Francine and Felix

Francine's etching career began in 1973 when she started working with David Boye . He taught her to etch knives using a traditional etching technique --hand drawing designs in a beeswax and asphaltum resist, then soaking the knife in a bath of aqua regia (an ancient formula combining nitric and hydrochloric acid). Over the years Francine refined her original style and also developed a new, simpler style using a reproducible masking technique developed by Boye in 1981.

Francine and Felix Francine's etching career began in 1973 when she started working with David Boye. He taught her to etch knives using a traditional etching technique - hand drawing designs in a beeswax and asphaltum resist, then soaking the knife in a bath of aqua regia (an ancient formula combining nitric and hydrochloric acid). Over the years Francine refined her
original style and also developed a new, simpler style using a reproducible masking technique developed by Boye in 1981.

From 1983 through 1985, Francine studied drawing and composition with Howard Ikemoto at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California. From 1985 to 1992 she worked as a freelance design illustrator doing independent commercial projects. A 1993 phone call to Boye led to her management and eventual ownership of the David Boye Knives Gallery in Davenport, California. She soon started creating her custom etchings again, and after completing
several pieces which helped her to refamiliarize herself with her craft, received a commision by wildlife artists Bev and Jay Doolittle to produce a seven piece set of kitchen knives with etchings representing California Desert flora and fauna.

From 1993 on, Francine developed her reproduced design catalog, reworking and simplifying some of her custom etchings as well as creating new artwork. She now offers about thirty of her own designs, a number by David Boye, and various traditional images that were adapted by her or Boye. Expanding the catalog is a slow, steady, and ongoing project.

Over the years Francine has created hundreds of reproduced etchings and scores of custom pieces, including an 8 piece set with Georgia wildlife themes, a set based on the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis, and a gold and copper plated Leopard scene on a Bowie knife made by knifemaker R.D. Nolen.

A Good Example of Dendritic Pattern on a Slicing Knife

Click on image for detail

Boye's innovation was the first application of investment casting in modern times. Over the years Boye Dendritic Steel (TM) knives have been put through "torture tests" by Boye himself, as well as several knife periodicals, and the knives have always stood up to whatever stress they had to endure. For over 20 years Dendritic Steel has proven itself to be superior to most other varieties of blade steel in edge holding as well as sharpness.

Dendritic Steel also looks different from other types of steel when it is etched. Etching causes the chrome carbide crystals to appear on the surface of the steel, and this reveals each blade's uniquely crystallized pattern. Blades etched with designs have a distinctive multi-textured look
to them--a smooth, shiny foreground, with a dramatic crystaline frosted patina in the background. It was these fern-like crystal patterns that inspired the name "Dendritic" (Greek for "fern-like").

J.P. Holmes has been meticulously making knives for over 20 years. He is a custom knifemaker with a solid reputation for superior craftsmanship. He started making the Francine Etchings line of knives in 2001. Francine enjoys working with him because of his level of skill, the subtle beauty of his styling, and his willingness and ablity to give the customer exactly
what is desired.

He starts each knife with a BDS (TM) casting of 440c stainless steel. Then he grinds off the casting skin and rough grinds the blade to prepare it for heat treating. After it is hardened in an atmosphere controlled kiln, he draws out the brittleness in an oven. Then it is ready for its final
polishing process using progressively finer grits on his sanding wheel.

When it has reached its optimum polish, he sends it to Francine for etching-- with a design, or without-- which brings out the beautiful crystal pattern of the steel. After the knife is etched, it is returned to Holmes where he attaches, shapes, and polishes the handle and ringsets, if
any, through a progression of sanding belts. The blade is then scotchbrited, and the knife is finish polished, buffed, and inspected.

The result is a one of a kind tool whose performance is as beautiful as its appearance, a merging of form and function that will perform through a lifetime of use and likely will become a working family heirloom.

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