Vox Pocket Chisel

I have a few knives. Okay, maybe more than a few. But not nearly as many as I’d like mind you. 

The reality though is that most of what I do with my knives is a lot of pretty mundane stuff. Slicing open the tape on boxes, seam ripping, scoring cardboard or leather, scraping off stickers, drilling or deburring holes, scraping crud from under my finger nails, splinter removal, trimming a cuticle, slicing an ad from a newspaper, peeling an orange, etc. Quite unglamorous really. And as much as I hate to say it, a 4" bladed tacticool folder being whipped out tends to freak sheeple out.

When I saw this little beaut, the Vox Pocket Chisel, I was instantly smitten. Reminiscent of a Kiridashi. Small, discreet, really damn interesting looking, and capable of handling many of the day to day tasks I use a blade for.

This, and many equally intriguing blade designs are the work of Danish bladesmith, Jesper Voxnæs, of Vox Knives. He has a very distinctive style, and produces a range of very functional and just plain cool looking knives.

Some of his designs have recently been taken on by Boker knives. Being a small scale custom maker means that his production will be limited and the price higher than a mass produced knife. With Boker taking on the production they can be put in the hands of people for a bit less than he could make them for.

He also has a blog I really like. Slick advertising tends to leave me a bit cold to be honest. Getting to see his shop, the evolution of it, where he live, the repairs to his house, going camping with his kids - I love seeing all that stuff. It gives me a real appreciation for the maker and his designs. The impression that this is someone I’d enjoy hanging out with for an afternoon makes me far more likely to want to support him with my business. Certainly more than glib corporate hyperbole.  

I don’t know if he makes them very often, but one day I’m going to get Jesper to make one of these for me.

The following images are from Southard Knives (an interesting blade smith in his own right - and how I originally learned about it) to show the wet form leather sheath he made for it.

Some more images and a writeup of the Vox Pocket Chisel can be found here.