Nathan the Machinist
KnifeMaker / Machinist / Evil Genius
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2007
- Messages
- 17,734
This sold out surprising quickly so I've made a "pre order" sale here that will open in a few hours for you folks that didn't get one :
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1460327-Pre-Order-Light-Choppers-3V-micarta-TeroTuf
This will be the last sale of this pattern for a while, we're moving on to some other patterns now.
Today's sale is a "build your own" sale. You choose the configuration you want and I'll build it.
The Light Chopper was a collaboration with Lorien Arnold. It is an exercise in geometry, weight distribution and ergonomics to make a light weight well balanced chopper that hits well above its weight. It's a large woods knife, with a ~10" blade that weighs 17.1 oz that is somewhere between a machete and a camp knife. It's light enough to be carried on a long hike without weighing you down and it's engineered for performance when you go to use it. This is the knife Bill Flynn used when he won the last Fisk Micro Show Cutting Competition.
It's made of CPM 3V at HRC 60.5 with the newest heat treat for 3V that I believe is the finest heat treat for this material available anywhere. The performance is phenomenal with a combination of toughness, edge durability and edge retention that will blow your mind. A lot of R&D went into developing this heat treat, it is truly different and better.
With that in mind I gave it relatively thin cutting geometry designed for cutting performance. This is not some overbuilt pry bar, it cuts like a demon, but it is very durable, see 2nd video.
It's light enough and long enough to develop tip speed to cut thinner vegetation that heavy choppers struggle with. But when you put it to work in the big stuff you'll find that it hits hard and bites deep and it won't wear you out. The grip and aspects of the cutting geometry were designed in collaboration with Dan Keffeler.
The hand grip works great as a camp knife when held towards the front with good balance and dexterity. When held towards the back it fully fills the hand and offers control and reduced hand and forearm fatigue for extended hard work.
It has a forward lanyard hole (as used in competition cuts) and a hidden rear lanyard hole.
These are available in natural or black micarta. I normally buff the scales, but some people prefer the feel of the scale in matte because it has more grip and the fuzz works better with hand sweat. So it's up to you if you want your micarta scales buffed, just let me know. Unbuffed scales darken from hand oils pretty quickly.
These are also available in TeroTuf. This material is on the competition cutters that are winning championships. It isn't especially pretty or even as dimensionally stable as other synthetics, but nothing else offers a grip quite like it. If you're out there cutting for extended time and your hands are sweaty and slippery you'll appreciate the grip and feel. I have laminated it to black micarta with black Acraglas for dimensional stability.
Be aware, the unbuffed materials aren't about pretty. They will get a little funky looking before they break in but will even out with use.
Light Chopper Specs:
CPM 3V, 60.5 HRC, .188 thick at ricasso
This is the newest "Delta" HT protocol
Total length 15.625
Blade length 9.875
Edge is sharpened 20 DPS
Weight 17.1 oz
Grippy 3D machined scales in micarta or TeroTuf
Black oxide treated 18-8 stainless steel fasteners
$340 without sheath in micarta
$365 without sheath in TeroTuf
Sheath with dangler $80
Sheath with TekLok $65
Shipping is $10.
This is a big knife. If you're going to carry it on your belt you might prefer the dangler sheath. If you're putting it on or in your pack you might prefer the TekLok. Both configurations work both ways, but it's nice to have a choice.
Tell me what scale option you choose and I'll build it. There are 30 knives available in this sale. The knives in the picture are not the knives you will receive. The knives need scales and sharpened so they won't begin to ship until next week and it will probably take a couple weeks to ship them all.
Dan doing what Dan does, with an early prototype:
[video=youtube;TvUsh5FijcY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvUsh5FijcY[/video]
Durability demo:
[video=youtube;yC2PLk_04vE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC2PLk_04vE[/video]
^ This has an outstanding combination of cutting performance, toughness and edge retention.
These are "field grade" with tool and grind marks, milled and tumbled. The bevels are lightly hand ground and slightly convexed after being milled.
This is a large sale. It might take a few days for Jo to get hold of everybody, but if you don't have email or PMs turned on or you don't hear from her by Tuesday please send us an email or contact her by PM.
We'll have ten Field Knives January 20th and some 3" EDC soon after that.
Note: If today's sale sells out quickly and it looks like a lot of folks didn't get what they came for I will start a pre-order sale thread over on my forum here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/929-Carothers-Performance-Knives
^ we're just gonna play that by ear...
We take cash, check, MO and PayPal
Thanks for looking.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1460327-Pre-Order-Light-Choppers-3V-micarta-TeroTuf
This will be the last sale of this pattern for a while, we're moving on to some other patterns now.
Today's sale is a "build your own" sale. You choose the configuration you want and I'll build it.
The Light Chopper was a collaboration with Lorien Arnold. It is an exercise in geometry, weight distribution and ergonomics to make a light weight well balanced chopper that hits well above its weight. It's a large woods knife, with a ~10" blade that weighs 17.1 oz that is somewhere between a machete and a camp knife. It's light enough to be carried on a long hike without weighing you down and it's engineered for performance when you go to use it. This is the knife Bill Flynn used when he won the last Fisk Micro Show Cutting Competition.
It's made of CPM 3V at HRC 60.5 with the newest heat treat for 3V that I believe is the finest heat treat for this material available anywhere. The performance is phenomenal with a combination of toughness, edge durability and edge retention that will blow your mind. A lot of R&D went into developing this heat treat, it is truly different and better.
With that in mind I gave it relatively thin cutting geometry designed for cutting performance. This is not some overbuilt pry bar, it cuts like a demon, but it is very durable, see 2nd video.
It's light enough and long enough to develop tip speed to cut thinner vegetation that heavy choppers struggle with. But when you put it to work in the big stuff you'll find that it hits hard and bites deep and it won't wear you out. The grip and aspects of the cutting geometry were designed in collaboration with Dan Keffeler.
The hand grip works great as a camp knife when held towards the front with good balance and dexterity. When held towards the back it fully fills the hand and offers control and reduced hand and forearm fatigue for extended hard work.
It has a forward lanyard hole (as used in competition cuts) and a hidden rear lanyard hole.
These are available in natural or black micarta. I normally buff the scales, but some people prefer the feel of the scale in matte because it has more grip and the fuzz works better with hand sweat. So it's up to you if you want your micarta scales buffed, just let me know. Unbuffed scales darken from hand oils pretty quickly.
These are also available in TeroTuf. This material is on the competition cutters that are winning championships. It isn't especially pretty or even as dimensionally stable as other synthetics, but nothing else offers a grip quite like it. If you're out there cutting for extended time and your hands are sweaty and slippery you'll appreciate the grip and feel. I have laminated it to black micarta with black Acraglas for dimensional stability.
Be aware, the unbuffed materials aren't about pretty. They will get a little funky looking before they break in but will even out with use.
Light Chopper Specs:
CPM 3V, 60.5 HRC, .188 thick at ricasso
This is the newest "Delta" HT protocol
Total length 15.625
Blade length 9.875
Edge is sharpened 20 DPS
Weight 17.1 oz
Grippy 3D machined scales in micarta or TeroTuf
Black oxide treated 18-8 stainless steel fasteners
$340 without sheath in micarta
$365 without sheath in TeroTuf
Sheath with dangler $80
Sheath with TekLok $65
Shipping is $10.
This is a big knife. If you're going to carry it on your belt you might prefer the dangler sheath. If you're putting it on or in your pack you might prefer the TekLok. Both configurations work both ways, but it's nice to have a choice.
Tell me what scale option you choose and I'll build it. There are 30 knives available in this sale. The knives in the picture are not the knives you will receive. The knives need scales and sharpened so they won't begin to ship until next week and it will probably take a couple weeks to ship them all.
Dan doing what Dan does, with an early prototype:
[video=youtube;TvUsh5FijcY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvUsh5FijcY[/video]
Durability demo:
[video=youtube;yC2PLk_04vE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC2PLk_04vE[/video]
^ This has an outstanding combination of cutting performance, toughness and edge retention.
These are "field grade" with tool and grind marks, milled and tumbled. The bevels are lightly hand ground and slightly convexed after being milled.
This is a large sale. It might take a few days for Jo to get hold of everybody, but if you don't have email or PMs turned on or you don't hear from her by Tuesday please send us an email or contact her by PM.
We'll have ten Field Knives January 20th and some 3" EDC soon after that.
Note: If today's sale sells out quickly and it looks like a lot of folks didn't get what they came for I will start a pre-order sale thread over on my forum here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/929-Carothers-Performance-Knives
^ we're just gonna play that by ear...
We take cash, check, MO and PayPal
Thanks for looking.
Last edited:
