Custom knives - introducing Shan-Aan!

Tactical Gear Tactical Lights, Lasers & Knives
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Along with an affinity for firearms, a number of folks here also appreciate a good knife.

I’d like to take the opportunity to introduce my lovely and very talented wife, Shan-Aan. A little back story first, and then some pics of some recent projects.

From 2003 to 2008, Shan-Aan apprenticed with a knife/sword maker by the name of Jody Samson. If you’re not familiar with Jody, he’s the guy who made the original Conan Atlantean and Father’s swords. He was a legend in the custom knife world, leaving a hell of a legacy with Balisong and Benchmade. His WeeHawk design is extremely recognizable and oft-copied. Sadly, Jody passed away last December. He left Shan-Aan his tools, designs, unfinished personal work, rights, etc. It was his intent that she be able to carry on the craft that he loved so much. Since then, she’s worked toward that, finishing some of his unfinished pieces, as well as doing some of her own. She definitely has her own style, but a lot of Jody’s influences are apparent. She’s working out a number of designs now - some traditional, some artistic, some all business. As things develop, if there is interest here, I’ll be glad to share.

So… end rambling, start pictures and stats!

I’ll start with a small group of collaborative works. These knives were approximately 80% finished by Jody. The blades were ground, but needed final polish. The grip scales were in place, but needed final shaping and polish. Shan-Aan took over, and finished these up, and made sheaths for them.

First up - “family photo”:

In sheaths:

Boot Knife:

154-CM steel, Desert Ironwood Burl grip scales with steel pins and lanyard hole.
Overall length: 10 3/4"
Blade length: 6 3/4"
Sheath - hand-sewn, custom-fitted veg-tanned cow, mahogany.

Jody Samson’s personal mark:

Group photo of “mini hunters”:

Mini Hunter #1:

154-CM steel, Macassar Ebony grips with steel pins.
Overall length: 5 7/8"
Blade length: 3"
Sheath - hand-sewn, custom-fitted veg-tanned cow, mahogany.

Mini Hunter #2:

154-CM steel, Desert Ironwood Burl grips with steel pins.
Overall length: 5 3/4"
Blade length: 3 1/4"
Sheath - hand-sewn, custom-fitted veg-tanned cow, mahogany.

Mini Hunter #3:

154-CM steel, Desert Ironwood Burl grips with steel pins.
Overall length: 5 5/8"
Blade length: 2 3/4"
Sheath - hand-sewn, custom-fitted veg-tanned cow, mahogany.

Jody was a master of his craft. It appears that he did well in getting Shan-Aan up and running…

As I mentioned above, Shan-Aan has also been working out some of her own projects.

Horsehead Kukri:

This piece has a 16"blade - a beast of a piece. The pommel was carved in wax, and then cast in bronze. Steel used was 1/4 inch 6150.

Bronze Goddess Dagger:

I have an interesting in-prog photo series of the development of this piece, if anyone wants to see more!

This is a limited edition of 25 pieces. Shan-Aan carved an original in wax, molded it, and has had them cast in silicone bronze. Overall length is approx 12 inches, and weighs approximately 20 ounces, if memory serves. Elegant, but not inconsequential.

A second Kukri nearing completion (but too cool not to share!):

The piece is hand-ground from 1/4 inch thick 6150, heat-treated and tempered. Overall length is 12 1/2 inches, 2 inches wide at the swell of the belly, and weighs a pound. The grip scales are Amboyna Burl, which is absolutely stunning. It feels great in the hand. The amazing thing is, it’s not even quite done yet. She still has some sanding to do on the grip, and then will polish the heck out of it. It’s just going to pop. This will have a leather sheath as well.

A couple of other gratuitous artistic shots:

Thanks for taking the time to check these out! Comments are, of course, very welcome! I’ll share this thread with her. Inquiries can come through me, please.

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I really dig the second Kukri nearing completion. I use to keep up with custom scifi blades more than I do now & am familiar with Jody’s work. Good to hear that someone is picking up the hammer so to say

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Thanks, Spade!

Jody’s influence was pretty big on her (and on me, actually). He still seems to be a large presence everywhere in our lives.

Below is a pic of the Kukri, with the sheath currently in-prog. Note, also, the X-acto blade handle in the top left of the pic - that was Jody’s. He filed spiral grooves in the handle! Almost all of his tools have some decorative work on them - hammers have pinwork in the handles - one of his vices has filework all along the slide… just insane.

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Beautiful blades and an awesome story to match. Please post more of her work as she completes it.

Eric Kramer

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Thanks, Eric! Most definitely will.

Shan-Aan says thanks for the kind words, guys!

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Very good work. I am looking hard at that second Kukri knife. Excellent combination of style and functionality. Good luck to your wife.

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Hey thanks for posting the second picture. Keep us posted on any new projects as they come along.

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Website?
Price List?
Inventory?
Production Times?
Enquiring wallets want to know…

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Thanks a ton, Gentlemen!

She’s looking into a lot of different things right now - obviously some of the more “traditional” stuff has been and will continue to be done, as well as some artistic/sculptural/fantasy pieces, but we’ve also been talking about some tactical pieces as well…

… but I’ll let those speak for themselves in due time. :wink:

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I’m working on building it. I’ll use this thread to post up more of her portfolio, though, until I can make more headway!

Price List?

If I’m inappropriate in posting prices in this thread, I apologize - let me know, and I’ll remove them, and post things in the classifieds. Since I was asked:

The big knife in the series of Jody/Shan-Aan knives has already sold. The other three mini-hunters are $350.

The Goddess knives are also $350, and #4-8, 10-25 are available. She has 2 in stock right now, and will be sending more to the foundry once one more sells. (She sends them in lots of 3 due to high cost of castings, balancing inventory and expense of in-stock pieces…)

The Horse Head Kukri was a special commission project, and was sold a while back.

The Amboyna Kukri… still in-prog, and she’s still not sure what she’s got in it yet.

Inventory?

I think she may have a couple more of the Jody/Shan-Aan collaboration knives done, but I’ll have to get with her to see what is, and what the specs and whatnot are. These were more her, less Jody - he hadn’t made as much progress on them as with the ones I posted.

Production Times?

Varies on what the project is. She usually works on multiple pieces at a time. If you’d like to discuss something, hit me via PM or email and we can take it offline.

Enquiring wallets want to know…

… and I hope I helped!

I’ll see what else she’s got. I may have some of her other personal work, too… already sold, but shows more of her own ability to Alpha-Omega a piece, not just pick up where someone left off.

For what it’s worth, here’s a shot from her bench a couple of days ago, showing SOME of what’s in the pipeline:

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Here are a few of her past projects, which illustrate better her own vision and artistic/technical style. (All are sold.)

Drop point with pinwork:

Rayskin grip:

Pattern-welded blade:




Pattern-welded blade with wire inlay grip:




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Very nice stuff !

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Ok… checked with Shan-Aan. She has two more collaboration knives and sheaths finished up.


Jody had this piece approximately 40% done - to a point of a rough-ground, heat-treated blank, with holes for pinwork and lanyard drilled. Shan-Aan ground and finished the blade to a satin finish, and picked some nice Claro Walnut for the slabs. The blade is D2. Pins are stainless. The lanyard is braided deer hide lace. She also made a molded veg-tanned fold-over leather sheath. The knife has an overall length of 10 1/8 inches, a blade length of 6 1/8 inches, and weighs 7.8 ounces. It bears Jody’s personal mark. $450




Jody had this piece approximately 40% done - to a point of a rough-ground, heat-treated blank, with holes for pinwork and lanyard drilled. Shan-Aan ground and finished the blade to a satin finish, and picked some nice stabilized British Walnut for the slabs. The blade is ATS 34. Pins are mosaic and stainless. The lanyard is braided deer hide lace, for which she hand-turned a bead from the same wood as the slabs. She also made a molded veg-tanned fold-over leather sheath. The knife has an overall length of 8 inches, and bears Jody’s personal mark. $495

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I’m thinking a mini hunter just might be in my future. Good stuff. What a feeling it must be to be truly talented at your chosen profession. Looks like your wife has definitely found hers.

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Thanks!

She’d be thrilled to see it go to a good home!

This comment brought a big smile to her face, by the way. :smiley: This is an uphill deal - losing her mentor (and her job), trying to re-establish work space, and the frustrations of moving forward into fresh territory is daunting. Then some encouragement… :wink:

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Meisterhau, wow, lucky you!
Her work is stunning. I especially like the handle on the Kukri. I much prefer a raised area on the grip that separates the fingers into pairs which IMHO gives more power when pushing/pulling and more balance when doing other complex tasks.

I have a Cold Steel Kukri (much larger than normal Kukri) on me at work often and have come to appreciate the style of blade. I hope she will make some longer Kukris sometime!

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Thanks! Yeah, Shan-Aan’s all kinds of awesome. Believe me, I count my blessings.

The kukri is a definite working blade. I think she’s done a good job with the ergonomics on this one - fits my hand as well as hers, and does give that indexing you were referring to.

As for more of them - I think she has another blade in the works, but could be mistaken - similar to this one in size, slightly different dimensions. The larger one - definitely the horse head one above qualifies. THAT was something else. Not sure another like that is in the plans, though… the current economy isn’t favorable for making one on speculation, unfortunately. The price tag on one would have a comma.

She made some headway on the sheath for the Amboyna kukri last night, but the rain and humidity level kept her from dying it. Hopefully soon, and then I’ll get some more pics up.

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The pangas I’ve used in Africa are simply awkward clubs with a poor edge and a point. The parangs they use in SE Asia (not the one’s sold in tourist shops) were amazing to me. I was surprised how short and light and SHARP they were, yet worked very well. They certainly aren’t hi-tec but they are shaped and angled with geometric advantage in mind & short enough to easily carry and very light weight and they actually sharpen them regularly with smooth river rocks, unlike the Africans. My Cold Steel is in between a panga and parang in size, but it also works multi continents. I have wanted to eventually get a parang sized kukri for a dedicated jungle kukri. If the economy picks up for me I’ll give you a shout.

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I know what you mean - seen a variety of styles and quality from these pieces over the years. A well-made one is one hell of a tool. I had harbored a feeling that they were crude and unwieldy based on shape and perceived mass distribution - without using a decent one, of course. Unfair bias, and I’ll admit I was hating without understanding. That’s changed.

I’ll start looking into some of the larger pieces like you’re describing. Now, you’ve kind of got my interest piqued. As for a “working” piece (as opposed to the horse head one shown above - could of course be used, but it’s more of a sculpture piece), other materials could also be used like micarta.

At any rate, yes, I’m pretty sure she’d be glad to look at this.

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Shan-Aan did some more work on this piece… coming along VERY nicey. :cool:

The grip scales are awesome now that they’ve been buffed. It’s hard to get the colors displayed on the monitor to be true to the actual piece, and monitor to monitor, things will look a bit different. On mine, though, the photo a couple of posts back with the grasshopper on the grip is truest. LOTS of activity here. These show the level of polish better, though…



The sheath is nearly done, as well - a bit of buffing and molding yet to do.


I’m not sure if there’s much left that she wants to do yet… possibly a lanyard? I know she was talking about perhaps hand-turning a bead out of Amboyna…