Carothers/Loriendesign Chopper WiP

[video=youtube;fsTy1CvSxJI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsTy1CvSxJI[/video]


[video=youtube;6y1DEyzQroY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y1DEyzQroY[/video]
 
[video=youtube;W-e0B8RSsKY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-e0B8RSsKY[/video]
 
...seems like you should be singing a little song while you're filming these.

:D
 
Matt, do you have any requests? Let me tell you, guaranteed, you'll be sorry you brought it up :D

Sam, I've been pretty fortunate when it comes to cutlery, and these days I'm actually ahead a little bit. Allows me to invest in developing new patterns. I've got two jobs upcoming that I'm paying for, which will be nicely offset by jobs I'm paid for :) I've always made it a rule to reinvest what I've gotten out of this back in to the community in my small way, and I've noticed that this principle has ended up floating my boat, too.



Hopefully tomorrow I'll have finished shaping the spare handle scales provided with the knife. They're actually looking and feeling pretty good so far. I'll test em out, and then send them to Nathan to see what he thinks. Shortly after, he will begin production of the finished version in 3V. I've already done my part in designing the scabbard. Again, it might not see the light of day. I'll tell you what, though, this sure is fun! If I didn't already have a career, I'd be all over this. As it stands, this is my retirement plan, maybe in 15 years I'll be good enough at it to keep the family in shoes til I kick the bucket :)
 
Has that other guy gotten his yet, I wanna see some hd photos, that fish eye lens doenst do that knife any justice.. neither does that english weather
 
I had a good, solid session yesterday out on the trail. Cleared a few logs, pruned some shrubberies for a few hours. Definitely gave this knife a good workout, including some throwing. Still very pleased by how well she throws!

Today, I had some yard work to tend to. We have a large alder that needed limbing, which gave me a chance to climb a tree which is just as fun as when I was a kid. I used a bow saw for the largest limb, and the knife for everything else. By the time I got around to recording the following footage, I'd already pretty much spent myself. That's my excuse for some weak chopping. I also was wearing the camera goggles, and I can't see too great without my glasses so it looks pretty sloppy. Those are my excuses, and I'm stickin with em ;)

Anyway, today was my last day for awhile with this bad motherfucker, and I'm definitely going to miss it. It'll be on its way to Nathan tomorrow for inspection.

Hopefully we'll have a few more updates before beta prototyping is complete. We are very, very close. I'm far from objective, for obvious reasons, so take my assessment with a grain of salt. Pound for pound, this knife is best in class. I would confidently put it up against any knife of its type, size and approximate weight. I think it's a very good knife, and it'll be even better after a few refinements, and in CPM 3V.

[video=youtube;1fZUqItbz_k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fZUqItbz_k&feature=youtu.be[/video]


[video=youtube;dZabfQUCMR0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZabfQUCMR0&feature=youtu.be[/video]


When I receive the beta in 3V, I'm going to lend it to my trail building buddy, Russ. He's 265# of Highland Games competing Scottsman. I've done all the testing I need to do to get everything as right as I can for now, but Russ will do testing to find out how well it holds up. Incidentally, we might have ourselves a celebrity knife tester give us some feedback and insight as well. If that comes to pass, I'll letcha know :)
 
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Our celebrity knife tester;

[video=youtube;TvUsh5FijcY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvUsh5FijcY[/video]

Thanks very much, Dan! I'm looking forward to learning about your observations :)
 
Never get tired of watching Dan chop stuff. It's even more enjoyable seeing him use those rather incredible skills also.

The knife seemed to work well in his hands. It will be interesting to read his comments. Thank you for the update Lorien. Mike
 
I can tell its light. I think this would be a perfect woods knife. Capable of chopping and batoning with the best of them, without sagging my pants the whole damn time. Also thanks to the lean tall grind, it would make a good slicer too, if needed. Cant wait for the 3v version, saving my money now.
 
I thought only the "rockstar" smiths built fullered blades. :)j/k

Looks like a great design, Lorien.

I'm outta' the loop, is that Dan K ?
Can he chop or what ?! :D :cool:

Doug
 
Doug C said:
Looks like a great design, Lorien.

I'm outta' the loop, is that Dan K ?
Can he chop or what ?! :D :cool:
Click to expand...

Thank you very much, Doug! It's all only scratches on paper til steel hits the wheel, and I couldn't ask for a better mentor than Nathan when it comes to making shit real.

That is Dan Keffeler- check out the footwork; the moves of a champ!
 
From Nathan;


The purpose of this video is to publicize some advancements I've made in the heat treat of CPM 3V. It has always been a very tough steel with good wear resistance, and with some tweaks it can develop good fine edge stability as well. However I am now applying this material to a high performance chopper, so I am developing a heat treat for it that is optimized for edge stability in rough use specific to a large high-impact blade. This is some of that development work.

As my development progressed it got to the point that the edge angle I had standardized on for testing, 20 degrees per side, was no longer showing significant deterioration from certain standardized rough use procedures so I decided to set all my test samples and the test standards back to 18 DPS and re-run some of the tests. This video documents a small part of this that some folks might find interesting.

My tests of this nature always involve works in progress and iterative samples, but it also includes certain "best in class" industry standards that embody certain attributes I'm evaluating. In this case a Busse in INFI has been a test standard, through the duration, for gross toughness. INFI and 3V are different animals, but they're both on the "very tough steel" end of the knife spectrum, with 3V holding an edge better in abrasive materials such as cardboard, rope, hide and dirty vegetation, and INFI being both tougher and holding a better edge in rough impacts and general abuse. Both show good edge retention and phenomenal toughness at relatively high hardness, one is not necessarily better than the other. But, for me, the outcome of this particular test was significant because 3V performed as well or better than INFI in a nail chop, which is unexpected.

CPM 3V is a commercially available high performance particle metallurgy "super steel" originally designed for difficult applications in the tool and die industry. This video demonstrates that the "industry standard" heat treat for this material leaves a lot of performance "on-the-table" in a cutlery application, and with some work it is possible to achieve higher levels of toughness, edge retention and edge stability.


[video=youtube;6imZ4Vo8iwA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6imZ4Vo8iwA[/video]
 
Awesome work Nathan!!! Thank you for posting Lorien!!
So excited to get my hands in one of these!!!
 
I would certainly be interested in one of these. Please let me know if you have a list somewhere.
 
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