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- Jul 10, 2009
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So my friend brought over his new to him Dogfather. The knife came very dull, but after a little elbow grease on the sander, it was razor sharp. I didn't have much time to play with it that night, but what little I used of it, I loved.
The next day I did a little comparison chopping/splitting, well I won't lie, I did a lot of chopping and splitting. We're talking hours of wood harvesting/preperation using only the Dogfather and The Zilla. Neither the Zilla or the Dogfather are stock, so I can't comment on performance of the stock knives. The Zilla was worked over by me quite a bit, burning through a 40 grit belt and a slew of others just thinning out the massive primary convex grind. IMO this was the knifes only real drawback. With the stock grind, no matter how the edge was it was ground like a maul and would not bite deep. Now that the grind is thinner, even with a 20 degree or so per side edge, it bites like an axe. So the modifications to the Zilla are as follows -
Thinned primary convex grind.
Satin finish put on by me after grinding the entire knife rough with the coarse belts
Thinned convex edge, high polished.
The Dogfather on the other hand didn't have a lot of work done to it, just a convex edge.
Initial impressions -
The Zilla is the clear winner in chopping, the Dogfather very simply cannot keep up, AT ALL. I don't mind the weight of the Zilla either, atleast as far as chopping is concerned but it has a few downfalls. The Zilla is not a "small task" knife, yes it can be done, but it's very awkward. The same can be said about my NMFBM or FFBM, neither were good at delicate work, but the shape of the Zilla does not lend itself well to small work. Probably why traditional kuks have a karda. Not really a big deal, but worth mentioning for the sake of this comparison.
Swinging the Zilla can be dangerous, it's large and if you're not used to a Kukri, there's a chance the blade is going to end up burried in your shin if you end up with a glancing blow on a piece of wood. I know from experience. I like the handle shape, but after a while vibration transferring through the handle causes my hand to ache badly. This takes a while to happen, but on long chopping sessions by the end of it, my hand hurts to open/close. This problem is unavoidable, and not really a fault of the design but rather the nature of the beast. I also developed a very large blister on the inside of my thumb by my index finger, gloves would have solved this problem, also sanding down the handles. That'll be a project for later.
In the end, the Zilla after some elbow grease and thinning out that primary grind a bit is an absolute beast to be reckoned with, it outchops every Busse i've touched, and is relatively on par with a smaller axe, and outright chops circles around a hatchet as well as any of the Mistresses.
The Dogfather is a different kind of beast. Fairly thick saber grind, don't know what the stock edge was like as the knife was purchased used and very dull. I put a fairly equal (to the zilla) convex edge on the knife, but did nothing to the primary grind. I will say I plan to buy a DF, beat the coating completely off it then take down that saber grind into a full convex and satin finish it then buy another dogfather and leave it alone and never strip it or do anything to it besides sharpen it, just for the hell of it.
The knife chopped very well for its size, I was honestly impressed with it. Not as good as my NMFBM or FFBM chopped, but in terms of weight, it held its own pound for pound. The knife is very blade heavy, which I want in a chopper. I live in NH, and I work mostly with hard woods, so I'm looking for something a little thick, and not machete like. When put head to head with the Zilla, chop for chop it was embarrassing for the DF, but when you chopped with it on its own, it was actually quite impressive. The new convex edge bit very deep with relative ease. The knife didn't stay hair shaving sharp as long as the zilla, however once the Dogfather started to dull, it didn't get much worse. It basically stopped shaving, but then never got to the point where it was "dull" or stopped performing. It really makes a heck of a chopper. What I loved the most about this knife was the handles. Wow, they're some of the most comfortable i've ever used. The problem with vibration transfering shock into my hand was gone, and it wasn't hurting my Zilla inflicted blisters. I used to doubt res c, but i'm now a believer!
The Killa Zilla won by far chopping, which almost isn't fair to say to the Dogfather, as comparing the dogfather to other Bussekin choppers, it absolutely holds its own!
Splitting is another story. The DF is MUCH easier to baton that the KZ, but the KZ can also split wood like a maul. Just come crashin down on it and it splits. I also can't help but think the DF is hindered a bit in the batoning dept with its Saber Grind, taking it down to convex would stop some binding.
In the end, they're both awesome blades. I'll be picking up a DF of my own soon, and then another Mistress but the KZ is going to stay my heavy chopper. The DF will be my hiking blade for sure though, I would hate to lug the KZ up a mountain!
Here they are together -
The night before the beating at my fire pit.
Let the Chopping begin!!!!
Chop for Chop, DF on the left, Zilla on the right. To be fair, I hit the log poorly with the Zilla a few times. I'm still really getting used to chopping with a kukri. There is a little learning curve to get the most of it. This was after a few chops.
The next day I did a little comparison chopping/splitting, well I won't lie, I did a lot of chopping and splitting. We're talking hours of wood harvesting/preperation using only the Dogfather and The Zilla. Neither the Zilla or the Dogfather are stock, so I can't comment on performance of the stock knives. The Zilla was worked over by me quite a bit, burning through a 40 grit belt and a slew of others just thinning out the massive primary convex grind. IMO this was the knifes only real drawback. With the stock grind, no matter how the edge was it was ground like a maul and would not bite deep. Now that the grind is thinner, even with a 20 degree or so per side edge, it bites like an axe. So the modifications to the Zilla are as follows -
Thinned primary convex grind.
Satin finish put on by me after grinding the entire knife rough with the coarse belts
Thinned convex edge, high polished.
The Dogfather on the other hand didn't have a lot of work done to it, just a convex edge.
Initial impressions -
The Zilla is the clear winner in chopping, the Dogfather very simply cannot keep up, AT ALL. I don't mind the weight of the Zilla either, atleast as far as chopping is concerned but it has a few downfalls. The Zilla is not a "small task" knife, yes it can be done, but it's very awkward. The same can be said about my NMFBM or FFBM, neither were good at delicate work, but the shape of the Zilla does not lend itself well to small work. Probably why traditional kuks have a karda. Not really a big deal, but worth mentioning for the sake of this comparison.
Swinging the Zilla can be dangerous, it's large and if you're not used to a Kukri, there's a chance the blade is going to end up burried in your shin if you end up with a glancing blow on a piece of wood. I know from experience. I like the handle shape, but after a while vibration transferring through the handle causes my hand to ache badly. This takes a while to happen, but on long chopping sessions by the end of it, my hand hurts to open/close. This problem is unavoidable, and not really a fault of the design but rather the nature of the beast. I also developed a very large blister on the inside of my thumb by my index finger, gloves would have solved this problem, also sanding down the handles. That'll be a project for later.
In the end, the Zilla after some elbow grease and thinning out that primary grind a bit is an absolute beast to be reckoned with, it outchops every Busse i've touched, and is relatively on par with a smaller axe, and outright chops circles around a hatchet as well as any of the Mistresses.
The Dogfather is a different kind of beast. Fairly thick saber grind, don't know what the stock edge was like as the knife was purchased used and very dull. I put a fairly equal (to the zilla) convex edge on the knife, but did nothing to the primary grind. I will say I plan to buy a DF, beat the coating completely off it then take down that saber grind into a full convex and satin finish it then buy another dogfather and leave it alone and never strip it or do anything to it besides sharpen it, just for the hell of it.
The knife chopped very well for its size, I was honestly impressed with it. Not as good as my NMFBM or FFBM chopped, but in terms of weight, it held its own pound for pound. The knife is very blade heavy, which I want in a chopper. I live in NH, and I work mostly with hard woods, so I'm looking for something a little thick, and not machete like. When put head to head with the Zilla, chop for chop it was embarrassing for the DF, but when you chopped with it on its own, it was actually quite impressive. The new convex edge bit very deep with relative ease. The knife didn't stay hair shaving sharp as long as the zilla, however once the Dogfather started to dull, it didn't get much worse. It basically stopped shaving, but then never got to the point where it was "dull" or stopped performing. It really makes a heck of a chopper. What I loved the most about this knife was the handles. Wow, they're some of the most comfortable i've ever used. The problem with vibration transfering shock into my hand was gone, and it wasn't hurting my Zilla inflicted blisters. I used to doubt res c, but i'm now a believer!
The Killa Zilla won by far chopping, which almost isn't fair to say to the Dogfather, as comparing the dogfather to other Bussekin choppers, it absolutely holds its own!
Splitting is another story. The DF is MUCH easier to baton that the KZ, but the KZ can also split wood like a maul. Just come crashin down on it and it splits. I also can't help but think the DF is hindered a bit in the batoning dept with its Saber Grind, taking it down to convex would stop some binding.
In the end, they're both awesome blades. I'll be picking up a DF of my own soon, and then another Mistress but the KZ is going to stay my heavy chopper. The DF will be my hiking blade for sure though, I would hate to lug the KZ up a mountain!
Here they are together -
The night before the beating at my fire pit.
Let the Chopping begin!!!!
Chop for Chop, DF on the left, Zilla on the right. To be fair, I hit the log poorly with the Zilla a few times. I'm still really getting used to chopping with a kukri. There is a little learning curve to get the most of it. This was after a few chops.
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