A good stout blade with some nit-picky requirements

Svord Drop Point 4 3/4"
Svord_370BB_lge2.jpg

Convex edge
http://www.svord.com/index.php
 
This is easy. Cold Steel is coming out with their excellent Master Hunter in 3V.

Nuff said.
 
Hi, I rarely reply to threads outside of the makers forum but your description of desired attributes caught my eye. It is almost exactly what I am interested in as a general purpose outdoors knife. I should preface with the fact that I am only a beginning student of modern knife making and am in no way trying to sell you anything. I couldn't even if you wanted me to, my shop is incomplete and I am not at a level of workmanship for such. When I first jumped into trying to make a knife I soon realized that while I knew all the parts of the knife separately, I had not made the connection in my mind of how all the parts should fit together nor did I realize how little I understood of proportions. To that end I put the files and sand paper away and began to try to learn how to design a knife properly and to begin to put a functional shop together. That brings me to the point of my reply. I have practiced designing (as opposed to just drawing with no attention to type of steel or thickness or intended handle material) continuously for the past year and a half, an estimated 5000+ renderings. While most are not viable designs, a lot are and many of those were drawn with almost exactly your parameters in mind. I will gladly share some of those with you, privately, if you are interested. Privately because I do not wish to be seen as trying to advertise a product that I can't and won't yet deliver, and secondly I don't wish to seem pretentious here in the general discussion forum. My email is bradosburn at att dot net. If there was one that you particularly liked then you would be welcome to search for an intermediate level maker willing to make said design. I think that would be the best bang for your buck. It's hard for me to even look at production knives with all their compromises for mass production compared to a one off or small batch maker's product.

I do have some public thoughts to expand on your parameters a bit or give my opinion for what it's worth. I too like a length for such as 4"-5". 4.2" is a sweet spot for me but I like em around 5" too. Width of the blade for me is 7/8"-1.25" though I suspect that the 7/8" might be a bit narrow for what you are looking for. Anything over 1.25" seems a bit broad for many tasks in my mind. Next is blade thickness. That Svord above is a bit thin at around 3/32". The thinnest I would want would be 0.110" depending on the steel and I really think that 1/8" is about perfect, especially since you have a need for food prep. That is 1/8" at the ricasso and some distal taper to the point, and maybe a little toward the butt too for weight savings in conjunction with lightning holes beneath the scales. (Oh yeah, I'm talking full tang here for strength and simplicity of design.) You didn't give a preference of handle material and there are plenty of good choices out there; G10, Micarta, natural hardwood and stabilized woods. I lean toward G10 or Micarta for a knife that will see significant outdoor use but all those and many others would work fine. TerroTuf isn't pretty but I like the idea of it. I agree concerning a finger choil but I personally like a sharpening notch (sometime referred to as a sharpening choil as long as it is no more than a half circle, not cutting into the ricasso and no more than 1/8" diameter. That is if the blade has a ricasso. This is really just a matter of personal taste/sharpening style and sometimes I draw them in and sometimes I don't. Mechanical fasteners are a must and I usually design with 1/4" head corby bolts in mind though there are also many good choices to be had like loveless bolts or even just pin stock in the 3/16"-1/4" range. As to steel choice, I too am a steel snob, even worse now that I have a better understanding of metallurgy. For carbon steel I like 52100 and good ol' 1084FG from Aldo Bruno. Your budget probably doesn't allow for something like CPM 3v. Also considering your budget, in stainless, AEB-L seems like a good choice. By most accounts it is described as stainless for guys that don't like stainless. Once again stuff like Elmax might be too costly in material and HT costs.

I tend to be a bit long winded so I will conclude with good luck on your search and feel free to contact me if interested in discussing such further or interested in seeing my drawings.
 
Last edited:
Survive! Knives might fit the bill.
New, they'll exceed that price, but they pop up on the exchange often enough at around the price you're comfortable with. They're typically in either 3v or 20cv, depending on the model, and seem to meet you're requirements. Additionally, their sheaths are, hopefully, still made by a forum member (Kiah) and are exceptional in both form and function.

Good luck, sir.
Adam
 
DocT said:
This is easy. Cold Steel is coming out with their excellent Master Hunter in 3V.

Nuff said.
Click to expand...

Man, I just saw that. That looks awesome, A little thick but FFG isn't too bad. I might have to look into that deeper
 
trevitrace said:
Survive! Knives might fit the bill.
New, they'll exceed that price, but they pop up on the exchange often enough at around the price you're comfortable with. They're typically in either 3v or 20cv, depending on the model, and seem to meet you're requirements. Additionally, their sheaths are, hopefully, still made by a forum member (Kiah) and are exceptional in both form and function.

Good luck, sir.
Adam
Click to expand...

I like the designs but for a knife that has a pretty good chance of being lost/broken I'm not willing to drop that much
 
Have a look at dpx gear knives. Couple models might suit your needs. Also a few fallkniven knives might suit also. Good luck
 
KaBar Becker BK2. The blade is 1/4 inch longer then requested but the handles are robust and the blade is VERY stout :D

WP_002061_zps9fc428e6.jpg


If its a matter of legality and absolutely has to be between 4-5, I would recommend the BK16 (or 17) at 4 and 3/8's. Liners can easily be made for the handles to make them a little bigger. There is an entire thread over in the BK&T sub forum of people who customize them.

BK16Detail.png


http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1104193-Dedicated-BK16-Photo-Thread
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top