Expanding on Rayms thread

That one was among the very, very first knives I ever tried to "make".
(we all know it's cheating when we use store bought blades):D

The blade is a Progression tempered Lauri. The cutting edge is at a rockwell hardness of 63 while the rest of the blade is at 52. The handle is golden maple burl. I started out sanding it at about 220 and finished with a 2K grit wet sanding. I've been told by many people that I'm wasting my time with all that hand work. to be honest I believe the results speak for themselves. I stained it with a red oak gel stain, and finished it with half a dozen layers or so of Tung Oil.

The knife was almost a lucky accident, in that I really didn't know what the hell I was doing, but somehow made an extremely lightweight, comfortable, and nimble little knife with just enough blade and handle for anything I'd want to take on with it. It's cleaned messes of trout, whittle fuzz sticks, been batoned, etc. with never a problem. always resharpens to a crazy keen edge. I really don't believe a man can go wrong with a Lauri blade.

If you want to take on the project yourself there's umpteen hundred people around here that would be more than willing to help you out. (I'd even impart my entire thimbleful of knowledge)

If you lack the tools, time, or inclination, drop me an email and I'll try to hook ya' up one way or another.

Thank you very much for the kind words!:D
 
Runs With Scissors said:
The blade is a Progression tempered Lauri. The cutting edge is at a rockwell hardness of 63 while the rest of the blade is at 52. The handle is golden maple burl. I started out sanding it at about 220 and finished with a 2K grit wet sanding. I've been told by many people that I'm wasting my time with all that hand work. to be honest I believe the results speak for themselves. I stained it with a red oak gel stain, and finished it with half a dozen layers or so of Tung Oil.
:D
Click to expand...

My brother is actually now making a desert ironwood handle for one of these blades. I'll post pics when it is done. Here are some others he has done.


The handle shape will be similar to the picture with the single blade.
 
You know, I lack even the knowledge of how to go about starting! I just know when I see a great knife, my palms itch for it. Hook me up!
I wish they had an antidote for such an illness...oh yeah, it's called a "wife". Good thing I'm divorced! LOL!
 
DonandRoxy033.jpg
 
Hey...I really like that leuku he did at the very top! nice stuff!

I've got some real darn nice Leuku material around here myself, I've just been too intimidated to start it for some reason.

I love seeing the stuff made by individuals and tinkergnomes!:D


I'll drop ya' an email sometime, Rockywolf! (might be a few days though- headin' out for some halibut and salmon fishing) Real hardship duty, lemme tell ya'....
 
First off, these are taken with a phone, so forgive the low-res.

This is my unbustable old heavy hunka....Gerber LMF with a companion boot knife that goes into my pack as a backup. Yeah, it's in a maglite pouch, I haven't bothered with a sheath because I rarely wear it (backup).
LMF2.jpg


This is a hidden tang 3.5" blade I bought from one of the kit suppliers. I won't mention their name because I refuse to give them an endorsement of any kind. They were the only ones to sell this blade AFAIK....
I used brass for the guard, ironwood for the handle, and the butt is brass, walnut, and cherry. The tang nut is covered by a bone disc and the whole mess has 5 coats of varnish. This has become my standard belt knife now
BeltKnife2.jpg


This mod started like most probably do. It's a cheap@$$ Tramontina and I wanted a hard sheath for it for a safer carry. I had some teak and some cherry in the shop, so away I went. By the time I was done, I had what was shaping up to be a pretty dressy...well...scabbard ! The existing handle just wouldn't do, besides it didn't have a good feel. Out comes another piece of cherry and a bunch of sanding. Then I thought "it really should have a guard". I proceeded to bend and shape a piece of brass into a full knuckleguard. With the new handle and guard mocked up, I went to have a word with some pesky blackberry bushes out back. Right away, the knuckleguard had to go. It prevented me from being able to move the handle in my hand. I cut it down to what you see below. When I made the sheath above, I did a leather frog for this one, hence the same color. The reason I describe all this is to say that I really, really didn't set out to turn it into a pirate sword !!
Machete2.jpg


This is a push skinner blade from the same kit supplier. The handle is cherry, stained with a light wash of mahogany stain to enhance the red, and coated in a marine polyurethane. I stitched the sheath for a horizontal carry in the small of my back. I'm still shaping and tweaking this sheath so I wear it often and it hasn't been dyed yet.
Skinner.jpg


When I have space for a forge, there's gonna be a whole lot more.....there's something appealing about making one's own tools.
 
sammyismaboi011.jpg

Fixed

sammyismaboi012.jpg

Axe

sammyismaboi013.jpg

Folders

sammyismaboi014.jpg

SAK's and Multi-tool

Don't get me wrong all of my blades are field users but, these ones just keep coming back for more.
 
If there's snow on the ground, I use a kuhk / Mora combo with the Mora taped to the kuhkuri sheath.

47t5vn8.jpg


Day hikes in the summer I use whatever folder is in my pocket. Longer trips I take a SAK Farmer and one of my puukkos. Usually the longer Brusletto one for good versatility at little added weight. The top one was re-ground flat to the bevel and mirror polished to improve corrosion resistance. It's the first mora style knife I've purchased with a secondary bevel ground into it. The bottom one is a custom, unknown maker (Traded for it), and probably the best cutter I've ever used in a fixed blade.

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I agree with Raym's post, some of the photos I see of people look a little ridiculous to me. But to each their own. Personally when I get new knives I like to test them out too, even if it's not a knife I'd bring to the woods. Whittling is a good way to judge how much you're going to need to take down the edge angle of a new knife IMO. But for actual hikes or trips, I rarely take more than a smaller fixed blade and a SAK with a saw and can opener. When I "test out" a knife I just go to my backyard and bang it around for a bit, or go to a small patch of woods for a few hours and cut a variety of things like wood, vegetation, fish or small game if I bring the gear to catch em etc.
 
Vivi said:
If there's snow on the ground, I use a kuhk / Mora combo with the Mora taped to the kuhkuri sheath.
Click to expand...

I know there is a tradition of a small knife or 2, attached or kept close to
a kuhkuri. And it is handy: an almost complete cutting package.

Yet, it might be more prudent to keep your Mora somewhere else.
If you lose both at once, or have both stolen; you might experience
a real adventure, more adventure than you would like.
 
I always keep my bushcraft knife in its original sheath, and the kuk in its original scabbard.
 
fnc said:
I know there is a tradition of a small knife or 2, attached or kept close to
a kuhkuri. And it is handy: an almost complete cutting package.

Yet, it might be more prudent to keep your Mora somewhere else.
If you lose both at once, or have both stolen; you might experience
a real adventure, more adventure than you would like.
Click to expand...

True, it's just handy having them both at my side all the time. I haven't lost a knife yet, but you do bring up a good point. I've considered contacting Normark about a horizontal kydex sheath for use with the Mora's, if anyone has done anything similar I'd love hearing feedback.

Yoshi, the Mora is in it's sheath with the belt loop attatchment cut off, then taped to the kuhkuri sheath. Wasn't sure if I worded it clearly enough earlier.
 
Here is a picture of the cutting tools I just brought along with me on the Wilderness Learning Center week long reunion camping trip. We were out for 7 days and practiced a great deal of woodcraft, bushcraft and survival.

HPIM0657.jpg


This was my most used and most trusted out of the bunch. Black and Green Fox River with New England Special Handle slabs. Baldric rig of black and green 550 cord. Firesteel by Light my fire.

HPIM0728.jpg
 
Barny,

For serious and practical woods use, there is no edge that is better in my humble opinion. I love the convex edge and the Gerber hatchet pictured was given the BRKT treatment too! I have used the fiskars hatchet for almost 10 years and this one, properly convexed and given a speed grind, cuts noticeably better.
 
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