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here's a link to a thread I started Chris; http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/681050-Moss
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Custom chopper WIP
- Thread starter Knifemaker87
- Start date
here's a link to a thread I started Chris; http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/681050-Moss
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Wow! i have never seen that before. i relaly appreicate both the kind words and the heavy use you give the knife. It is so gratifying to see my work being used and enjoyed. honestly though if you ever want to go another way with the handle i can redo-it pro bono. and would have done so when the handles started coming apart. your fix is brilliant.
i am actually have a knife in the works (just on the drawing board for now) that utilizes a very similar blade shape but with a hidden tang and gaurd... and a stainless san mai blade. i already forged up the steel now i just have to make it.
i am actually have a knife in the works (just on the drawing board for now) that utilizes a very similar blade shape but with a hidden tang and gaurd... and a stainless san mai blade. i already forged up the steel now i just have to make it.
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not so good rain and storms
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...but it doesnt matter cause i got the knives heat treated last night!
First... i got my belts in the mail. som new 36 grit Norton Blaze belts, and they are freaking awesome. so ground in the taper. it really made a huge difference. what is funny is the nessie has more forward weight than the chopper because even though the blade is shorter is is much wider.
sorry for the crappy pics.. i left my camera at work.
and a crappy picture of the taper
I didnt get any pictures of the knives during heat treat as i was moving quickly and my wife was washing the dishes (not going to interrupt that!) =)
but here they are post heat treat.
No cracks that i heard, and the edge is fully hard. Right out of the quench and into an hour of tempering
...along with the other knives i did at the same time. water quench and no cracks i dont think!
the top and bottom ones are cable damascus so i am excited to see how that turned out.
more tonight.
First... i got my belts in the mail. som new 36 grit Norton Blaze belts, and they are freaking awesome. so ground in the taper. it really made a huge difference. what is funny is the nessie has more forward weight than the chopper because even though the blade is shorter is is much wider.
sorry for the crappy pics.. i left my camera at work.
and a crappy picture of the taper
I didnt get any pictures of the knives during heat treat as i was moving quickly and my wife was washing the dishes (not going to interrupt that!) =)
but here they are post heat treat.
No cracks that i heard, and the edge is fully hard. Right out of the quench and into an hour of tempering
...along with the other knives i did at the same time. water quench and no cracks i dont think!
the top and bottom ones are cable damascus so i am excited to see how that turned out.
more tonight.
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you were busy last night...
i like the progress on both, i'm really diggin the final shape of the nessie, it's just how i envisioned it
the other chopper i think would have been a bit more visually pleasing if we left a little more ricasso like 1/4 of an inch or so but i'm sure the final product will look good anyway.
can't wait for more updates/pics
i like the progress on both, i'm really diggin the final shape of the nessie, it's just how i envisioned it
the other chopper i think would have been a bit more visually pleasing if we left a little more ricasso like 1/4 of an inch or so but i'm sure the final product will look good anyway.
can't wait for more updates/pics
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i am not a fan of ricassos that extend into the cutting edge. it seems like a waste of blade and make it more difficult to sharpen. JM2C. i will clean the plunges and get the blades convex ground to the edge, cut test the blades and then do the hand sanding. i cant wait to test them. i save 2x4 cut-offs just for this.
the handle slabs are cut out. i am using .5" black linen micarta to have enough thickness in the material for the palm and pommel swells. i will also most likely get the holes drilled and reamed.
the handle slabs are cut out. i am using .5" black linen micarta to have enough thickness in the material for the palm and pommel swells. i will also most likely get the holes drilled and reamed.
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just found out i'm taking off in 2 weeks
if you can finish off one at least, the nessie preferably, if you can finish both by then is also fine, i won't say no.
but try to finish the nessie with enough time to get a sheath made for it, which is doubtful since you're in Canada, i don't think shipping will be that fast.
if you can finish off one at least, the nessie preferably, if you can finish both by then is also fine, i won't say no.
but try to finish the nessie with enough time to get a sheath made for it, which is doubtful since you're in Canada, i don't think shipping will be that fast.
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hey. good news! you will have both knives done. who are you getting to do the sheaths? you mentioned kydex... if you want i can make a couple simple sheaths for them. they should be completely done tomorrow or monday. also, i am not sure if you meant that the sheath maker is in canada.. but i am in VA. shipping should be like 2-3 days.
and can totally give that other knife a shot. i think the stainless wil be a pain, and fairing it will be tricky, but it is totally doable.
here is what i did today:
I cut the micarta out to size for both knives
i then drilled the handles and slabs and put them together with a set of sacrificial pins
then i ground in the butt and palm swells
then i roughed out the bevels
then did the same for the other knife:
sorry.. too many pictures.. next post
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Now with the handle roughed in i finished the grind on the blade.
Before testing:
both knives cut through a 2x4 no problem and were still shaving sharp afterwards
Edge after cutting:
then i pulled the handles off
and prceded to hand finish the blades.
taken to 320 grit and finished with some 600 grit free abrasive (it isnt finished in the picture)
then the handles went back on and the tubes flared
then the tubes got trimmed down and the handles got a little more contour. they just have to be finished to 320 and then they will be done.
let me know what you think
thanks!
~chris
Before testing:
both knives cut through a 2x4 no problem and were still shaving sharp afterwards
Edge after cutting:
then i pulled the handles off
and prceded to hand finish the blades.
taken to 320 grit and finished with some 600 grit free abrasive (it isnt finished in the picture)
then the handles went back on and the tubes flared
then the tubes got trimmed down and the handles got a little more contour. they just have to be finished to 320 and then they will be done.
let me know what you think
thanks!
~chris
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reallly nice progress bro.
one thing that jumps out before i forget...the chopper grip at the lanyard hole, cut it more so it clears the lanyard hole completely and round it out more so it isn't so straight/square cut.
the nessmuk is sick, i love the shape, the chopper will grow on me, i don't love it so much, but the knife ain't finished, that might change...maybe it's the unfinished pummel that just doesn't 'flow' for me right now, it looks nice all the way to the rear where it stops looking nice. Use your vision and do whatever it needs to flow better in the pummel.
I was going to send it to Canada for kydex, but i'm going to send it to Azwelke for kydex sheaths, in fact i'll get you his address and you can send them to him to save me a little time. I really like his kydex sheaths and he will do something special for me with slots top/bottom so that i can turn them into Dundee carry when i get some straps/buckles.
Make them nice and sharp, finish them off and throw a couple pics up for us to see...before sending them to Azwelke.
Make sure and PM or email me your paypal addy with a total.
I'm going to ship you the Benchmade on monday morning...for you to make a point, as I said in my PM to you, work the grip a bit smaller for me, it's a little big right now, the swell is real fat for my hand and belly of the grip is too big right now, shave the grip belly a bit and take away from the swell fatness a little and it should feel much better in my hands.
If you find the factory rubber scales are hard to shape trash them and make me canvas micarta like on these 2 knives above. I'm not all that fond of the rubber grips, but if you can get them looking smooth as factory after molding them to the new grip contour, leave them on. Please use SS tube pins on them when done, i don't like the factory black tube pins, they look like plastic.
on the front part of the spine, at the point (that you're going to grind) give me a nice taper, not sure what it's called when you cut both sides of the spine at a 45% (like a false edge), ONLY where you are cutting the spine to form a point, all the way to the tip.
As far as "Stainless", i wouldn't call CPM M4 stainless as it only contains very little chromium, not enough to be a stainless steel:
one thing that jumps out before i forget...the chopper grip at the lanyard hole, cut it more so it clears the lanyard hole completely and round it out more so it isn't so straight/square cut.
the nessmuk is sick, i love the shape, the chopper will grow on me, i don't love it so much, but the knife ain't finished, that might change...maybe it's the unfinished pummel that just doesn't 'flow' for me right now, it looks nice all the way to the rear where it stops looking nice. Use your vision and do whatever it needs to flow better in the pummel.
I was going to send it to Canada for kydex, but i'm going to send it to Azwelke for kydex sheaths, in fact i'll get you his address and you can send them to him to save me a little time. I really like his kydex sheaths and he will do something special for me with slots top/bottom so that i can turn them into Dundee carry when i get some straps/buckles.
Make them nice and sharp, finish them off and throw a couple pics up for us to see...before sending them to Azwelke.
Make sure and PM or email me your paypal addy with a total.
I'm going to ship you the Benchmade on monday morning...for you to make a point, as I said in my PM to you, work the grip a bit smaller for me, it's a little big right now, the swell is real fat for my hand and belly of the grip is too big right now, shave the grip belly a bit and take away from the swell fatness a little and it should feel much better in my hands.
If you find the factory rubber scales are hard to shape trash them and make me canvas micarta like on these 2 knives above. I'm not all that fond of the rubber grips, but if you can get them looking smooth as factory after molding them to the new grip contour, leave them on. Please use SS tube pins on them when done, i don't like the factory black tube pins, they look like plastic.
on the front part of the spine, at the point (that you're going to grind) give me a nice taper, not sure what it's called when you cut both sides of the spine at a 45% (like a false edge), ONLY where you are cutting the spine to form a point, all the way to the tip.
As far as "Stainless", i wouldn't call CPM M4 stainless as it only contains very little chromium, not enough to be a stainless steel:
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Chris, are you going to use some thin black liners under the micarta on those 2 choppers? Just thinking down the line so that they don't corrode under wet micarta, the liners might help with that...although i don't want the grip to get fat, if you do use liners make sure they are thin.
shaving sharp
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here's some photos of the 171 Benchmade...
after grinding a point and getting the whole thing to 'mold together' with the existing edge, you're going to have to hand sand the blade the same as on the choppers, as the factory flat grind on the Benchmade is vertical and you'll be able to see it in the close up of the blade...once you mold in the point and edge you can go vertical with the hand sanding, take off all the Benchmade markings and put your logo on there so everyone knows who did the job. If you mess it up, don't put your logo on it, lol...and don't sweat it, i got a second one!
after grinding a point and getting the whole thing to 'mold together' with the existing edge, you're going to have to hand sand the blade the same as on the choppers, as the factory flat grind on the Benchmade is vertical and you'll be able to see it in the close up of the blade...once you mold in the point and edge you can go vertical with the hand sanding, take off all the Benchmade markings and put your logo on there so everyone knows who did the job. If you mess it up, don't put your logo on it, lol...and don't sweat it, i got a second one!
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Kosters monster is 1 or 2 inches smaller in the blade, this is a 9" blade.
not to mention, the Nessmuk design is not Kosters, there are no less than about 1000 makers who have made every possible version of a nessmuk, from small to very large.
To say that Koster has the patent on large Nessmuks is just wrong.
That's like saying he shouldn't make a Loveless design cause Loveless made his living on that design...
not to mention, the Nessmuk design is not Kosters, there are no less than about 1000 makers who have made every possible version of a nessmuk, from small to very large.
To say that Koster has the patent on large Nessmuks is just wrong.
That's like saying he shouldn't make a Loveless design cause Loveless made his living on that design...
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hate to ruin Chris's thread but here's Koster's Nessmuk
my impressions:
overall, both have the nessmuk design, like the thousand other nessmuks made on a daily basis.
The two knives don't look the same to me, Kosters looks very stubby with a short blade and a bulbous point...whereas my Nessmuk has a longer more gradual nessmuk point with a much longer blade.
Mine has a convex grind all the way to a zero edge, Kosters looks like it has a hollow grind with flat saber like edge towards the spine.
So does Koster hold a patent on nessmuks? Cause there are makers from Argentina to Alaska who make nessies...
Is this Kosters knife also? JK made me that one...
Instead of saying Chris 'stole' Mr.Koster's design, we should maybe say that Mr.Koster 'stole' Mr. Sears Nessmuk's design.
I can see if Mr. Koster came up with the nessie design, but he didn't so I think it's safe to say that pretty much any knifemaker can and will make nessie designs at will, without worrying about Mr. Koster just like every knifemaker is making Loveless hunters.
Please correct me if I said anything that isn't true.
my impressions:
overall, both have the nessmuk design, like the thousand other nessmuks made on a daily basis.
The two knives don't look the same to me, Kosters looks very stubby with a short blade and a bulbous point...whereas my Nessmuk has a longer more gradual nessmuk point with a much longer blade.
Mine has a convex grind all the way to a zero edge, Kosters looks like it has a hollow grind with flat saber like edge towards the spine.
So does Koster hold a patent on nessmuks? Cause there are makers from Argentina to Alaska who make nessies...
Is this Kosters knife also? JK made me that one...
Instead of saying Chris 'stole' Mr.Koster's design, we should maybe say that Mr.Koster 'stole' Mr. Sears Nessmuk's design.
I can see if Mr. Koster came up with the nessie design, but he didn't so I think it's safe to say that pretty much any knifemaker can and will make nessie designs at will, without worrying about Mr. Koster just like every knifemaker is making Loveless hunters.
Please correct me if I said anything that isn't true.
