Underhay's KITH

[ZDP-189]

This is the long overdue review of Duncan Underhay's KITH knife. Duncan sent me his rather wonderful knife along with a written explanation of his design philosophy and work.

Duncan, I hope you don't mind my quoting you:

I hope you enjoy using the enclosed knife and sheath. The KITH plan was to keep it simple, so I made a plain using knife.

It is the eleventh knife I have made from scratch, but only the third sheath. I forged the blade from 1/4 by 3/4 O1 strip, and hardened it myself. I hardened the whole blade up to the ricasso and tempered it at 350F, I then tempered the back up to 2/3 the length and the ricasso area to a blue spring temper/ Hopefully, it should be pretty tough, {...}

I finished the handle in danish oil, and the sheath was water proofed with Nikwax boot dressing.

My Comments

First off, it's a very elegant and simple design. The lines flow and it looks 'sorted'.

The blade grind is fantastic. It's straight, tapers to the tip, the plunge lines are graceful ans symmetrical. It's very close to a flat grind, with just a hing of convex if you hold it to the light with a straight edge against the bevel. The final edge is a 2mm polished convex.

The guard is small, but adequate and keeps the fingers from the edge. The top of the guard allows choking up with the thumb on top. It is fitted very tight indeed. I think Duncan must have deformed the brass a little to pinch the blade.

If I was to make any changes here, I'd lengthen the ricasso, so I could slip a finger over the guard. But that's just to accomodate my habit.

The handle is simplicity itself. It is flat, yet fits the hand well. It is well finished.

The sheath too is of excellent quality. Wetformed from strong hide and with a welt, it is of very high quality. The knife slides home with a click.

I particularly like the back of the belt loop. That's great attention to detail.

Duncan said he plans improvements for his next sheath, including more burnishing of the seam.

In conclusion

This is a great knife. Certainly a user and a pleasure to own.

Thanks you Duncan!

[MotorbikeMan]

That's a really nice piece of work, one to treasure

[Colin KC]

Looks good, Duncan's gonna make some super knives inna future

[Roberson]

That is really a beautiful knife, I especially like the handles and guard. Great job on the sheath too, you can tell Duncan put a lot of dedicated work into this knife.

Robbie Roberson

[Underhay]

Thanks for your kind comments Dan, I hope it serves you well.