Knives..what are your favorites?

[WarrenJ]

A new tanto forged from 5160, clay differential heat treat, rayskin, cordwrap and Turkshead knot,  Appleseed tip with a 5" blade.  

The big blade is forged from 1065, clay differential heat treat.  Its 15" overall.   Polishing is about 80% done, need to etch it to accentuate the hamon - its a nice billowy pattern- I'll post a pic when its done.

 Gotta bend up a sheath out of kydex for the tanto and get it out the door as a Christmas present.

[triangleforge]

  on both, but I'm particularly taken with that tanto - which is especially striking as they're generally not my favorite blade shape.  VERY nice work!

[WarrenJ]

The tanto is a hefty handful - I forged it from 1 1/4 x 1/4 5160 and I have yet to find anything as grippy as that Japanese style cordwrap.  Its razor, shaving sharp even along the convex tip edge.  I am really ambivalent about sending it out - I think it would go just great behind my right hip. 

The big one has me a bit puzzled about what I should do about the handle.  The style really isn't amenable to cordwrap - It'll probably be bocote or micarta.  I'm also forging a wakizachi (sp) out of S7.  Forging and working with S7 is really different as its an air hardening steel with some other weird properties.  That one may take a while.

Thanks for the comments!

[fastwin]

Awesome Warren. I too really like the 5" tanto knife. Sending it out as a Christmas present? Funny, I didn't know you had my home address!

Really cool stuff. Nice talent.

[WarrenJ]

Its actually going to Texas - If you have an "In" with the Frisco Post Office, maybe you could snag it.

[fastwin]

I could hit the Frisco PO with a .308... is that close enough?

[triangleforge]

The tanto is a hefty handful - I forged it from 1 1/4 x 1/4 5160 and I have yet to find anything as grippy as that Japanese style cordwrap.  Its razor, shaving sharp even along the convex tip edge.  I am really ambivalent about sending it out - I think it would go just great behind my right hip. 

The big one has me a bit puzzled about what I should do about the handle.  The style really isn't amenable to cordwrap - It'll probably be bocote or micarta.  I'm also forging a wakizachi (sp) out of S7.  Forging and working with S7 is really different as its an air hardening steel with some other weird properties.  That one may take a while.

Thanks for the comments!

Interesting; I've used S7 for things like hot-cut chisels & hardies, and other stuff that needs to cut or shape orange-hot metal, but never thought of using it for a knife. I'm all ears about how it works out.

[WarrenJ]

A friend of mine has made several knives out of S7.  Its even tougher than 5160.  Those knives will withstand some terrible abuse and keep cutting. 

[IZ]

 

 

[triangleforge]

Made up a couple of test mules for a knife I think might be fun to make in significant numbers. I was remembering the tiny little sheath knife I made & used to carry on my belt - under a suit, as I was working on Capitol Hill at the time - it was perfect for 98% of the things I use a knife for in my daily, office-bound life. Basically, a box-cutter blade on a handle that's small enough to fit into the standard size of a folding pocket knife. While the one I made years ago had a fairly thick walnut handle, I want to make these flat enough that they'll fit in a sheath and take up as little room as possible in a pocket.

Here's the Baby Box Cutter 1.0:



The steel is just bits of 1095 file steel for now. I put edges on them just a few minutes ago, and there's no longer a cardboard box within sight that doesn't have a collection of gashes & big pieces missing. So far, they're fun little knives that cut like they're supposed to.



I'm going to carry one of these for a while, give the other to Ann-Marie and seed them out to friends as I make more to get some feedback on the blade & edge shape (one's got an extremely fine, compound-bevel edge, the other has a single-bevel, relatively rugged edge), handle shapes, etc. That, and whether or not this is an idea that people on Etsy or elsewhere might actually buy...

[Buckethead]

The steel is just bits of 1095 file steel for now. I put edges on them just a few minutes ago, and there's no longer a cardboard box within sight that doesn't have a collection of gashes & big pieces missing. So far, they're fun little knives that cut like they're supposed to.

When all you have is a hammer, all the world looks like a nail.

I do the same thing. 

[kopfjäger]

You need to make one with a bottle opener for the handle.

[cokey]

What cupcake said.. ill take 2..

[red baron]

1095,good choice.

[kopfjäger]

What cupcake said.. ill take 2..

http://www.crawfordknives.com/bottle%20neck-bottle%20key.htm