Scott's 14-year-old son Jacob made him a fabulous pipe for Christmas this year.
Check it out.
The bowl was shaped out of a piece of cherry firewood, while the bit was recycled from one of Grandpa's old pipes. Jacob heated and bent the bit to give it a more flowing look.
Yep, its a tactical EMc (Everyman Carry), and no, not every man or woman needs a tactical blade, but an EMc dressed in black isn't just tactical, it's practical too.
Scott just finished a first run of EMc Black Ops for a customer and made a few extra to offer for immediate sale. These knives represent Scott's first foray into water-jetting - a manufacturing process that allows us to have multiple copies of his designs cut from a sheet of steel via a powerful jet of water. This video shows how it works.
Once the blanks are cut, they are sent back to us to be hand-ground, heat-treated, and handled in house. Thus, they are still beautiful hand-crafted blades from Guinea Hog Forge - just hand-crafted versions that are little less expensive than a hand-forged option. Our goal is for Scott to be a full time bladesmith very soon and offering water-jetted versions of his designs should help us reach that goal by allowing us to produce more knives and service more customers. So expect to see more water-jetted Guinea Hog Forge knives in the future, but also be assured that hand-forged blades will still be a staple of our business. We are trying to make a living at this, but that doesn't mean we'll compromise the art of the craft or the quality of the product we offer.
Scott put black linen Micarta handles on all these EMcs, then bead blasted and Parkerized them to create a tough black finish that protects the steel from rust and abuse. All come with black Kydex sheaths, and for an additional price custom Kydex shoulder rigs (in black of course) are available for the standard sized EMcs. Yeah, there's a mini version too.
So if you need a tough stealthy everyday carry, check out the EMc Black Ops, and if you need a tough stealthy three-finger everyday carry, check out the EMc Black Ops Mini.
Scott knocked out some kitchen cutlery just in time for Christmas. Check it out.
Three General Kitchen Utility knives with 4-inch blades. The handles are as follows: African Blackwood at the top; Desert Ironwood in the middle; and maroon Micarta at the bottom.
GKU-4
Steel: O1
OAL: 9 inches
Blade Length: 4 3/8 inches
One 8-inch French Chef with Desert Ironwood handle. Check out that grain pattern!
8-Inch French Chef
Steel: 01
OAL: 14 1/8 inches
Blade Length: 8 1/4 inches
A trio of paring knives with 3 1/2 inch blades. Desert Ironwood at the top, black Micarta in the middle, and Cocobolo at the bottom.
Scott and I raise American Guinea Hogs - a rare and endangered farm animal that produces the best pork you've ever tasted in your life. In 2005, there were only 15 of these southeastern homestead classics left in the world, and while it may seem counter intuitive to eat an animal that is near extinction, heritage breed farm animals will only thrive if we value them for the bounty they offer and raise them with patience and pride.
American Guinea Hogs take time to raise, and (as anyone on our waiting list can tell you) our knives take time to produce, which is why we call our business Guinea Hog Forge.We're not interested in making low quality products that generate fast returns but rather in carefully crafting quality products that you can treasure for a lifetime and pass on for generations to come.
We learned a lot about raising heritage breed animals from the ALBC (the American Livestock Breeders Conservancy), an organization that is working hard to preserve America's agricultural heritage. So, as a thank you, we donated and auctioned off the following forged blade at their annual conference last night, which was held in Cary NC this year and not too far from home.
This little pig sticker is a Joe Keesler style knife with a rustic hammer-marked finish, a walnut handle, and a Scott McGhee signature clip.
Although the conference is taking place only a couple of hours from our home, we only attended briefly, as Scott has far too many knife orders to fill before the holidays. Thank you to all who have been patiently waiting for a blade. We are steadily working our way down the list, and we guarantee that the product will be well worth the wait.
Although the film The Full Monty might lead one associate the phrase "going Full Monty" with taking off one's clothes, according to Phrase Finder, "the most often-repeated derivation is from the tailoring business" and refers to "a complete three-piece suit." At Guinea Hog Forge we subscribe to the latter derivation and going "Full Monty" with us means buying a knife with two sheaths and a
custom rig, so if you were hoping to see a little skin here . . . well, take a
closer look at the leather work - it's part of a custom 3-piece set that goes with blade:)
Scott recently finished this "Full Monty" Native for a customer. He hand-forged it out of Cruforge V, gave the blade a "Rustic" finish, then fitted the knife with a scalloped Micarta handle, and dressed it in two sheaths (Kydex and leather), as well as a custom Kydex shoulder holster rig.
Scott recently finished this EMc for a friend and colleague. The EMc or "Everyman Carry" is a user knife so Scott typically gives it a rustic (hammer-marked/belt-sanded) finish and often uses Cruforge V. This is his first EMc in Desert Ironwood, and I think it looks fabulous. This blade also came with a custom leather sheath.
Scott recently completed this "rustic" Cruforge Bushman with GHF custom shoulder holster rig. Rustic refers to our hammer-marked and belt-sanded finish, which is the only way Scott will finish Cruforge these days. Cruforge is an amazing carbon steel that holds an edge like you wouldn't believe, but it's hard under the hammer and almost impossible to hand sand . . . although Scott has suffered through the process in the past!
This Bushman comes with an Ito wrap over rayskin handle, but we also offer this design with stabilized wood and Micarta. It's a great everyday carry and the shoulder holster makes it extra special! Here's Scott modeling his creation.
The Kydex sheath attaches to the should holster with a single Chicago screw . . .
. . . and the sheath comes standard with a Tek-Lok fastener, so the knife can be worn on a belt as well. In addition, the Tek-Lok can be removed to facilitate a cleaner carry in the shoulder rig.
The rig has multiple adjustments points and can be worn by a wide range of individuals . . .
. . . and it connects via a belt loop. This rig is set up for a right-handed individual, but we can make them for lefties too.
We're in Atlanta at the moment and looking forward to setting up for the 2012 Blade which starts tomorrow at noon. Here are two more knives that Scott finished just before we left - a tactical EMc Xtra and a 10-inch French Chef.
I didn't have much time to take photos, but here are a couple of shots.
EMc Xtra
Steel: W2
Finish: Parkerized with hand-sanded bevels
Overall Length: 10 1/4 inches
Blade Length: 5 1/4 inches
Handle: Scalloped Micarta
Sheath: Black Kydex with full shoulder holster rig
Scott Parkerized the entire EMc Xtra, then hand-sanded the bevels to a 120 grit finish.
The knife in the video is a collaboration piece recently completed by Conner McGhee and his father E. Scott McGhee (an ABS journeyman smith). This blade, dubbed the Guillotine, will be on display at the 2012 Blade Show in Atlanta along with some of Scott's knives. It's a brand new camp knife, not a dedicated chopper. Conner is the "chopper," and he's 9 years old.
Guillotine
Steel: 1080
Finish: Belt-finished scandi grind
Overall Length: 15 3/8 inches
Blade Length: 10 inches
Handle: Brown canvas Micarta
This is the first double-signed father-son collaboration knife out of Guinea Hog Forge, but we hope it won't be the last. We'll use this double signature until we can get Conner his own mark.
Conner was planning to sell the Guillotine at Blade, but Grandpa McGhee purchased it before we could get it in the case. He said we could show it off at the show but better bring it back!
