Wilderness & Survival Skills Extreme Build Off

[Rick Marchand]

I have funny O1 tragedies too...... what happened?

[1066vik]

dig it out of the trash - it may not be what you had in mind, but I bet it's not as bad as you think.
worst comes to worst, send me the scrap of steel and I'll do something with it.
OTOH, does this mean it's a good thing I didn't get your monster sheath in the mail today?

[Storm Crow]

Michael - I'm curious what you were trying. Care to share the idea and what went wrong?

Rick - Aw, c'mon, we need pics!

Here's where my first go ended up:



I went and beat around on some hackberry and a pecan log with it and am pleased with how it handles. I think it'll be on my table at Blade. In the meantime, version #2 is out of the vinegar and ready for stock removal.

[TCurry]

I started Forging mine out on Thursday. 1/4 W2, first time using it so I'm with Rick, I hope I can pull it off. I dont think Ill be venturing into any more projects with a thickness over 3/16 thick. I stared at it for 20 minutes thinking, damn, what have I gotten myself into. Thats a big chunk of steel! Ill try to throw some pics on here monday.

SC that looks killer!


TC

[Bruce Culberson]

SC that looks killer!


TC

Indeed! That is a sweet looking urban survival knife Storm Crow.

[Big Chris]

Mine is off to heat treat right now. 18" of .300 CPM3V, the largest piece of steel I have ever worked with and had a blast. It is a custom order that I made two of, figured it would work perfectly for this.
I can probably post pics when I get them back from heat treat.

[Core Knife Co.]

I have funny O1 tragedies too...... what happened?

I tried to do a compound grind. I've never done a compound grind and I've also never ground out a knife this large. The compound grind went downhill quickly however I was able to get the rotary platen out and feather everything in. Thought I saved it. So now that I get myself out of trouble, I decide to put a long, freehand cut swedge into it. By the time I fixed that mistake the blade is thinner than I wanted and to be honest, I'm just pissed and throwing a tantrum.

This was/is the design.

[Storm Crow]

Michael - Could you describe what you mean by "compound grind"? I have an idea, but want to see what your answer is.

If at all possible, I'd salvage it for something other than the challenge. That's what I did with my first go at it. I like the design you have.

[Rick Marchand]

Michael... THAT was your disaster..... boooooring.... I was hoping for catastrophic explosions, cracks and flying shrapnel. I mess up grinds all the time.

[Core Knife Co.]

The only explosion was the shattering of my fragile psyche.

[Rick Marchand]

Ready for heat treat...

.280" L-6 (RDS), 16" oa.

[gunknifenut]

Ready for heat treat...

.280" L-6 (RDS), 16" oa.

That is a beast Rick! love it!

[Storm Crow]

Looks like all the cool kids are going with blunt-ended choppers. Maybe I should jump on the bandwagon and field this instead:



Nahhhhhh....

Blasted camera is doing weird stuff with its focus. I'll take the big camera down to the shop.

[1066vik]

OK, this is kind of funny -- I was helping a friend break in his new baby propane forge this weekend and we bashed out machetes from lawn mower blades that look suspiciously like those last 2 pics...

[Rick Marchand]

It's a very utilitarian shape that is easy to forge out. Downfalls are drilling and tip penetration, obviously. All designs have their strengths and weaknesses. That's what is fun about these types of challenges. It is cool to see how each of the makers' interpretations work out.

[TheGame]

Rick, that knife looks like it will not do well... send it to me for disposal, please.

Great looking knives, guys. Can't wait to see them being tested.

[Bruce Culberson]

Guess I had better get my butt in gear, get out to the forge & anvil and pound something out!

Anybody heard from Koyote lately??

[TheGame]

Guess I had better get my butt in gear, get out to the forge & anvil and pound something out!

Anybody heard from Koyote lately??

Last I knew he was really busy with goats. I think it was goats, anyway.

[Storm Crow]

The Mk II version is now ready for heat treatment.



I need to do the stock removal on four more big blades for the Blade Show and then I'll heat treat them as a batch, including the Mk II.

Notice that the false edge isn't as well defined on this one. I wanted to just even it up a bit and not thin down that section much, leaving it plenty thick for hammering.

I've had a couple of people question me recently about my integral socket handles being offset; they aren't. I align them with the blade. There's a little bit of asymmetry due to the ends of the socket preform moving differently than the middle, meaning that the seam side tends to be just a bit flatter than the opposite side. I put the seam to the inside of the fingers so that the more curved side fits into the palm, and when I wrap the handle I lay the end of the cord along the seam before wrapping around it, helping fill out the seam side better and also making the cord *really* anchored.

Here are some pics I took of a different integral socket handle to show what I mean.

The view of the seam side:



The view of the opposite side:



Looking at it from the top. Notice the handle is not offset to the blade but is aligned:



You can also see how much the end of the handle is rolled back on itself. This also makes for a stout anchor for the cord as well as adding some visual interest. Notice also that the socket is an oval cross section, making a mechanical lock in the hand to keep it from turning sideways while chopping. I'm all about handles having mechanical locks.

[Brian Sargent]

Thanks for those pics SC.

That is some good work. I bet there is more to doing those handles than most people think.