Red Beard Knife and Tool

08/23/2026

The Official Loaner Axe Has a New Caretaker! | 5K Giveaway Results

After two weeks of waiting, today was finally the day… and we have ...

08/22/2026

THE PROJECT THAT CALLED ME BACK

You ever set a project aside, damn near forget about it, then stumble across it a year later and it starts talking to you?

Yeah. This was one of those.

I cut this zebrawood handle blank over a year ago and put it up. I was looking for something completely different when I found it again and figured it was finally time.

An old, heavily pitted Plumb cruiser head that’s clearly lived a rough life. Zebrawood handle. Stabilized redwood burl palm swells of an age I couldn’t even begin to guess. Somehow, they all belonged together.

Then came the oil.

That zebrawood completely woke up, and those redwood burl palm swells just exploded with figure. Every pass brought out something else.

And because apparently the axe needed one final ingredient, I paid the blood tax while oiling it.

So I did what any reasonable toolmaker would do.

I rubbed it into the handle and let the axe keep what it earned.

08/22/2026

IYKYK

Little known fact about my shop.

When I’m working on a tool and it decides to bite me, if it draws a little blood, it gets to keep it.

I don’t sand it out. I don’t clean it off. I don’t try to hide it.

That little spot becomes part of the tool’s story.

Call it a blood tax. Call it a maker’s mark. Call it poor shop safety.

I call it earned.

08/22/2026

There are a handful of tools in my shop that get used on damn near every build, and this card scraper from Whiskey River Art & Trading Co is one of them.

I honestly can’t remember the last handle I made without reaching for it. Once the rough shaping is done, this little fella knocks down high spots, cleans up tool marks, and lets me sneak up on the final shape without burning through a pile of sanding discs.

Less sanding, less dust, and a whole lot more control over the final shape.

Simple little tool, but it earns its keep on every handle.

08/21/2026

WHAT’S IN MY POCKET? | RED FRIDAY | AUGUST 21, 2026

Today’s carry has a little more meaning behind the color.

RED Friday. Remember Everyone Deployed.

I’ve spent my share of time deployed, so I know what Fridays, weekends, birthdays and ordinary days away from home feel like. Today I’m standing on the other side of it. I’m a dad missing his son.

There are sons and daughters, husbands and wives, moms and dads serving somewhere far from home today. So I’m wearing red and carrying red for them. And especially for one sailor who’s been on my mind a little heavier this morning.

THE WORKHORSE

Chasing Blades Exclusive, 1 of only 500 made by Texan Knives. A Texas Trapper dressed in red gator jig bone with brass bolsters and some beautiful filework along the liners. Built to work and look damn good doing it.

THE POCKET DROPPER

2022 Case Small Coke Bottle Jack, 4225 1/2 pattern, wearing red synthetic scales with stonewashed carbon steel blades. One of my favorite little Case patterns, and the red made it an easy choice today.

Two red knives in the pocket. Red shirt on my back.

Remember Everyone Deployed.

What’s in your pocket?

08/21/2026

C-GRADE MY ASS

I got another handle oiling video for ya!

This little 1.75 lb Plumb National needed a special handle, so I paired it with one a Whiskey River Art & Trading Co C-Grade curly swirly ash handles. And C-Grade my ass. Look at that grain.

I hit it with aqua fortis before the oil, and for reasons I still can’t quite explain, it pulled out this weird green tone in the ash. Wasn’t what I expected, but I sure as hell wasn’t mad about it.

Then the oil hit those curly swirlies and woke the whole thing up.

Pretty dang gorgeous for a “C-Grade” handle, wouldn’t you say?

08/20/2026

WHAT’S IN MY POCKET? | AUGUST 20, 2026

There’s something about old carbon steel that just belongs in a pocket.

For decades, Case marked their Chrome Vanadium blades CV. It was their traditional carbon blade steel, known for taking a keen edge, sharpening easily, and picking up that honest gray patina with use. When Case started using 1095 carbon steel in regular production around 2022, the newer CS stamp began showing up. CV meant Chrome Vanadium. CS identified the newer carbon steel.

Today’s pocket dropper comes from the CV days, and judging by the knife, somebody knew exactly what it was made for.

THE WORKHORSE
Today is the last day of the week for the rebuilt Queen City Jack. I assure you, there will be more. I’ve carried this old fella all week since finishing the rebuild, and it’s proven itself every single day.

Just time for a rotation.

THE POCKET DROPPER
1997-ish Case CV Canoe dressed in some beautiful peach seed jigged brown bone. It may be Chestnut Bone or Antique Bone. Either way, I love it.

This one has a story written all over it. The bone has mellowed, the bolsters show the miles, and that old CV steel has the look of a knife that’s spent a couple decades doing exactly what a Case knife was made to do.

Still tight. Still useful. Still riding in a pocket.

What’s in your pocket?

08/20/2026

I FINALLY FIGURED OUT WHAT THAT GAP IS FOR!

Y’all ever wondered what that gap in your bandsaw table is actually for? I’ve looked at that thing for years and never really gave it much thought. Figured it had something to do with the blade, table adjustment, maintenance, whatever.

Well, apparently I’ve been overlooking one of the smartest features on the whole machine.

A carpenter’s pencil.

Yep. Slides right down into that gap and fits almost perfectly. Keeps your pencil right there at the saw, doesn’t take up any table space, and you always know exactly where you left it.

I don’t know why it took me this long to figure it out. All these years I’ve been laying pencils on the bench, sticking them behind my ear, losing them under a pile of sawdust, and the bandsaw manufacturers had already solved the problem.

That gap has been a pencil holder the whole damn time.

Genius idea. You learn something new every day.

08/19/2026

WHAT’S IN MY POCKET? | AUGUST 19, 2026

Let’s talk about “second cut” bone, because this is one of those knife terms where the traditional meaning and Case’s terminology can send you in two different directions.

Traditionally, second cut referred to material that didn’t have the desirable outer surface or character, especially with stag. It could be cut, jigged and dyed to give it the texture and appearance the cutler wanted.

Case uses Second Cut differently. In Case terminology, Second Cut is the name of a specific jigging pattern. Case actually lists it right alongside Peach Seed, Rogers, Corn Cob, Winter Bottom and its other jigging styles. So when Case calls this “Burned Second Cut Natural Jig Bone,” they’re describing the treatment of the bone: their Second Cut jigging pattern, left natural and burned to bring out those dark ridges and streaks. (Case XX)

And man, look at it. That creamy natural bone with those burned brown streaks almost gives it the look of old stag without pretending to be stag. Every scale comes out a little different.

The Workhorse
The rebuilt Queen City Jack. Still riding along this week because I’m having a hard time putting the old fella down.

The Pocket Dropper
2022 Case small coke bottle dressed in some absolutely stunning Burned Second Cut Natural Jig Bone.

Two old-school patterns. Two completely different takes on bone. One rebuilt old Queen and one modern Case showing exactly why traditional pocketknives never get boring.

What’s in your pocket?