About The Designs
These designs were created by Francine, David Boye, and Bob Hergert and other artists. Most are original and some are adaptations of petroglyphs, cave paintings, and ancient art. Each is hand drawn in pen and ink, and then made into a dry transfer (an adhesive backed version of the image) which is burnished onto the blade. The transfers themselves are rather rough, so Francine reworks them by smoothing out areas with enamel, refining lines with a pin tool, and adapting the design to fit the specific blade on which she's working. Most of the designs can be sized to fit any of the knife styles.
In addition to the catalog, we can provide designs that you commission, as well as etch your own creations onto the blade. We can personalize the knife even further by adding names, messages, lines of poetry or.... anything you can imagine.
When the design is completed to Francine's high standards, the knife is submerged in an acid spray bath--the art permanently etched into the steel.
Tools of the Trade
Etching tools + lots of Q-Tips and wooden toothpicks!
A master and the dry transfer images made from it. Note the crudeness of the transfers. The tools shown above are used to refine the image to the quality shown on the master.
The images on the blades, after they have been refined and cleaned up using the tools above, are now ready for the acid bath.
Designs by Francine • David Boye Designs • Traditional Designs
Custom Etchings
