A splendid evening for horsing around...

Daniel Koster

Daniel Koster

www.kosterknives.com
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 18, 2001
Messages
20,978
Had a free hour or two last night and decided to monkey around with a few of my knives.

I'll post some pics and then an explanation.


DSCF0080.jpg

Overall picture of all the stuff on my table - where I do most of my damage. Ok, I take that back - most of the damage is done on the sander/grinder outside.


DSCF0081.jpg

Detail of the YCS getting a new clear gloss polyurethane finish put on, as well as the kardas/chakmas of a GRS and AL getting a new clear satin polyurethane finish.


DSCF0082.jpg

This is the E-nep that Rene sent me. It's been cleaned up and finished as much as I care to do. I'll have to ask Rene what he thinks of the new finish. If you look carefully, you can see that there are 2 colors in the handle - a special stain process I put it through.


DSCF0083.jpg

Knives and knife projects I've worked on both old and new.

Left to Right:

Skinner
Kagas Katne - new finish
Diving knife - finish, sharpen
Jarvenpaa (from Sarge) - new satin finish
Handmade - from father-in-law
Puukko - first puukko knife I made
Martinni - filet
Opinel #12 - tried out some handle carving
Sarge-Made - long file knife
Martinni - hunting knife
Conglomerate Knife (couldn't think of a better word)
- rabbit/kydex sheath
- filework in tang infilled with red epoxy
- olive wood handle slab
- modified russell green river blade


DSCF0087.jpg

Last, but not least, a closeup of another set of woodcarving knives - this time for me. :D
 
I usually just watch tv. :)

What's the pattern on the blade of the e-nep? Is that traditional?
 
With all your innocent posts about not doing anything, why do I get the feeling that your secretly hatching plots to conquer the world Bruise.:D
 
I have always suspected that you are a man of many talents. Now it's confirmed! ;)
 
I also suffer from delusions of grandeur. But enough about me. Let's talk about how Pen uses hit time wisely instead of frittering it away foolishly like me. :)
 
on that opinel. I've only slightly modified mine.

Opinels are an awesome and affordable knife, Lovely hard carbon steel from the French.

Nice collection and workspace pen.


Keith
 
As to the enep, my memory tells me it is traditional. That was asked at the time it first was being discussed. Check the archives if you don't think my memory suffices.
 
Originally posted by BruiseLeee
What's the pattern on the blade of the e-nep? Is that traditional?
Click to expand...

First...

Some of you may remember this thread:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=220048


Aranyik (or Aranyig) is a city in Thailand where they make this knife. Santi - a forumite living in Thailand - has graciously made a number of trips there to get knives (various types) and offer them to us in the USA.

Here's what he emailed me about Aranyik:

Aranyik is a name of the small rural village up in Ayuthaya, Thailand's ancient capital. It's a capital of Thailand even before we called this land Thailand. And famous for its blade tools.
Thus so many people take it for granted, any knife made any where will be called Aranyik, to make it easier to sell.
Also, even knife that REALLY make in Arayik comes in diff shapes and sizes and quality.
Click to expand...


Santi also said in this thread:
(concerning the lines in the blade)

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=157652

As for that line:- I think this blade is a stock removal using the leaf spring of an old pickup truck and then some home-made heat treat. (Dipping in cold water or oil.)
Click to expand...


There used to be a picture on the FAQ under "Variants", but now that it has moved to himalayan-imports.com it disappeared. Maybe Beoram still has a copy of the image? (eNep1.jpg - or something like that)


I'm sure the steel is not up-to-par compared to what we're used to here at HI. In fact, you can tell that just by holding the knife. It exists somewhere in between a khukuri and a machette. The blade is around 3/16" thick - thinner than any khuk, but thicker than a floppy machette.

It swings fast in the hand and is very aggressive in its handling. The POB is about 3 inches in front of the bolster.

Here's a picture of what it looked like when Rene sent it to me:

enap-2a.jpg


Once again, the pic above for comparison
DSCF0082.jpg



A list of the mods:

A = The blade was coated black - removed most of the coating

B = There were discolorations probably due to grinding too hot when the edge was put on. I took it off when I removed the coating.

C = Bolster got polished to a mirror finish

D = The handle was too big for my hands, so I thinned the diameter at this point. I removed the old finish which had taken quite a beating - the handle was sticky and the pores clogged. Using tape, I outlined a pattern on the blade and stained it with Red Mahogany water stain and covered with a clear gloss polyurethane finish.

Wife says the handle looks like a phallic symbol...:rolleyes:
I told her - Good! That means it retains it's "ethnic" quality! :D




DaveK is working on a wood model for an Himayalan Imports version of this knife. I got this e-nep really as a "study" to help me figure out how to get the model done correctly. Now that I've had my fun, it's time to send a new drawing to Dave. Since his fax is on the fritz, so I'll be mailing out a new print out Monday.

This will be around 16.5" and should feel like a cross between a short YCS and a Chiruwa AK. To make it even nicer, there will be a distal taper from about 1/4" at the bolster to 3/32" nearer the tip. That should make for a very light blade that will be quite a swinger - even at 16.5".

When the time is right, I'll start a new thread to see what the interest is. Otherwise, this one's just for me.
 
Looking forward to that thread. Very nice knife.

How does it feel to use/swing? Like any of the khuks?
 
Well...it bears a striking resemblance to a certain favorite khukuri of mine...Make that 2 favorite khukuris...;)


It's hard to compare it to an HI product because it is considerably lighter. It manuevers more like a machette and feel more sword-like, ie. easier to manipulate.

However, that said, I wouldn't take it out to fell trees or large branches. More for light-duty work.

The HI version I plan on making will hopefully fall somewhere between this e-nep and the YCS. It will be heavy enough to do chopping, but still be light enough to manipulate defensively. Sounds too much like a holy grail? probably, but it will be fun in the meantime.

Just hope I don't get something like what happened to N2S...:rolleyes:
 
Very :cool: !

I'm in league with Bruise ;) . When I get a spare hour, it's laundry, clean up or now HI forum! (...laundry's ...piling up..:D)

Held back commenting hoping for more to say than "just gushing". But when I look at your pics I'm thinking "Wow!" "What talent!" "Wish I could do something like that!"

Thanks for good pics, Pen -
Of much interest, inspiration (and hopeful aspiration) to even the untalented among us. Referring to self:(

Shirley
 
Had a few more moments for tinkering this weekend...(did anything happen over the weekend here at BFC? :rolleyes: )

Anyway, Keith got me thinking about the Opinel again - so I finished her up. As well as the carving set of knives.

Enjoy these pics:


Opinel #12 - "Stinger"
Carved handle, Tung Oil finish
Closed
opinel-closed.jpg



Open - Left side
opinel-open-l.jpg



Open - Right side
opinel-open-r.jpg



Wood Carving Set (for me this time :D )
Oregon Myrtlewood - Boiled Linseed Oil finish
Left side
carvingset-l.jpg



Right side
carvingset-r.jpg



I was :rolleyes: going to post pics of my AK Bowie having been reworked - but it would have been severely outshined by the pics in the other thread, so it's back to the drawing board for a new idea to bring her up to speed.


Thanks for all the nice comments.

Dan
 
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