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Cabelas Deer Antler Knives?
- Thread starter LJK
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 27, 1999
- Messages
- 6,117
I'm guessing that you're talking about the knives described as:
"Handcrafted by a former blacksmith and horseshoer, these Skinner and Bowie knifes are carved from whitetail or mule deer antler and hand-polished from butt to tip. Each knife is a work of art, cut, formed and sharpened by hand with a lifetime of knife-making knowledge. Blades are cut from the same kind of metal as old circular sawmill blades, then ground on a water-cooled wheel to preserve the natural tempers gained as the blades aged. Genuine Stag handles, no two are alike. Distinctively beautiful as the animal from which they came. We've added a brass pin through the handle. Deer head hand-scrimshawed on hunting knife handle. Scabbard is handmade from 10 oz. cowhide."
There is a contradiction in the above description. It says that the blades are made from the "same kind" of metal as circular sawmill blades (rather than saying that it is actually made from sawmill blades). Then it says that the blades have a natural aged temper (which would imply that they were made from old sawmill blades). From the description of the water-cooled grinding process I would guess that the blades are actually made by grinding old sawmill blades without subjecting the steel to a new heat treatment.
Old sawmill blades are made from very tough alloys that are not as hard as most cutlery steel. The most well known saw blade alloy is L6. It can be hardened up into the high 50's RC, but for a sawmill blade it is probably only hardened down in the low 50's or upper 40's for higher toughness. Since these knives have not been heat treated they are only as hard as sawmill blades. They probably don't hold an edge as well as a typical commercial hunting knife. On the other hand they are probably some of the toughest knives around. You could probably bend one of these blades, but you wouldn't be able to break it. If you were using one to chop things you would never break the blade. On the other hand it would dull faster than most other knives. I have found sawmill blades hard to sharpen. The soft and ductile alloy forms a burr as I hone that is hard to get rid of.
This alloy would also not be stainless. It would stain and rust.
"Handcrafted by a former blacksmith and horseshoer, these Skinner and Bowie knifes are carved from whitetail or mule deer antler and hand-polished from butt to tip. Each knife is a work of art, cut, formed and sharpened by hand with a lifetime of knife-making knowledge. Blades are cut from the same kind of metal as old circular sawmill blades, then ground on a water-cooled wheel to preserve the natural tempers gained as the blades aged. Genuine Stag handles, no two are alike. Distinctively beautiful as the animal from which they came. We've added a brass pin through the handle. Deer head hand-scrimshawed on hunting knife handle. Scabbard is handmade from 10 oz. cowhide."
There is a contradiction in the above description. It says that the blades are made from the "same kind" of metal as circular sawmill blades (rather than saying that it is actually made from sawmill blades). Then it says that the blades have a natural aged temper (which would imply that they were made from old sawmill blades). From the description of the water-cooled grinding process I would guess that the blades are actually made by grinding old sawmill blades without subjecting the steel to a new heat treatment.
Old sawmill blades are made from very tough alloys that are not as hard as most cutlery steel. The most well known saw blade alloy is L6. It can be hardened up into the high 50's RC, but for a sawmill blade it is probably only hardened down in the low 50's or upper 40's for higher toughness. Since these knives have not been heat treated they are only as hard as sawmill blades. They probably don't hold an edge as well as a typical commercial hunting knife. On the other hand they are probably some of the toughest knives around. You could probably bend one of these blades, but you wouldn't be able to break it. If you were using one to chop things you would never break the blade. On the other hand it would dull faster than most other knives. I have found sawmill blades hard to sharpen. The soft and ductile alloy forms a burr as I hone that is hard to get rid of.
This alloy would also not be stainless. It would stain and rust.
Thanks Jeff. I agree. The catalog description sounds a little fishy. I saw the knives at Cabelas' Kearney NE outlet and they looked and felt pretty good. The women behind the knife counter was nice, but didn't know much about blade metals. I'm thinking for less than a hundred I'll take a chance on the 4.5inch model. Wish me luck.