Progress report on BF 2012 knife!

[CWL]

My understanding is that heat treating causes some distortion in the steel. Insofar as the distortion has already occurred prior to being cut with a laser, the end product is much more "consistent" throughout. In other words, the laser eliminates most shape distortion caused by the HT. Also, cutting with a laser creates more stresses on steel than cutting say... by waterjet. Generally speaking, the thinner the steel, the more impacted it will be by laser cutting. I ***think*** that because the steel has been hardened, it is less susceptible to laser processing distortion than its softer "un-heat-treated" counterpart.

BTW, I am NOT an engineer, but I do play one on TV!

Yeah, you only wire-cut the final Tooling steel to size. HT afterwards will cause small but uncontrollable dimensional changes. -That's what my Mechanical Engineer tells me at least.

[Robert.B]

What is so cool about this, is even if you don't get in on the run, GEC will now have the dies to release regular runs in the future.

I was not in a position to order one (much to my sorrow), and hope in the future to get this pattern (perhaps in burnt stag etc).

I don't believe they're sold out yet are they? the link to pay for one of these in the order thread is still active.

[Robert.B]

Yeah, you only wire-cut the final Tooling steel to size. HT afterwards will cause small but uncontrollable dimensional changes. -That's what my Mechanical Engineer tells me at least.

In relation to your post and on the edge's post...it comes down to material choice and quality of the laser being used as some cheaper lasers produce more heat in the steel with low clarity on the cutting beam. Expansion and contraction of most homogeneous steels is predictable though (not so much if you're using cheap hot rolled pig metal), so any machinist with experience can allocate for this.

Water/flow jets are nice, but a little slow in production of large volumes in comparison to laser.

[oldrifleman]

Yeah can't believe these are not sold out, may have order another! Steven

[rockgolfer]

Thanks for the update, Charlie!

That handle profile looks very nicely proportioned. I'll bet they eventually flip it over and make a killer Swayback Jack out of it.

I am sure you are not the only one hoping they do that

[confucius37]

The blades are in process!!



over at GEC they've got some in process photos of the 2012 Blade Forums Knife!

[pertinux]

Hurrah!

The pictures are here, but I'll go ahead and post them below:



















~ P.

[Bigfattyt]

I don't believe they're sold out yet are they? the link to pay for one of these in the order thread is still active.

Just trying to be fiscally responsible!

[T. Erdelyi]

Are they done yet, are they done yet?

Looks great, can't wait, thanks to all involved in bringin' this years knife to fruition.

[SpyderPhreak]

AWESOME!!! I wasn't expecting to see WIP pics.

ETA: Wire EDM is usually run in an electrolyte bath. This both keeps the part cool (no dimensional changes) and helps the process be more efficient at transferring the electric current which actually does the cutting. It does not matter how hard the metal is, EDM will cut it since it uses electricity to erode the metal away.

[sturzi]

Yay, can't wait. So this will be pattern #74...
I saw that the blade number 8 stands for a muskrat clip, but this looks like a normal clip point to me. Can someone tell me the difference between the two? I thought a muskrat was a long, extreme clip.

[Nixelplix]

I'm so glad I managed to pay for one of these!

[67nick]

Wow, this is going to be AWESOME!!! Thanks again to everyone that's bringing this thing to life, truly one of the best experiences I've had at BF yet.

[knarfeng]

Sweet! This is very exciting, ~P and Confucius. Thanks for posting.

[pistonsandgears]

Oh man I can hardly wait, this one is going to be nice.
I really appreciate that GEC will take the time to give us some progress updates like these. Thanks P and Confucius for bringing the updates here for us.

[Daniel Dorn]

Christmas is coming early this year! In that first pic, the blade looks HUGE! Me like!

I'm already searching out a good sheath for this beast. May just have to use a pocket pouch.

September/October is going to be very good. Have this one coming, plus the Case Lanny's Clips are due, and also have the Bladeforums Kershaw: All paid for!!!!

[zippofan]

Christmas is coming early this year! In that first pic, the blade looks HUGE! Me like!

I'm already searching out a good sheath for this beast. May just have to use a pocket pouch.

September/October is going to be very good. Have this one coming, plus the Case Lanny's Clips are due, and also have the Bladeforums Kershaw: All paid for!!!!

I'm with you Daniel, all three (Case Lanny's Clip, BF Traditional and Kershaw) are coming, plus I picked up a couple of wanted Case knives over the weekend (small jack, G10 stockman), and a stag Bulldog stockman...I'm gonna be in trouble when the NF Outlaw Jack is available

[rockgolfer]

http://greateasterncutlery.net/blog/...tion-schedule/

It is slated for completion this month!!!! Even if it falls into the begining of October its still one month ahead of its scheduled delivery date. Thank you GEC.

[pwcb2005]

Awesome!!!!!!!!!

[67nick]

http://greateasterncutlery.net/blog/...tion-schedule/

It is slated for completion this month!!!! Even if it falls into the begining of October its still one month ahead of its scheduled delivery date. Thank you GEC.

WHOA, that's amazing!!!! Can't wait to get my hands on this one, it's going to be a real stunner!