Knife

Hank sat back at his bench and rolled his shoulders, stretching his back after a long day of working. After so many years, he didn't find the work particularly hard - much of it was muscle memory by now - but it was a very long and slow going procedure. It took time to get the pieces fitted together, and to ensure that once assembled, the knife would lock properly in its separate positions. Though to be fair, that was the easiest and quickest part of the process.

The hard part was making it fit in the palm of your hand. The micarta scales that were attached on the outside were large and blocky. Far too large to fit comfortably in the hand, and even if it could, it blocked the pins on the blade itself from being able to slide into place. The blade itself couldn't fully close unless the micarta was filed down. And that kind of thing took a lot of work, just trying to get everything into shape and size. And that was ignoring any designing that either he wanted to do, or had been commissioned to do. And even once that was done, there was still the sanding to be done to smooth it all out.

It was hell on his back, being bent over his work for long hours at a time, but he loved it. He loved getting to use his hands, and using them to create something. He loved seeing the simple intricacies of the knife as he put it together, and he loved seeing the inner designs of the micarta as he filed away at them, and trying to make his shaping match those designs. Subtle curves in the handle that both brought out those designs, as well as gave it a fluid and natural feel in the palm.

He wiped the mostly finished knife off with a cloth, just trying to remove the dust remains of the filing and sanding. He still needed to laminate the handle and sharpen the blade itself, but he could look at his work and see it. It was a usable knife. It opened and closed smoothly, the pocket clip was well attached and not going to be going anywhere. The weight and balance was good. It could definitely benefit from a good polishing, and by the time that was done his back would definitely be out. But for the most part, he had done a very good job.

And in the morning, he'd start all over again with a new one.