shouldn't this off-topic-ness go in the gun thread?
3/7/2012 3:52:52 PM
3/7/2012 4:26:47 PM
^^yeah, but it's easier to follow the conversation if we leave it here.
3/7/2012 4:30:09 PM
^ good post. I especially like that last sentence
3/7/2012 4:32:35 PM
Just picked up this 10-inch Wusthof Chef's Knife. Tried a few out and thought this one worked great. Picked up a honing steel to keep it sharp.http://wusthof.com/desktopdefault.aspx/52_view-121/categories-121/wlang-2/tabid-75/105_read-963/categories-210[Edited on March 7, 2012 at 5:17 PM. Reason : []
3/7/2012 5:13:52 PM
^ got a set as a gift. love it
3/7/2012 6:00:55 PM
I have a set of wustoff kitchen knives that 'we' got for an wedding gift.I carry my knife for random threads, boxes, finger nails, etc... It could be used as a weapon if it was my only option.I carry my pistol with me every day, and haven't needed it yet. There were two situations before I started carrying where guns were pulled in my presence. In both of those cases, I'm sure I would not have added my gun to the equation if I had been carrying.But, I do have it just in case.
3/7/2012 9:50:18 PM
i was about to ask about sharpening with a stone, but i remembered fumbler's post from page 2:
3/8/2012 9:40:05 AM
Diddle you try the prop the stone up at an angle and hold the knife horizontal trick?
3/10/2012 1:20:55 AM
It's in the mail; I don't have it yet. But I will try that when I get it.How do you prop the stone up and keep it from moving? The one I got is small (1.25" x 4") but I was going to try making something to serve that purpose
3/10/2012 10:25:25 AM
^^lol, stupid auto correct^all of my stones have little round grippy rubber feet on the bottoms. I stack up pieces of wood or books or whatever then let the stones hang off the edge of a table so the rubber feet hook onto the edge. The far end of the stone gets propped onto the wood. I use the clinometer on my iPhone to check the angle (usually 15, 17.5, or 20 degrees).You may have trouble doing this with a 4" stone unless you figure some way to tape it in place or something. I plan on making a fixed angle wooden platform. It'd be simple, just two pieces of wood the same size as my largest stone. I'd use a power miter box to cut a wedge out of wood to the angle I want, then glue that wedge between the two other pieces of wood. That would give me an angled platform for the stones that was always exactly the same. It seems like no matter what you do or what the clinometer says, the angle is never exactly the same when you restack things under the stone.
3/10/2012 5:54:56 PM
I was called rambo today at work. Apparently the Recon 1 is quite intimidating to civilians...
4/17/2012 3:05:17 AM
Yeah I get that reaction with my cara cara 2, and its a hair smaller than the recon.
4/17/2012 3:32:43 AM
I wish that either Victorinox or Wenger would allow for tool customization of their Swiss Army knives. I have very specific tool needs (mainly for tech quick fixes when I don't have my toolbox with me), and I can't find any one model which has everything which I want. I've been using a Victorinox Workchamp (http://www.swissarmy.com/us/product/Swiss-Army-Knives/Category/Do-It-Yourself/WorkChamp/53761) for a very long time since it's about as good as I'm going to get. I really wish that it had a one-handed blade like some of their newer models, though.
4/17/2012 10:44:53 AM
I get called Rambo when I wear my Scrap Yard 711. I guess it's fitting since it's a big ass knife.I got a 1x30" belt sander from Harbor Freight. It was only $50.I'm going to make some legs or something for it to sit on its back. I think I'll even make it so I can set it at varying angles.So far I've sharpened a few machetes and kitchen knives on it.It kicks ass, especially since I don't have to wear out my $80 extra coarse diamond stone and it's way way faster.I'll post pics one day after I have it set up.[Edited on April 17, 2012 at 11:08 AM. Reason : ]
4/17/2012 11:01:40 AM
what grade sandpaper do you use with the belt sander?
4/19/2012 6:05:22 PM
Just got my SOG Twitch II in the mail today -- really nice for what it is:
4/19/2012 8:31:17 PM
^^For reprofiling axes and machetes I use 60 or 80 grit. For regular sharpening 150 or 220.I haven't finished an edge on it yet though I'm sure a 320 grit belt would work just fine for that.With a machine you don't need as fine a grit to get the same finish as stones; you just use a lighter touch.I'm not going to finish edges on it til I get the kinks worked out. Right now there's a bunch of runout on two wheels which makes the belt jump off the platen a little. I'll fix that somehow then square up the platen and it should be good for more sensitive stuff like small knives and fine edges.I also plan on making a leather belt to use as a strop. It should be one hell of a strop. I'm looking forward to trying some toothy 150 grit and stropped edges for skinning and cutting meat. Also looking forward to fully polished convexed edges on chopping tools.
4/20/2012 12:12:11 PM
So I have a knife fetish and usually have 3-4 knives on me along with my G19. Below is my EDC while on duty minus the G19.Top Left : Gerber 06 Auto Middle Left: Benchmade 9502 Bottom Left: Kershaw ShallotTop Right: KA-BAR TDI SerratedBottom Right: 5.11 Tactical Boot Knife [Edited on May 7, 2012 at 11:58 AM. Reason : ]
5/7/2012 11:58:34 AM
I'm making knives.Check this out...This is the first full sized knife design:I'm calling it the Ranger. Blade length is 4", 9-9.5" overall. It'll be 3/16" A-2 or O-1 with a high saber grind and micarta handles.Base price will be around $200.The next knife I'm making will be a small neck knife with available handle slabs.It's named the Parker after my unborn baby.It'll be 1/8" O-1 with a 2" blade and 5.25 overall length. The non handle slab models with have some lightening holes.Base price without slabs will probably be around $75. With slabs will probably be around $90.Here's a shot of some blanks:The Parker in this pic actually has a handle about 1/8" longer than what I'll normally make because my brother in law said it looked too short. idk if I'll produce them with the slightly longer handle or stick with the original.I have large hands with skinny fingers and the original is just right.I'll be offering options like steel upgrades, different handle materials, different finishes (regular satin, hand rubbed satin, bead blast on stainless blades, KG Gun Kote in different colors), different blade lengths, lightening holes under the grips, and so on.I'll do my own heat treating on O-1 but I have to send A-2 off. I may switch to all air quenched steels and send everything off in the future depending on how long the heat treat takes on the first batch.Future models will include a Forester, which will be like the Ranger but slightly narrower in profile. I also plan on making one called the AT Hiker; a bushcraft-ish knife. Every manufacturer needs a fighting knife too, so I'm going to make the "Rocky Mount Toothpick," a 5" blade 10" overall drop point/semi spear point knife that's sort of like a dagger.What's everyone think?Anyone want to buy one?[Edited on May 30, 2012 at 10:35 AM. Reason : ]
5/30/2012 10:27:45 AM
that's awesome.. how do you harden the steel? This looks like a hobby i could be down with
5/30/2012 12:13:45 PM
very neat...i'd be interested, but i'm too cheap i want a ka-bar becker necker, but i can't bring myself to spend the ~$35
5/30/2012 12:54:13 PM
^the Becker necker seems like a good neck knife, especially at that price. ^^it depends on the steel but basically you heat it and let it slowly cool to remove any internal stress, heat it up to whatever its critical temp is (1500-1800 degrees), quench it in oil or air, then temper it 2-3 times at 300-600 degrees.
5/30/2012 1:38:43 PM
do you use a torch or an oven or something for the 1600* quench one... (basically i know the material theory behind it but i don't know how accurate and even it needs to be)
5/30/2012 1:45:28 PM
make me a hunting knife
5/30/2012 6:55:36 PM
Stopped by this guys shop:http://www.irbiknives.com/when I was in Alaska and he took us in the back and showed us all their equipment and handle materials. He mainly uses chainsaw guide bars for the metal which I thought was interesting. Some of the stuff they have for handles was insane, things like wooly mammoth ivory and fossilized whale penis were some of the ones that stuck out to me. I mean I didn't even know you could find wooly mammoth ivory.
5/30/2012 7:40:43 PM
^Those are some ugly knives I don't know what steel is used in chainsaw bars, but I'm guessing it's something a lot more mild than you'd want in a knife like 1040 or 1050.Neat handle material options though.^^^It depends on the steel. Simple steels can be heat treated with torches or any other heat source that will get high enough. A BBQ grill with a blow dryer to fan the flames will work.I've made a small knife and heat treated with a propane torch and it worked just fine. You just heat until it becomes non-magnetic, then quench in oil or brine.If you want steel that you can easily heat treat yourself then get O-1, 1075, or 1084Steels with more ingredients (stainless steels and more advanced tool steels) are more sensitive to temperature and must be done in a controlled oven. Most of those are also air quenched. You can't just heat it up to non magnetic. Some won't harden correctly if you're off by 50 degrees or don't hold it at the right temp for the right amount of time.Here's a progress pic of a Ranger with the mock grips on it.After looking at my blanks, a couple of people have mentioned that the blade is too broad. What they don't realize is blanks and ground knives don't look the same.
5/31/2012 12:14:24 AM
what's with the nub at the tip?
6/2/2012 5:19:39 PM
i asked the same thing in a pm and fumbler said:
6/2/2012 10:26:31 PM
Have you had any intsruction on knifemaking or are you just doing it yourself? Your grinds seem pretty clean, but I'd like to see a finished product and how they line up, plus a depth check to make sure they're even. Another thing I'd do is add a small choil at the base of the grind to ease in effectifely sharpening the entire blade. without one its hard to sharpen the edge all the way down.If I were you I'd grind about 100 blades first and get decent at grinding before you started selling them. I have well over 100 scrap knives in a bucket I made and didnt like how they turned out. I've been making knives since I was 14, and only in the past couple years have a gotten to the point where I feel comfortable selling them. I like your designs, they should work fine, but I'd make a few and field test them, really hard, first. What grinder are you using? you only doing stock removal?oh and its true, chainsaw chains, steel braided wire cable and even railroad spikes stamped "HC" dont have enough carbon in them to make an effective knife that will hold an edge and function as a working knife. I've made damascus cable knives for shiggles but they dont provide the performance a knife should.Good luck Chris, I'm glad to see you finally got into it! you ever want to do some forging let me know.
6/3/2012 5:28:26 PM
I haven't had any instruction, just what I've read online and the little bit I've learned on my own. You'll see plenty of pics within a couple of weeks Honestly I'm surprised at how easy it is to get grinds straight and even. I dunno what the big deal is for some people to get the plunge lines even either. I've always had a knack for seeing symmetry and small detail.
6/5/2012 12:29:14 AM
hey I think your grinds look great! not laughing at all at your grinder, I started out with a coal forge and some files, all hand work for the win. I use a 2x72 bader with primarily light backing aluminum oxide belts, but I rarely do stock removal, so usually use higher grits for finishing, removing forging scale etc.what are you using to cut your blades out with? I think you're doing a terrific job! keep up the good work, and when you get some done up, I'll buy one.
6/10/2012 7:51:39 PM
My KMG is almost completely sey up; I just have to bolt the frame to my work bench. I made a riser to mount the motor and VFD above the grinder's drive shaft rather than in front. That was kind of a pain in the butt but I'm saving a lot of work bench space. I've got a Harbor Freight horizontal/vertical metal cutting bandsaw to cut my blanks. It's no faster than me going full speed with a hack saw but at least with the band saw all I have to do is feed the metal. I'm going to look into getting blanks cut with a water jet.Do you do all your work while forging or do you use anything to cut blanks?I'd definitely like to get one of my knives in your hands. You've probably used more knives than I have and pushed them farther too. It'd be good to get some feedback from someone who knows more about knives than most everyone else.I've got some Rangers in A2 at the heat treater now. Do you want one out of A2 or do you want to hold out for my next batch that's going to be made with CPM 3V? I've never used 3V before but it's supposed to be more than twice as tough as A2 and keep an edge a little longer than A2.
6/13/2012 1:31:22 AM
those blanks looks awesome for being hand cut on a bandsaw. I thought you were having someone laser or waterjet them]
6/13/2012 1:05:54 PM
Lost a pre-production Benchmade 773 last week. Hoping it will show up somewhere in my truck, but no luck so far. Hope someone finds it who can appreciate it.[Edited on June 13, 2012 at 3:34 PM. Reason : s]
6/13/2012 3:32:24 PM
Can anyone recommend someone to sharpen this knife or a sharpening rig that will handle it? I've sharped more traditional blade shapes before, but I'm not really sure how to handle the different curves on this knife.
6/13/2012 4:48:02 PM
I hate the lock on that knife
6/13/2012 5:58:20 PM
I love the lock on that knife.
6/13/2012 6:09:06 PM
6/14/2012 1:25:13 AM
How's this?Close up of the thin white liners and choilLanyard holeI've got two in CPM 3V at the heat treater as well as some smaller blades. The waterjet is going to cost $10-11 per blade It still beats trying to consistently drill holes in the right spots
7/3/2012 8:17:41 PM
damn i like this alot.
7/3/2012 8:43:04 PM
that's pretty nice man
7/3/2012 9:57:25 PM
Thanks guys.Here's a pic in hand for reference. My hands are long medium/skinny large size.Today I actually came up with my maker's mark.It didn't come out clean. There were a few little holes where the etchant must've worked its way through. I was mad at first but now I actually like the messy look. It looks less naked with a mark.I'm pretty hard on myself as far as making things perfect. The only thing on this knife that I believe is close enough to perfect is the edge. That's funny because the one thing I thought I'd really screw up was the edge.I found a pretty damn good way to sharpen knives. I took my lil harbor freight sander and clamped it to the adjustable angle platen on my grinder so the sander was horizontal and the belts moved away from me. Then I adjusted the angle of the platen so my sander's work surface was inclined 15 degrees in relation to me. It's the perfect way to easily finish an edge with a consistent angle. I took most of the edge off with a 220 grit belt, smoothed it out with a 400 grit belt, then clamped a leather strop to the sander's platen (thus keeping the angle I've been working with) and lightly finished the edge on the strop. It's been a long, long road. It's been about 6 weeks since this whole thing first started. If you take oout the 2.5 week this particular knife spent at the heat treater, it took 3.5 weeks to make this. It didn't take that long to make this one knife, but it did take that long before I had one finished product. I currently have three waiting for finishing, 7 at the heat treater, and probably 20 or so that are still in metal bars. I think I'm finally getting to the point at which I know what my work schedule is and I'm getting better at it. It seems a lot of my time was spent setting up equipment and waiting on parts. That's done for the most part. I should be able to really crank them out now.[Edited on July 5, 2012 at 12:46 AM. Reason : ]
7/5/2012 12:46:00 AM
^ I am very impressed. That is awesome buddy. Great work!
7/5/2012 2:44:21 AM
yeah man, way cool
7/5/2012 6:26:32 AM
damn...good job, man...that looks greatand i like the "messy" mark, too
7/5/2012 8:40:01 AM
I'm kinda hogging this thread, but since no one has any other knife stuff to talk about I don't feel so bad.Here's the kydex sheath I made. It's made to fit with large Tek-loks (not pictured). I made a drop loop for it. I'm real happy about the fit as it snaps in very tightly with no movement and has just the right amount of tension. It comes out easily, just grab the handle and push forward on the sheath with your thumb.Also pictured is a ferro rod I made with the same handle material and a white liner as well as a rod loop for the sheath. The rod's lanyard worked out well. I just tied a big knot in the end and you wrap it around the rod loop then jam the knot between the rod and sheath to keep the rod from falling out.The handle looks like it has dark spots due to handling. The handle looks lighter and you can see the "grain" more when it's clean. That's just how micarta acts.
7/5/2012 11:07:22 PM
Hey, Those turned out GREAT! if I were you I'd be really pleased with what you've done. my first attempts didnt come out near as nice. I really like the deep blade depth on the large one especially, that will make it a good worker, and the grinds look really nice. scales appear to be well contoured, and the liners add a nice touch. the choil is good as well, most makers dont get that concept on a working knife. are you using corby style pins/ rivets? what are you looking to get for your largest model, in 3V with a sheath? cos I'm in for one, and I'll put it through its paces.
7/6/2012 8:43:08 PM
The Ranger (bigger one in all the pics) starts at $200 with A2 steel, plain black canvas or linen micarta, and regular satin finish. Overall length is around 8.75" with a blade length of around 4".Here's a list of options:-CPM 3V +$30-Hand rubbed satin finish +$45-KG Gunkote finish +$25. I have satin black and "stainless" Gunkote on hand but will get other colors if requested.-Green canvas micarta +$5 (almost an olive drab color). I can get other colors or materials but the added price will depend on the specific material.-Handle liners +$15; single liners or in combinations. In vulcanized paper I have thin and thick red, thin and thick white, thin and thick black, and thick yellow. In thick (0.03") G10 I have blaze orange and pink.-Basic black kydex sheath riveted to fit large Tek-Loks (tek-lok not included) +$30-Kydex belt loop for sheath +$10-Nylon belt loop for sheath +$15-5/16" diameter firesteel with matching handle +$40 (firesteel loop is free if you buy a sheath and firesteel)-Basic leather sheath +$45. Color can be natural tan or black and a firesteel loop can be included if you buy a firesteel.I can do just about anything you can think of including other steels, different blade lengths, mosaic pins, or whatever. Just let me know and I'll give you a quote.I use regular 416 stainless pins but will do Corby pins for $10 more. I've never heard of regular pins failing other than in flexible knives. All knives will be repaired or replaced if they fail as long as the damage wasn't intentional for as long as I am making knives. Not covered is normal wear and natural material handles. Accessories aren't covered, but I'm a reasonable man so long as you ask nicely.Here's a work in progress. It's black linen micarta with thick red liners and a glass breaker butt instead of a rounded butt. A glass breaker butt can be added for no cost.The lanyard hole in this one is actually an oval. All others will have round holes, I was just playing around with this particular knife.
7/8/2012 12:48:38 AM
fuckin badass!
7/8/2012 4:18:38 PM