Bought a new knife

L

Larus

Joined
Jan 14, 2002
Messages
24
OK, it was cheap. Blade is OK, 404 stainless, 14" bowie style. But, the handle was plastic. I cut it off and I am making a rosewood handle. The surprise was that the knife blank did not extend through the handle. Looks like a rectangular metal tang with the guard on the end held on by a screw. (Screw head is hidden by a tiny compass that does not work.

I will drill through the tang and use brass rods to rivet the new handle in place. But, given that this metal appears soft, and the plastic handle was held in place by the tight molded fit and the screw held end guard, was this knife dangerous to use?

Do most knife blanks extend through the handle?

I cannot see how the knife blade is fixed to this soft metal rectangular tang that runs through the handle. The front guard hides this. Wish I could. If it is weak, I would like to know before I try to cut a fish head off and get a huge surprise.
 
I would bet that your "Bowie" knife was made to be a "wall-hanger", and not to be used for anything but display.
 
How can I be sure? This knife will be substantially stronger when I am done with the handle. But, should I test the tang to blade strength before I put the handle on?

I want to cut catfish heads off with this. This is not light work.
 
Larus, welcome to Bladeforums.

On a really reliable knife, the tang is the part of the blade that continues on through the handle. By attaching the blade to another piece of metal, they just made a join where the blade can and probably will snap off under continuous heavy use. How long is the blade itself? You might be better off dulling the last 4" of the blade's cutting edge and fixing handle slabs directly to that.

A full tang is a blade blank that continues through the handle, as wide as the handle. You can also have a tang reduced to a spike shape that's inserted into a handle, and will be more than strong enough for most purposes. But ending the cutting blade itself at the guard, just gluing it to it, in effect, is an accident waiting to happen.

I think glockman99 is right: this was a display piece, not a working knife. I don't know what 404 stainless would be. It may not even sharpen properly. You might want to check how sharp it will get and how sharp it will stay before you invest any effort in it.
 
He probably meant 440. Of course which type of 440 is another question.
 
The blade is 440. Sorry about the confusion.
The blade does extend into the tang about one half inch. It has a hold drilled that I can use for firming it up. The front guard and outter tang is probably chrome plated brass. Although small, I think the blade extention into the tang makes it servicable. What do you think?

If not, where does a fellow find a large, heavy, bowie big enough to deal with large catfish? The little 9" blades I see in the stores are too small and too light for the job. And, I want a stainless alloy for low maintenance.

I have no problem catching, killing, and eating catfish. But, they are another of God's creatures and deserve to be put away quickly. Flatheads are very difficult to kill. I have seen some really butchered and still flopping around. There is nothing quicker that a big heavy blade used guillotine style. Any ideas where to get such a knife?
 
If it just says "440", it's probably 440A. It will have less carbon content than the "B" or "C" varieties. So, will not hold an edge as well.
 
Check out these Camillus BK&T (Becker Knife & Tool) knives: http://www.camillusknives.com/bkt-knives.htm

Look at the Magnum Camp. It is slightly thinner than most of the others, for better slicing ability, but it is still a big, thick knife. The price isn't bad either; BK&T is almost a budget line compared to a lot of the custom and semi-custom bowies you could go for.

Give it time -- you'll get hooked yourself. Hang around here and we'll even help bait that hook! :D
 
blademan 13,
Thanks for the link. I had ruled out machetes because I have seen so many of the thin and long trail types. But, the SP8 may be perfect for what I need.

kinfenerd,
I guessed it was 440A. That is not too much of a problem. I have ground one side from hollow to sabre. After I finish the handle, I will grind the remaining hollow side to sabre. This profile with the relative softness makes is good for chopping. But, you make a good point. I may need a very steep secondary bevel to hold the edge for long. It has to chop through cartilage, bone, and land on hardwood. Not a good life for a knife.

Esav,
Looks good. I think I need something a little larger. Their big machete is too big. The knife that is the correct size has a recurve blade. I am not sure hot that would functing as a chopping knife.

Maybe I need a big meat cleaver made for kitchen use.
 
Speaking from experience, (I just spent all day chopping up frozen fish for analysis) a nice big meat cleaver works great. I have been using it all day to take full size fish (mostly carp, a few channel cats, and some bass) down to chunks small enough to go into our grinder. They were frozen solid, and the sharpened cleaver went right through the channel cats.(biggest one was 6-8lbs.) I'm sure a nicely sharpened cleaver will go through those fresh fish like butter.

DD
 
Camillus has a big bowie in their Western line http://www.camillusknives.com/western-bowies-fixed.htm

- ------ ---- ------ -
You might also like to take a look at some nice work by John Greco http://www.bladeart.com/artists/john_greco/john_greco.htm

The Meat Eater is a cleaver
4.25" A-2 carbon steel blade.
Overall length: 9" Weight:13.6

Check out the Green River Camp Knife, too
4.75" A-2 carbon steel classic skinning Blade
Black micarta handles with lanyard hole.
Weight: 10.6.oz Overall length: 10.5"

The page loads a bit slow because of all the great pictures! The Meat Eater is the last entry, all the w a y d o w n ...
 
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