Woodlore customer Joshua Le Pla got in touch with us earlier this year, with photos of his own knife project using the Julius Pettersson Knife Blade. Where Joshua’s design differs from the other knives we see is in his inclusion of unique materials, including the wood from a set of antique bowling balls and a six pence coin:
Hello Woodlore,
My Dad bought me the Hand Forged Knife Blade and Antler Rolls last Christmas, as I requested. I’m 16 years old and a great fan and admirer of Ray Mears. His vast knowledge of all things Bushcraft greatly influenced me into discovering the natural world and what it can offer.
I began to prepare and make the handle for the blade from Christmas day and finished it in March. I have an interest in engineering and woodwork and am currently doing an electro-technical Apprenticeship. This has helped me greatly to create the knife. With my efforts alone (and with help from my granddad in drilling and gluing the pieces), I am very proud of what I have created and will of course give it the utmost respect as it is a dangerous tool.
Joshua’s knife, ready to be shaped
Materials used (in order from the front of the tang to the end):
- Stainless steel
- Antler
- Brown leather
- Antler
- Blue leather
- Lignum Vitae (an incredibly dense wood)
- Blue leather
- Antler
- Six pence coin (recessed in the antler)
- The end of the handle, showing the six pence coin Joshua included in his design
For the wooden centre piece I wanted something beautiful and exotic which would stand out. I chose Lignum Vitae which I believe is the densest wood in the world. It was very hard to come across however; I eventually found some at a car boot sale, it was a very old set of bowling balls, accordingly it was quite a tricky process in getting the wood rectangular with minimal waste of the wood as I know it is very rare.
Joshua’s finished knife handle
This project has been great and a wonderful enjoyment to do, I will cherish this knife for the rest of my life and hope it serves me well as both a camping and woodworking tool. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Ray for all his programmes and books he has done, they have been a wonderful influence on my life and very eye-opening. Also, thank you Woodlore for selling this great product!
I hope Mr Mears the best of luck in his future series and also hope there are many more to come.
Best regards,
Joshua Le Pla
The Ray Mears & Woodlore Bushcraft Blog 
It’s beautiful. And at 16! Whoah!
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Thats some great work. With those skills your gonna have to get into some skrimshaw and make a complimentary antler sheath. Im going to have to find the time to start mine this weekend after seeing this!
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Great work on the knife. The Reindeer antler looks tops and the Lignum you found works really well. Keep up the good work – it gets addictive 🙂
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Thankyou everyone for all your lovely comments I am very greatful. The hard work paid off it seems, I’m very pleased with the knife and I’m sure it will serve me well for many years to come. Long live Bushcraft!
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Agreed, I’m 17 and I’m very impressed with your work. Keep it up!
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WOW! That’s truly artfully rendered, Joshua! I have a shop here in Manitoulan Island that features some outstanding offerings from our local craftspeople and artisans. Your splendid knife would measure up to (or surpass!) the pieces created by some of our most seasoned contributors. You have a lovely gift, Joshua – please continue to use it!
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Look after it and it will look after you, Beautiful beautiful Knife man! You should be a Knife Maker, To make such a good knife handle at 16 is fantastic! Wulamallessin
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That looks great, I love the idea of a six pence for in end. I hope both you and it have many adventure’s.
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very professional job, when I saw you were 16 I was like “what..” beautiful and it should serve for many years 🙂
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