Collateral Concepts 4th Iteration

[Dorje]

Thanks for posting, the jacket turned out great.

[CAIN]

Brilliant work! may I ask why do you burn the leather? how does this affect the final piece?

[Chinorlz]

Brilliant work! may I ask why do you burn the leather? how does this affect the final piece?

The actual burning with the torch was desired by the client to texturize the hand/wrist area of the gloves. You can see that there are centralized "pucker" points which are where the flame came in contact with the leather and burned-shrank in that spot. By doing multiple spots that way, the rest of the leather buckled and crumpled to create a different texture.

The parts on the edges of the glove portion of the jacket as well as around the metal was made to look burned but was processed differently to gain that effect.

[Chinorlz]

Saturday morning update on one of the current collaborations:





This collaboration is with Serenity Knives here in Houston. Everything made from beginning to end 3 miles from my studio with no step automated. Everything worked by hand.

Five scalpel based knives and three more classic French chefs knives done in matching surgical grade steel with mammoth ivory handles.

Each will come with a specially designed Horween shell cordovan sheath.

Estimated completion to be around mid April!

[LotsaColours]

I can't imagine being a medical student,designer,manufacturer, and w.e goes on in your personal life, all at the same time. Teach me your next level time management skillzzz!

[Chinorlz]

I can't imagine being a medical student,designer,manufacturer, and w.e goes on in your personal life, all at the same time. Teach me your next level time management skillzzz!

sleep less :)

I have moved on to being a resident physician/medical device innovation fellow here at Methodist/Cornell even though I started all of this as a med student.

Got more works/patents in the medical device realm and some announcements regarding Collateral in the near future as well.

[treasurehoard]

The knives are going to be incredible!

[cjbreed]

I have moved on to being a resident physician/medical device innovation fellow ....

in a few years....

[Chinorlz]

early retirement? ;)

[Dorje]

When you place "medical" before "device" you get to move the decimal point to the right one place on the price...

[BlacknWhite]

That jacket, and personal bag of yours are incredible, actually everything here is beautiful! Looking forward to seeing more future work.

[Chinorlz]

Thank you sir!

Formal knife presentation should occur in the next 3-4 weeks. All I can say is that they are incredible!

[Chinorlz]

Busy working on the sheaths for the knives.... paid a visit to the fine folks at Horween last week and the sheaths will be constructed out of a custom thinner version of their black Chromexcel hide. Each hide goes through a 28 day, 5 floor, 89 step process to create the final signature Horween product.

Finished a custom order for a good friend as well:









Constructed completely using hand tools. Dual D-ring hammered silver links first shaped and welded before hammering and final polish. Attached to a fine grained cowhide with a suede back with handsewn waxed lace.

[ronald_bne]

Wow, magnifique! I wish I was able to access Horween leathers from Australia...

[Chinorlz]

Serenity X Collateral Knives Collection



Finally completed a 6+ month project. May be my favorite to date!

Two styles of knives created in collaboration with a Houston based artisanal knifemaker.

I went through and researched the different types of scalpels used by different cultures and people spanning millennia. From ancient Indian styles up through the iterations of western designs and types. I pulled features from all of these and blended them together to create a silhouette and shape that encompassed them all.

The result is a “utility” knife that is immediately intuitive to hold and use. On top of the classic knife grip style, the handle and blade have been shaped to allow for the two traditional surgical styles of holding a scalpel. There is the pencil grip, pinch grip and then the standard knife grip style. The straight shaft and wider blade allow for a direct pressure and energy transfer from the tip through the base of the cutting edge.

The tapered tip design comes from ancient Indian scalpels and although is not double edged (would technically make it a dagger and thus illegal in most of the US), the top edge has been swedged to retain that look.

The materials used to craft the knife are second to none. The metal is 13C26 surgical grade steel that is first cut, shaped, heat treated, then ground to shape. The bolsters are matched steel and the handle is woolly mammoth tusk ivory that is 40,000+ years old. No two knife handles are alike.

Perfectly ground and shaped, these are held in place with 3 pins with a center mosaic pin for a subtle additional detail. Designed for left or right hand use.

The angle of the blade is ground gradually for a thin, tapered, ultrasharp edge that will last a long time.

Final finish to the knives is a dual Serenity X Collateral stamp.

I have designed a single-piece construction sheath for the knives as well using a special order thinner-skivved Horween Chromexcel leather. Each hide takes 28 day to create from beginning to end with 89 steps occurring over 5 floors at Horween in Chicago. The rich black Chromexcel was produced in a thinner weight than standard for my use.

The sheaths are cut using hand tools, edged and burnished. The silver hook closure is created using hand tools. Chromexcel has a light oiled finish to it so a light rubbing is all it takes to restore the natural finish. At the same time, the oiling lets the knife slide in and out of the sheath smoothly.

A more classic, perfectly weighted 10” French chef’s knife was also created with matched 13C26 surgical steel and woolly mammoth ivory handles and it also has a Horween Chromexcel sheath to match.

The chef's knives were constructed for right handed users as can be seen in the top-down view. Can be used by left handed cooks, but will feel more natural for the righties.

The scalpel knives were produced as an edition of 5 + AP

The chefs knife as an edition of 2 + AP