not2sharp
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 1999
- Messages
- 20,449
We seldom talk about the cheap knives and swords-like items sold through Bud-K, and frankly for years their catalogs have inspired more giggles then desire. So I was surprised when I actually encountered one of their "Forged War Blade Swords" at a local flea market. The thing was priced well under $20, at a price range which would probably buy us an extruded plastic toy knife at the local Toys-R-US. Yet here was what looks like a cast steel item with a 5/16" thick blade, nearly 2 feet long, and weighing well over 2 lbs.
Link:
http://budk.com/product.aspx?sku=43 BK1432&
That is a far cry from the sort of flea market junk that I can recall from a couple of decades back. True it lacked a functional edge, and the alloyed cast handle looked like it was likely to break off at any time. Junk knives and swords have always been like that; I recall the classic bubble compass "survival knives" from the early 1980s.
But, how do you make steel product that is this big, bulky, and heavy; then ship it half-way around the globe, to sell at these price points, at what is presumably a healthy profit? As with McDonalds, you may or may not be impressed with the food, but you have to be impressed with their ability to consistantly deliver their products everywhere you go. With a wholesale price that is likely around $5, it is a mystery how anyone can make these; it would seem that the cost of the energy required to forge the materials alone could exceed that.
I presume that the technology involved includes some form of carbon powder sand casting. Does anyone have any information on this process and has anyone used it to produce a quality knife.
n2s
Link:
http://budk.com/product.aspx?sku=43 BK1432&
That is a far cry from the sort of flea market junk that I can recall from a couple of decades back. True it lacked a functional edge, and the alloyed cast handle looked like it was likely to break off at any time. Junk knives and swords have always been like that; I recall the classic bubble compass "survival knives" from the early 1980s.
But, how do you make steel product that is this big, bulky, and heavy; then ship it half-way around the globe, to sell at these price points, at what is presumably a healthy profit? As with McDonalds, you may or may not be impressed with the food, but you have to be impressed with their ability to consistantly deliver their products everywhere you go. With a wholesale price that is likely around $5, it is a mystery how anyone can make these; it would seem that the cost of the energy required to forge the materials alone could exceed that.
I presume that the technology involved includes some form of carbon powder sand casting. Does anyone have any information on this process and has anyone used it to produce a quality knife.
n2s
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but it was fun to play with,and some of the stuff in the handle worked. 
but the exciting thing was in the movie "Sniper" they used one as a stand in for a ka bar! 
