to do it’s job at family gatherings. It’s never been re-sharpened and doesn’t seem like it will need it for at least a few more decades of occasional use.
