A couple mil-specs get a makeover

t1mpani · Aug 27, 2007

Here are some shots of two knives that I've worked on recently. One is an Ontario Mk3 Navy Knife that belongs to a friend of mine--the original handle and hammer/pommel had been broken off somewhere along the way. He asked for a new handle and also for me to actually "make it a knife" which meant improve the edge geometry a bit so that it was a little better cutter. I made a few handles out of balsa wood so that he could try a few on, so to speak, and then made the real one out of canvas micarta based on the one he picked. Pretty much turned the blade into a scandi grind--the original saber made just an absurdly thick edge.

The other one is my own knife; a Gerber LMF II that I picked up at my local PX recently because they had a huge selection of knives (and other tools) marked down. Now, this is one of those knives that I've looked at before and decided against, because I absolutely despise serrations---and before anyone jumps in with how serrations saved them one dark and stormy night, I agree that there are certain types of cutting where they easily surpass a straight edge. It's just that they do not support my typical uses for knives, and tend to be more of a hinderance than a help to me. But, it was a good enough price that I decided I'd just make the thing into a recurve and kill the serrations, and if I messed up--either in the shaping or in letting the blade get too hot and messing up the heat treat, I wasn't out that much money. It turned out pretty well. I slimmed down the entire edge a bit to improve cutting ability. Doesn't quite "pop" hairs, but removes them pretty easily (it's still a saber grind, after all

). Since this won't be my whisker-removing instrument or whittler, I'll probably put a coarser microbevel on there to make it slice a little better. I like it more now than I originally did.

Warning--you're about to see some of the worst photography you've ever feasted your eyes on.

Oh and yes, the original sheath still fits and snaps it in just fine.

Warren

Cougar Allen · Aug 27, 2007

t1mpani · Aug 27, 2007

Ahah--new forum (to me at least, probably been here two years...)

Thank you sir.

thombrogan · Aug 27, 2007

Warren, that's awesome!

Thanks for sharing!

thombrogan · Aug 27, 2007

Very reminiscent of Phil Patton and Sunrise.

lotoblades · Aug 27, 2007

Great work! Handle looks great,and It looks like it might just cut now!

t1mpani · Aug 27, 2007

thombrogan said:
Very reminiscent of Phil Patton and Sunrise.

If you're going to steal, steal from the best...

Thanks guys

Cliff Stamp · Aug 28, 2007

The bevel on that Navy knife is wonderfully obtuse, any thoughts of converting knives like that into a flat grind?

-Cliff

t1mpani · Aug 28, 2007

If it were mine, I'd have seriously considered it--or at least tried to pull the plunge line up for a slightly higher saber, but the owner didn't want it changed that much. So, I went for scandi and just made it as flat as I could. Started out with an edge like a cheap hatchet and ended up with an edge like an expensive hatchet.

Cliff Stamp · Aug 28, 2007

How much to you estimate you enhanced the general cutting and chopping ability?

-Cliff

t1mpani · Aug 28, 2007

Hard to say, as again it was not my knife so I didn't put it to much use after it was done, and none before as it had been bouncing around in a toolbox for years and didn't have anything approaching an actual cutting edge. The edge bevel was still indentifiable, though, and somewhere around 40 degrees, included. 30 included is about where I was able to drop it to without moving the saber higher, as fortunately the blade stock is very slightly under 5/32". While not in any danger of becoming a scalpel, this at least moves it into the realm where it actually could be useable as more than a tent stake. Still, it was extremely easy to grind (it's 440A at I believe 55-57 HRC) and I have doubts about its edge holding ability for any kind of extensive cutting. This is why I decided to go with a microbevel on what is already a pretty thick edge. Seeing as how it is primarily going to ride in a truck glove box as a "just in case" knife, though, it'll hopefully be able to stay sharp enough long enough, so to speak. I'm trying to wean said owner into the concept of *ahem* real knives, but have a lifetime's worth of fleamarket loyalty to overcome. Funny, as the money he spent to have me do this would be plenty to pick up a much higher quality tool of similar type but vastly superior design and steel. Oh well...baby steps.

I can say that regardless of before/after, its chopping ability is next to nonexistant as it started out as a very handle-heavy knife, and has only progressed to kind of central. The original handle had completely broken off behind the tang but I've handled these before and the steel hammer-pommel makes for a balance point at around your middle finger in a normal grip. It should now be more easily baton-able than it was before, due both to the lower angle and also the smoothness of the new bevel.

The Gerber will probably end up being thinned out more as I play with it, which is much easier as it's a shallow hollow grind--I generally prefer flat but hollow makes a saber ground knife much easier to modify without completely redoing it. Current edge sits somewhere between 25 and 30, but since this again is a handle-heavy knife and not destined as a chopper, I might as well drop a few more degrees and improve its general cutting ability. Just have to soften the new shoulder a bit with a couple light passes on the sander and then I'll flatten the rest of the edge down to meet it on DMTs.

A couple mil-specs get a makeover

Buccaneer (ret.)