Bark River Golok

Andrew Colglazier said:
Has anyone had any experience with this blade, good or bad?

Here is a link.....

http://www.barkriverknifetool.com/bushcraft/golok/index.html

Thanks!

Andy Colglazier
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I don't have any personal experience with them but everything I've read about anyone who has tried one has been good. People are very impressed with their cutting ability.

I believe (but I don't know for sure) that Mike Stewart probably developed the Bark River Golok due to the popularity of the Valiantco goloks. They are both fully convex ground blades. Personally, I would prefer a Valiantco golok for two reasons: 1) the Valiantco blades are differentially tempered and I'm not sure that the Bark River goloks are - that means a hard cutting edge and a tough (soft) spine which can better handle impact. 2) the Valiantco blades do not have full tangs - although this may seem like a detraction, I've never heard of a failure of a Valiantco handle. And the benefit is that without a full tang the shock of impact isn't transmitted as effectively into the hand. If you chop for hours, this can make a real difference in comfort levels.

But don't get me wrong, Bark River products are great and I love the ones I have. And the Bark River golok appears to be a bit smaller than most of the Valiantco's so it'd fit better in a daypack. I don't think you'd go wrong by getting one.

If you get one, don't forget to post about your experiences with it!! :thumbup:
 
Thanks, akennedy. My search function is pretty iffy, so I sent out some emails to folks who stated in various threads that they have them. The reports so far are uniformly good.

I'm seriously considering ordering one, I'll post my experiences with it.

Thanks for answering!

Andy
 
try a Northwind too!

I destroyed my bushes ARRRRRGH!

Ron
 
I used one this past weekend at the W.A.R. event in New York. Outstanding piece of cutlery. Batoned through wood like you were slicing a wedding cake. I will be getting one as soon as I can find one.
Scott
 
I like the design and the steel. At 58 RC the blade is rather hard for a chopping knife. Theoretically it might break. I would prefer it only about 54 RC.
 
I've used my Bark River Golok extensively. I don't have a Valiant Golok, so I can't compare it in use. The BRKT version has become my favorite chopper - it is quick, light, easy in the hand, and performs at least as well as certain choppers made by rodents (my own non-scientific in-the-hand comparisons). As mentioned above, batoning is a dream.

If you find one on the market, get it.
 
Jeff Clark said:
I like the design and the steel. At 58 RC the blade is rather hard for a chopping knife.
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It is basically the wrong type of steel, that steel is actually designed to run very hard. When you draw it down you hit the embrittlement zone at 500F and you have to really reduce the hardness to get past it and now there are then issues with the low strength. It would be better if it was made in a tougher alloy which was designed for optimal toughness at around 58 HRC. There are many such alloys and these would be more forgiving to accidental impacts while cutting brush. I would be curious how it would look and resharpen after a typical day with possum or similar working around the farm. One thing which would be obvious is that it would not be a typical "I cut all day long and a light stropping returned the edge to razor sharpness."

-Cliff
 
Well, I wouldn't know the technicalities of the steel and why it would or wouldn't work, or what optimal toughness at what hardness it should be.

All I know is that I have indeed used it all day (brush and softwoods mostly, with some hardwood thrown in). I didn't chop up any raccoons with it (a la Possum!). And yes, at the end of the day, it was still pretty darn sharp, and yes, I did strop it on a Busse Air Bleeder, and after that, yes, it was arm-shaving sharp.

FWIW, I also did not get any blisters on my hands, as I tend to with my Swamp Rats.
 
Any know of a recommend, reputable seller?

There are a few of the ebay buy it now options, but those i don't trust.
 
I've had one for quite awhile now (a year or two?) I've used it pretty extensively on everything from brush to hardwood, and never had a problem with it. dinged rocks with little effect, etc. The handle is extremely comfortable, and the blade is razor sharp and easy to keep that way. Sometimes I have to go beyond a good stropping, but much less so than most other heavy whacking tool that gets worked hard. I'm not one to speculate all day about the optimum steel, temper, etc. All I can say is that it cuts like hell, holds an edge, and doesn't ding easily.

I seriously doubt you'd be disappointed by this blade.
 
I've had good expieience with Black squirel when buying a barkie. He sometimes lists on ebay or you can deal directly from his web site. either way he is a good guy to deal with.
 
Generally it isn't the 'coons that cause the most edge damage but the general inclusions. Woods are in general exceptionally soft compared to steel and thus even a cheap machete, properly sharpened, will cut woods for a very long time and show no visible damage.

-Cliff
 
akennedy73 said:
Personally, I would prefer a Valiantco golok for two reasons: 1) the Valiantco blades are differentially tempered and I'm not sure that the Bark River goloks are - that means a hard cutting edge and a tough (soft) spine which can better handle impact.
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Or it may just mean it will take a permanent bend easier. Hard does not necessarily mean brittle, and soft does not necessarily mean "tough". Depends how it's done and the steel we're talkin' about.

If the blade would break if it were through hardened, then doesn't that also mean the edge should just blow apart with differential treatment? In either case the blade is dead. Or, looking at it another way, if the steel has the strength and impact resistance to keep the edge from getting damaged, then it should work just as well (hardened) in the spine, where the steel is even thicker.

I can see the case made for tempering down the spine a bit after fully hardening, for some applications. But I personally have no use for dead soft steel anywhere on my blades.
 
the possum said:
If the blade would break if it were through hardened, then doesn't that also mean the edge should just blow apart with differential treatment?
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If exposed to similar shocks yes, however in regards to bending, the edge is under much less strain in a given arc due to the smaller cross section and thus it will break at the same angle as an inherently much more ductile spine. In general though it is hard to argue for annealed vs spring drawn which is also insanely tough much much stronger.

Mainly the annealed spines are on the japanese knives which often use really soft laminates, even mild steel and even iron as basically it is a pure cutting tool and thus they don't take a lot of lateral strains anyway. It is also a lot simpler to do an edge quench than a spring/hard edge, because in the latter you have to do an extra step.

-Cliff
 
Cliff Stamp said:
however in regards to bending, the edge is under much less strain in a given arc due to the smaller cross section and thus it will break at the same angle as an inherently much more ductile spine.
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Yes, that is exactly one of the applications I had in mind, which would be an exception.

However, my response was mainly geared to impact resistance rather than bending strength, since we're talking about chopping tools. I've seen lots of folks talk about the "shock absorbing" capabilities of soft spines, but don't think I've ever seen any compelling evidence to show there's any truth to it. (and if you bring up case hardening used in industry, I'll point out that the hardened layer is very thin. ) Unless we're hammering on the spine with a hard object, then maybe when the spine mushrooms out it will dissapate some of the sharpness of the blow... But if we're striking with the thin edge, it will be seeing the impact first.

I am aware of the Japanese methods. Guess my point was that if the steel is too weak or brittle to take impacts, then this will happen to the edge just as easily as the blade as a whole. If the knife is missing inch deep scallops out of its edge, or cracked too deep to sharpen out, then that soft spine does no good. The knife is still dead. If the steel is good enough to take impacts with the edge when hardened, well, the steel doesn't know whether it's sitting in the spine or edge.

edit- I should have specified that my comments about soft steel were for big blades that will see chopping or other heavy use. I don't see a problem on smaller utility knives.
 
I would not contend any of that, I think that while there may be a small effect on vibration from annealing, this is mainly a balance issue. If you take a piece of annealed bar stock for example and clang it off a vice far outside the dynamic balance point there is fairly severe vibration. Generally annealing a spine to increase direct hammering is of some benefit but you lose massive strength with a full body anneal. I think a three stage differential hardening would be more optimal where the edge was maximal, the main body is spring and then a sub layer of the spine, say 1/4" is dead soft. This way you get the extra impact resistance of the annealing in severe cases but the spring body keeps the strength high.

-Cliff
 
Cliff Stamp said:
I think a three stage differential hardening would be more optimal where the edge was maximal, the main body is spring and then a sub layer of the spine, say 1/4" is dead soft. This way you get the extra impact resistance of the annealing in severe cases but the spring body keeps the strength high.
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Actually, if you're going for something like that, this is about the only application where I could see a genuine use for a brass back. It would be easier to make, look neater, and be semi-replaceable all at the same time.
 
Grampa- Not sure if you were referring to me there, but right now I don't have any plans for making a dedicated brush knife. I'm still refining the design on my coon bowie for hunting, and it still does well enough for me on brush for now. I keep collecting ideas for a brush bowie though. Every day I get home, anxiously waiting to see if my steel arrived...
 
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