I never gave the hook knife a fair chance. I've used them a few times but it was always borrowed and dull. Good for bigger cables, I'm sure. I do like the straight, square bladed Klein knives. I think they are chisel ground as well. Right now for bigger wire I'm just using a Stanley box cutter. For the small stuff, my old yellow handled Ideal curve grip.
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Any electricians on here?
- Thread starter Vicv
- Start date
Ya it had been years since I saw the stuff and before I had used a box cutter. Now I prefer the hook knives but what it does to edges I don't think I will again. A chisel ground knife I don't think would make a difference though in this case. Because it's just a kind of romex you're not really stripping like you would a conductor you're just splitting the jacket.
To metal. Henry's are beautiful rifles I've never owned one though. I'm just a big and slow vs over sped small bullets. I've never shot big game past 70 yards so I don't need a million fps and flat shooting. Most big game is shot under 100 yards everywhere but maybe the Plains. My 190 grain cast hollow points flattens anything as well. So does the 300 grain flat point out of a 45 colt. My 8 year old still can't hit anything with his little 22. I'm teaching him irons first though
To metal. Henry's are beautiful rifles I've never owned one though. I'm just a big and slow vs over sped small bullets. I've never shot big game past 70 yards so I don't need a million fps and flat shooting. Most big game is shot under 100 yards everywhere but maybe the Plains. My 190 grain cast hollow points flattens anything as well. So does the 300 grain flat point out of a 45 colt. My 8 year old still can't hit anything with his little 22. I'm teaching him irons first though
The reason I like the hook knife over a box cutter especially for bigger wire is I feel it's much harder to slip and cut myself. That inner curve helps keep the blade against the wire as if you slip the blade curves so it grabs again instead of sailing at whatever you're facing. Like your other hand holding the wire or something else soft and bleedy
Out here everything is shielded and sometimes double shielded. It usually takes dikes to strip some of this stuff back.
I hear you on the slow and heavy. I've got two 300wm's collecting dust and I sold off my 25-06, 223 and the 243 that I killed my first deer with when I was 8. I was a shrimp too, but now I shoot 405gr slugs at 1900fps and I'll never look back at all the velocity and energy silliness. But, I guess a tiny little round requires a force field around it to be more effective. The 300's were effective rifles for me for years, but I did have some undesirable things happen from time to time with good rounds and shot placement. I've got a lot of kills on my 45-70 and all I know is it punches through and exits 100% of the time no matter how many bones it hits. And I like my Henry, but I've got my eye on them. They've had some recent changes that I'm not liking.
I hear you on the slow and heavy. I've got two 300wm's collecting dust and I sold off my 25-06, 223 and the 243 that I killed my first deer with when I was 8. I was a shrimp too, but now I shoot 405gr slugs at 1900fps and I'll never look back at all the velocity and energy silliness. But, I guess a tiny little round requires a force field around it to be more effective. The 300's were effective rifles for me for years, but I did have some undesirable things happen from time to time with good rounds and shot placement. I've got a lot of kills on my 45-70 and all I know is it punches through and exits 100% of the time no matter how many bones it hits. And I like my Henry, but I've got my eye on them. They've had some recent changes that I'm not liking.
Wow we got off topic. My thread though so OT away! I don't own a 45-70 but my friend does and I reload for him. That is a nasty round! My favorite is the 35 rem. 200-225gr core lokt or ww+2% tin in front of as much h4895 as I can stuff in the case and nothing gets away. That's about 2000-2100 fps. I laugh at the guys who say you need at least a screaming 30 to dispatch a deer! Actually I like the 25-06. For coyotes. Of course I mostly use #4 buck for them anymore
Talk about big and slow my last 2 deer were taken with home cast 12 gauge slugs. Full bore .732 at 800 grains cast hard at 1100fps. One was a Texas heart shot. Have never recovered one of those. More along the lines of an old school British elephant gun but still worked on a two year old buck
Yeah I know I led us off topic, but to be honest there isn't much about my job that I am the least bit passionate about. I started doing this crap when I was 16, made a bit more $ than I would have at the BBQ joint so I stayed with it, and then that's what I ended up going to school for, and here I am. The only good thing about it all is I work a month on and a month off, and that month off....is off!!! I get 6 months a year to do whatever I want. It eats at my soul when someone wants me to wire their garage or fix a light switch or something on my off time. But I sure love guns and knives, and the Rocky Mountains.
My 25-06 was a good gun to me. Got it when I was 14. Browning A bolt Stalker. Cheap, solid rifle. I literally killed about 500 hogs with that gun. Good times. Now I just go back to Texas every other year and kill 5 or 6. I sold that rifle to fund my latest 300 win mag, which I don't shoot much anymore. What about the 35 Whelen? A lot of elk hunters here really like that one. Still a high velocity round. Last year on a hunt we almost tripped over a bull, about 20 yds in thick brush. The guy in front made a good shot with the Whelen, the elk came straight at us, he shot him again in the chest at about 15 feet before the elk realized where we were, then ran away from us, was lung shot a third time at about 30 yds and ran another 75 yds before he fell. 3 boiler room shots, all 3 bullets recovered. I know the more you hunt, the more squirrelly things happen but based on how consistent the 45-70 has been over the last few years, the more disenchanted I become with the fast, light rounds. I also know that elk can go a long way after they've taken their last breath. This has been kind of a ramble, I know, but I feel ya about the slugs and heavy bullets. I've never used a guide to do any hunting but plan on doing some drop camp hunts with my family in the future, and I've wondered how the outfitters might feel about us all bringing 45-70's, 44mag lever guns, and 30-30's to the hunt. I know I'm a minority these days.
My 25-06 was a good gun to me. Got it when I was 14. Browning A bolt Stalker. Cheap, solid rifle. I literally killed about 500 hogs with that gun. Good times. Now I just go back to Texas every other year and kill 5 or 6. I sold that rifle to fund my latest 300 win mag, which I don't shoot much anymore. What about the 35 Whelen? A lot of elk hunters here really like that one. Still a high velocity round. Last year on a hunt we almost tripped over a bull, about 20 yds in thick brush. The guy in front made a good shot with the Whelen, the elk came straight at us, he shot him again in the chest at about 15 feet before the elk realized where we were, then ran away from us, was lung shot a third time at about 30 yds and ran another 75 yds before he fell. 3 boiler room shots, all 3 bullets recovered. I know the more you hunt, the more squirrelly things happen but based on how consistent the 45-70 has been over the last few years, the more disenchanted I become with the fast, light rounds. I also know that elk can go a long way after they've taken their last breath. This has been kind of a ramble, I know, but I feel ya about the slugs and heavy bullets. I've never used a guide to do any hunting but plan on doing some drop camp hunts with my family in the future, and I've wondered how the outfitters might feel about us all bringing 45-70's, 44mag lever guns, and 30-30's to the hunt. I know I'm a minority these days.
Ya we are in the minority. A buddy of mine was setting up an elk guided hunt in Manitoba. Told the guide he'd be bringing his 9.3x62. The guide told him his minimum was a 7mm rem mag. Lol. Buddy tells him...... Um this hits twice as hard as a rem mag and found someone else who had a brain. That's on the heels of a 375 h&h. I love the old timers like Elmer Keith, Ross Seyfried, John Linebaugh. And I'm 31. I also took a calf and cow moose 4 years ago with a 45 colt lever. Damn fine gun.
I like my job but no real love for it
I like my job but no real love for it
I use a knife for that too, when a hard clean shoulder is needed, even on our 15kv stuff which has 1/4" steel cable reinforcement. M2 takes the least damage (and surprisingly very little) of all knife steels I've tried. No dikes except to cut the copper conductors.Out here everything is shielded and sometimes double shielded. It usually takes dikes to strip some of this stuff back.
Ya we are in the minority. A buddy of mine was setting up an elk guided hunt in Manitoba. Told the guide he'd be bringing his 9.3x62. The guide told him his minimum was a 7mm rem mag. Lol. Buddy tells him...... Um this hits twice as hard as a rem mag and found someone else who had a brain. That's on the heels of a 375 h&h. I love the old timers like Elmer Keith, Ross Seyfried, John Linebaugh. And I'm 31. I also took a calf and cow moose 4 years ago with a 45 colt lever. Damn fine gun.
I like my job but no real love for it
I've never killed anything with a 44 mag or 45 colt, pistol or lever, but I wouldn't be afraid to. I would ask you what your thoughts are on that, but I can tell what they are by your post. What are your thoughts on that? LOL....and what are your thoughts on 44 mag vs 45 colt?
I use a knife for that too, when a hard clean shoulder is needed, even on our 15kv stuff which has 1/4" steel cable reinforcement. M2 takes the least damage (and surprisingly very little) of all knife steels I've tried. No dikes except to cut the copper conductors.
I like using a pocket knife as well. I had a cheap Cold Steel that I brought out here, no special steel, that I enjoyed working with. Lost it. They are really picky about knives out here and it's hard to get one out here anymore. I should have stocked myself up on them in the beginning when it was possible, but now they are sending us through metal detectors every hitch. A lot of spyderco's are floating around out here. I've got a little benchmade back home in D2 that would probably be a damn handy little knife, but it's got lots of sentimental value and I would hate to lose it. I imagine D2 would be good as well, but slightly less wear resistant than M2.
Ya m2/d2 would probably fare much better than my unknown soft stainless. But where to get a good steel bladed knife with that blade style? I could ask one of the custom makers on here. I really don't want to be stripping wire though with a $400 + custom folder I'll also be bringing into steel Mills and such
My statement above is actually incorrect. I should have wrote, "M2 takes the least damage (and surprisingly very little) of all knife steels I've tried, that I've seen commercially available."
I also have blades of M3, M35, and what I think is T42 (10% cobalt parting tool). All of these are progressively better than M2.
I've never heard of anyone making a knife blade for sale in these steels, but you can make one for yourself if you have access to bench grinders and belt sanders at work. It will take a LOT of sanding belts for m35 and t42.
BTW, The 2 specimens of D2 I tried (benchmade and kershaw) failed miserably at the task - badly mangled edges after 1 cut.
I also have blades of M3, M35, and what I think is T42 (10% cobalt parting tool). All of these are progressively better than M2.
I've never heard of anyone making a knife blade for sale in these steels, but you can make one for yourself if you have access to bench grinders and belt sanders at work. It will take a LOT of sanding belts for m35 and t42.
BTW, The 2 specimens of D2 I tried (benchmade and kershaw) failed miserably at the task - badly mangled edges after 1 cut.
I can imagine you'd use a lot of abrasive for those steels. My personal choice would be cpm m4 for a blade like this. 10v would be good too but I think it may not be tough enough for a knife that sees this kind of use. I prefer a folder for at work since I'm usually wearing coveralls so access to a belt knife is a problem. A fixed blade I think I could make. I intend to soon actually. But a folder takes leaps and bounds more skill and experience to make
My statement above is actually incorrect. I should have wrote, "M2 takes the least damage (and surprisingly very little) of all knife steels I've tried, that I've seen commercially available."
I also have blades of M3, M35, and what I think is T42 (10% cobalt parting tool). All of these are progressively better than M2.
I've never heard of anyone making a knife blade for sale in these steels, but you can make one for yourself if you have access to bench grinders and belt sanders at work. It will take a LOT of sanding belts for m35 and t42.
BTW, The 2 specimens of D2 I tried (benchmade and kershaw) failed miserably at the task - badly mangled edges after 1 cut.
Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of making knives out here, or have access to those alloys. To bad, because it would be a good way to pass some of the downtime. I know the steel armor you are talking about and I've screwed up some 2' handled rabbit ears trying to cut one of those in half about a year ago. Our hydraulic hoses are like that too.
Cpm m4 (production) is as close to m2 as I've tried. Of my 7 specimens, 4 have decent heat treat, 3 are sub standard. But even those 3 will take less damage than any cr based stainless blade at that task. I say cr because I've never used a non cr stainless blade.
K390 is as close to 10v as I have, and has impressed me so far, but haven't yet fully tested it.
For stripping and prepping cable, a small 2" wharney or drop point blade with a 3-4" banana shaped handle will do it all. I made one and prefer it for the control. A 3" blade is my limit for making precise tip cuts with a razor sharp edge, using a lot of force. I've tried 3.5" blades and they just get in the way of themselves.
The only current production bade I will use for this is a gayle Bradley air.
I don't have any problem carrying a fixed 5-6" OAL knife with decent scabbard in a pocket.
K390 is as close to 10v as I have, and has impressed me so far, but haven't yet fully tested it.
For stripping and prepping cable, a small 2" wharney or drop point blade with a 3-4" banana shaped handle will do it all. I made one and prefer it for the control. A 3" blade is my limit for making precise tip cuts with a razor sharp edge, using a lot of force. I've tried 3.5" blades and they just get in the way of themselves.
The only current production bade I will use for this is a gayle Bradley air.
I don't have any problem carrying a fixed 5-6" OAL knife with decent scabbard in a pocket.
The little knife that I talked about earlier was a Benchmade activator with a 2.5" D2 blade and it was handy. It was a fixed blade and I just dropped it with the scabbard in my pocket most of the time. It held up well when I was working on land, but I never used it outside of its capacity. When I was working on 138KV - 345KV I was just a testing "engineer", so I had left the trade for a while. It was a good field and I learned a lot. Now I'm an electrician again, and the highest I work with out here is 11KV, but I don't even mess with that much. Mostly just a bunch of PLC's, drives, and 440V motor controls, along with a bunch of preventative maintenance. We have weird offshore, European voltages out here....230, 440, 690DC(which isn't too weird) and then the 11KV. I see you are from Texas...me too. I was near Houston.
I think the little D2 activator would be good for game processing and similar work, looks like a handy knife.
I've been what I call a "breakdown electrician" most of my life, troubleshooting and repairing machine break downs.
plc's make life so much easier. For 23 years I worked on machinery that was 100% plc controlled, so nice.
Now I work in a place that was built in '70 with 50's technology. The relay logic and hundreds of stand alone controllers in a corrosive environment make for long hard days. Can't wait to get my 5 years and be gone.
I've been what I call a "breakdown electrician" most of my life, troubleshooting and repairing machine break downs.
plc's make life so much easier. For 23 years I worked on machinery that was 100% plc controlled, so nice.
Now I work in a place that was built in '70 with 50's technology. The relay logic and hundreds of stand alone controllers in a corrosive environment make for long hard days. Can't wait to get my 5 years and be gone.
In a previous job, we had one machine mainly controlled by a single Toshiba PC200. It had 10,300 pages of ladder logic. Each page had 16 lines, with I think possible 8 bits/operands per line - and about 400 I/O. It was eventually "upgraded" to a GE 9070 because Toshiba circuit boards for the PC200 were getting hard to find. Even minus drive programming, it took 2 GE processors to handle what 1 PC200 did.
I'll be glad to get back to a 21st century work environment.
Anyway, need to get the few work knives I have, together for a group shot.
I'll be glad to get back to a 21st century work environment.
Anyway, need to get the few work knives I have, together for a group shot.