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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
bk9 is thinner now?
- Thread starter scrappy
- Start date
Ethan Becker
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Hey Guys...
The BK9 blade is a trifle thinner but as in the NECKER, where we went a little thicker, we adjusted the grind so as to give the same heft and edge geometry... I can't tell the difference in use....The exigencies of todays steel market being what they are sometimes you must work around wretched reality to get where you wanna go......
All Best...
ethan
The BK9 blade is a trifle thinner but as in the NECKER, where we went a little thicker, we adjusted the grind so as to give the same heft and edge geometry... I can't tell the difference in use....The exigencies of todays steel market being what they are sometimes you must work around wretched reality to get where you wanna go......
All Best...
ethan
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thanks for the info Ethan
powernoodle
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Thinner is a step in the wrong direction on a 9" chopper.
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We're talking about 0.018" here. How much of a loss in performance or durability are you guys expecting? It's not like the blade is dropping from 0.22" to 0.032" or anything like that.
If I'm wrong, it won't be the first time today, but I doubt whatever you're cutting is going to notice the difference.
If I'm wrong, it won't be the first time today, but I doubt whatever you're cutting is going to notice the difference.
powernoodle
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Thats true, thom.
But when you see that a gallon of ice cream is now 3.5 quarts, and so many products are becoming more packing and less product, it would be nice for something to be marginally improved instead of marginally unimproved. Especially when the price goes up.
Am I whining? Yes. Will I buy a new BK9? Dang right I will. But if consumers don't lobby for better instead of not better, then products continue to devolve.
:thumbup:
But when you see that a gallon of ice cream is now 3.5 quarts, and so many products are becoming more packing and less product, it would be nice for something to be marginally improved instead of marginally unimproved. Especially when the price goes up.
Am I whining? Yes. Will I buy a new BK9? Dang right I will. But if consumers don't lobby for better instead of not better, then products continue to devolve.
:thumbup:
Ethan Becker
Moderator
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Hey powernoodle and Scrappy.....
I understand your concerns and, not too many years ago, I would have been far less polite than you guys are being..If you compare weight, balance, and heft, as well as chopping ability I am pretty certain you will not be able to discern any difference....I would suggest a blindfolded chopping comparison but, I like my appendages too well and obviously do not suggest this for you...That leaves us the durability issue and I really cannot see this as an issue in any FIELD situation with this thickness, this steel, and this heat treat.....I think back to my youth and all the really stupid stuff I put my knives through and blade breakage was an issue only when I was throwing the them.....I did break the tip on a hardware store 5 or 6 inch bowie when I was about 11 years old..... Who made the knife and even how I broke the poor abused thing is lost somewhere up in the old cranial cavity...I do remember being very angry with myself at the time, so it was my fault.... I lost a lot of blades while throwing them and lost even more when they landed in the rough.....The knife the that we had people hanging on at PWYP was a Ka-Bar Impact series tanto at .165 and when I got it home tried very hard to induce tip breakage(the testing involved a very well seasoned oak 4x4 held in a vise, end grain up...I repeatedly drove the tip into the end grain with a baton and prised it out.....I had a half dozen visitors do the same with same results...I had trouble believing it myself.....The NECKER is at .165 and using the same VERY scientific methodology got brekage half an inch or less back from the point ,ONLY after something over 45 degrees of deflection(an estimate, as I was holding a camera in my other hand)......In a field situation I cannot remember, ever, bending a blade 45 degrees off true.....If you anticipate a problem of that magnitude I suggest a TACTUL to back up your main blade no matter who makes it.....
The horrible reality is that if we did not use the steel we did those two knives would not have been made and if I thought that there was going to be any meaningful degradation in functionality MY name would not be on those knives.....I really think you will be very pleased with the blade as it is now.....please let me know what you think after you have given it a try.....With out the blindfold....
All Best...
ethan
I understand your concerns and, not too many years ago, I would have been far less polite than you guys are being..If you compare weight, balance, and heft, as well as chopping ability I am pretty certain you will not be able to discern any difference....I would suggest a blindfolded chopping comparison but, I like my appendages too well and obviously do not suggest this for you...That leaves us the durability issue and I really cannot see this as an issue in any FIELD situation with this thickness, this steel, and this heat treat.....I think back to my youth and all the really stupid stuff I put my knives through and blade breakage was an issue only when I was throwing the them.....I did break the tip on a hardware store 5 or 6 inch bowie when I was about 11 years old..... Who made the knife and even how I broke the poor abused thing is lost somewhere up in the old cranial cavity...I do remember being very angry with myself at the time, so it was my fault.... I lost a lot of blades while throwing them and lost even more when they landed in the rough.....The knife the that we had people hanging on at PWYP was a Ka-Bar Impact series tanto at .165 and when I got it home tried very hard to induce tip breakage(the testing involved a very well seasoned oak 4x4 held in a vise, end grain up...I repeatedly drove the tip into the end grain with a baton and prised it out.....I had a half dozen visitors do the same with same results...I had trouble believing it myself.....The NECKER is at .165 and using the same VERY scientific methodology got brekage half an inch or less back from the point ,ONLY after something over 45 degrees of deflection(an estimate, as I was holding a camera in my other hand)......In a field situation I cannot remember, ever, bending a blade 45 degrees off true.....If you anticipate a problem of that magnitude I suggest a TACTUL to back up your main blade no matter who makes it.....
The horrible reality is that if we did not use the steel we did those two knives would not have been made and if I thought that there was going to be any meaningful degradation in functionality MY name would not be on those knives.....I really think you will be very pleased with the blade as it is now.....please let me know what you think after you have given it a try.....With out the blindfold....
All Best...
ethan
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2007
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- 811
Powernoodle has a good point there. Knifemakers are in the business to sell
their product to their customers.
Only makes sense to listen to the customers to see what it is that they want,
then attempt to give them a product that will suit their needs.
Grass roots design.
Give the customer the ability to have input into the process, a chance to feel as
if they are part of the process and they will be customers for life.
A satisfied customer spreading the word about a good product is worth millions
in advertising.
Having Ethan on this forum so that we, the buying public, can chat with him,
is a great case in point. Here it is Christmas time, and with every present I
get for family and friends, I'm taking the change and putting it towards a
stash so that I can get a BK7 or a second BK9 early in the new year.
Having Pict come on with his survival kit based upon a BK7 is making me lean
towards that knife..after all, I already have a BK9, and a BK7 would add nicely
to the collection.
Wait
What am I saying 
Did I just say that ONE BK9 was
enough :foot:
Better start saving up for one of each :thumbup:
EDIT: Should add that I might also have to get one of the BK2's as well.
their product to their customers.
Only makes sense to listen to the customers to see what it is that they want,
then attempt to give them a product that will suit their needs.
Grass roots design.
Give the customer the ability to have input into the process, a chance to feel as
if they are part of the process and they will be customers for life.
A satisfied customer spreading the word about a good product is worth millions
in advertising.
Having Ethan on this forum so that we, the buying public, can chat with him,
is a great case in point. Here it is Christmas time, and with every present I
get for family and friends, I'm taking the change and putting it towards a
stash so that I can get a BK7 or a second BK9 early in the new year.
Having Pict come on with his survival kit based upon a BK7 is making me lean
towards that knife..after all, I already have a BK9, and a BK7 would add nicely
to the collection.
Wait
What am I saying Did I just say that ONE BK9 wasenough
:foot:Better start saving up for one of each :thumbup:
EDIT: Should add that I might also have to get one of the BK2's as well.
Last edited:
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How much is the price going up? Less than $10? Less still, when adjusted for inflation and rising fuel costs.
If you read between the lines, it sounds like the cost for a run of 1095-ish steel that'd end up 0.22" thick after surface grinding and whatnot was high enough that options were "go a hair thinner or go without." As much as not having the Ka-Bar BK9 not be an exact Camillus clone upsets you, wouldn't you be even more upset if you had to wait for Ka-Bar to hold off until they could afford a run of steel with the exact same dimension?
If you read between the lines, it sounds like the cost for a run of 1095-ish steel that'd end up 0.22" thick after surface grinding and whatnot was high enough that options were "go a hair thinner or go without." As much as not having the Ka-Bar BK9 not be an exact Camillus clone upsets you, wouldn't you be even more upset if you had to wait for Ka-Bar to hold off until they could afford a run of steel with the exact same dimension?
Last edited:
powernoodle
Power Member
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post edited by Powernoodle after consultation with thom. :thumbup:
Last edited:
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Man I type slow!
And I apologize to powernoodle for my abrasive and failed attempt at humor. Whenever I hear "read between the lines," schoolyard ways of flicking people off is one of my first thoughts.
And I apologize to powernoodle for my abrasive and failed attempt at humor. Whenever I hear "read between the lines," schoolyard ways of flicking people off is one of my first thoughts.
Last edited:
Ethan Becker
Moderator
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- Sep 1, 1999
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- 3,564
Hey Dave.....
One of the main reasons I put up this forum is so I CAN hear what you guys like...and do NOT like..... A smart man knows, that in the end, his customers tell him what business he is in and if he does Not listen, his business will end.....
The steel thickness issue was real simple for both the NECKER and the seven and nine.....change the thickness a few thousandths one way or another, and adjust the grinds slightly, or wait on the whims of the steel companies (possibly a matter of a year) or go with 1/4 inch which WOULD wreck the balance and functionality of both blades....In neither case was this a purely economic decision...We could have surface ground the stock but then you guys would have been complaining (and rightly so) about a really hefty price increase...One thing has come clear to me over the years and one of the things I am proudest of, is that you guys see my knives as really good value for the money.....I think you will find that value is still there....As a little historical note the MACHAX was mfg. in about 3 thicknesses, maybe 4...The original was the thickest and the best of the lot is the thinnest.....
One of the main reasons I put up this forum is so I CAN hear what you guys like...and do NOT like..... A smart man knows, that in the end, his customers tell him what business he is in and if he does Not listen, his business will end.....
The steel thickness issue was real simple for both the NECKER and the seven and nine.....change the thickness a few thousandths one way or another, and adjust the grinds slightly, or wait on the whims of the steel companies (possibly a matter of a year) or go with 1/4 inch which WOULD wreck the balance and functionality of both blades....In neither case was this a purely economic decision...We could have surface ground the stock but then you guys would have been complaining (and rightly so) about a really hefty price increase...One thing has come clear to me over the years and one of the things I am proudest of, is that you guys see my knives as really good value for the money.....I think you will find that value is still there....As a little historical note the MACHAX was mfg. in about 3 thicknesses, maybe 4...The original was the thickest and the best of the lot is the thinnest.....
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- Feb 5, 2005
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I am currious why it had to be .188 or it would not have been made....Hey I got a BK9 on the way, and boy am I thrilled, but that statement has got my curriousity up.
Thanks
AI
Thanks
AI
- Joined
- Nov 11, 1998
- Messages
- 1,714
Steel is available in nominal fractional sizes without it being a special order (Huge quantities).
3/16 = 0.1875
Next available thickness would be 1/4 (0.250).
3/16 = 0.1875
Next available thickness would be 1/4 (0.250).
a was actually y expecting my bk9 to be delivered today. if the weight is still the same than I will have nothing to complain about. the price has gone up a lot more than 10 dollars. I think the wholesale difrference is 20 so the end price from retailers will be higher. the blades from kabar are better fit and finish generally than my other camillus knives, so I understand the rice increase. also it comes with a free bk13
ethan, I have always thought your knives to be the best bang for buck ever. I am very hapy they are back. thank you for the exlanation.
ethan, I have always thought your knives to be the best bang for buck ever. I am very hapy they are back. thank you for the exlanation.
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a was actually y expecting my bk9 to be delivered today. if the weight is still the same than I will have nothing to complain about. the price has gone up a lot more than 10 dollars. I think the wholesale difrference is 20 so the end price from retailers will be higher. the blades from kabar are better fit and finish generally than my other camillus knives, so I understand the rice increase. also it comes with a free bk13
ethan, I have always thought your knives to be the best bang for buck ever. I am very hapy they are back. thank you for the exlanation.
well, the Camillus version MSRP was around $96.50, so the price i paid today? not too shabby. $64. with a free knive too (i hope). find out next week.
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