- Joined
- Jun 10, 2011
- Messages
- 294
Like many here the HIKV gave me a case of the "farm knife itch." But those were going pretty fast on the DOTD and instead, a Farmcata managed to twist my arm and land in my lap. I'm considering myself very lucky because it is easily the most versatile and quickly became one of my many favorite HI knives.
I got it as a blem and even though Karda had cleaned it up pretty nice I spent quite a bit of time further refining it. I sanded off the black forge scale (audible gasp as many forum members suck in air in shock) - but I figured my primay use for the blade would be in the kitchen and I liked the look better without the scale for that use (although the scale looks great in tedwca's desktops!). I sanded the entire knife, handle and blade while I sharpened it with the increasing-in-fineness sandpaper. It ended up ultra-smooth except for some of the deeper grind marks from Tirtha in the fuller which retained some of the scale.
After wiping the blade and handle with mineral oil (the handle was very thirsty!) the blade was ready to hang in the kitchen and start cooking. Slicing peaches in half directly through the pit was a start followed by neatly chopping a small round birthday cake into quarters (I had just gotten the knife hung up in the kitchen and my wide egged my into using it to cut her cake! I was surprised that it actually worked quite cleanly). A taco dinner was a more "routine" use for the knife, although my kids wanted to see the avocado pit diced - which the knife cut through like butter (bottom right of photo).
Yesterday morning we had some severe storms which wreaked havoc on many trees in the neighborhood including two of mine. What happened to the top of the pine tree?
It's impaled into and lying on the ground:
Time to grab Farmcata and start chopping to get this guy to the curb:
Stop to pose for a new desktop photo:
Farmcata cutting like the wind:
Done:
Remnants of the 2nd tree limb after disecting:
Now back inside for a nice juicy ripe tomato after all that chopping (after wiping blade off with mineral oil, but not honing or sharpening):
It's still sharper than most of my other kitchen "knives."
Examining the knife for damage, there is a small nick about the size of the tip of a toothpick that will easily come out with sharpening.
And back home to wait for the next meal:
What a fantastic knife. The hook at the end really enables a secure grip on the knife without grasping it too tightly (and without worrying about it flying out of your hand!). The "J" at the front of the handle (by the blade) is really comfortable and guarantees that your hand won't slide up onto the blade (although I don't know what normal knife motion would cause that direction of slippage - I don't plan on stabbing anything with the tip). The shape of the handle is a very natural shape to grip and use without hand fatigue or blisters. In my case the length of the handle provides for about an extra 2 fingers which enables me to shift my grip forward or back depending on what I'm cutting/chopping.
I have diffferent HI favorites for different reasons, but this one is shaping up to be my most frequently used. Looking forward to carving many watermelons this summer.
Cheers,
Wallpapers (click download button to get full resolution):
1600x1200
1280x800
I got it as a blem and even though Karda had cleaned it up pretty nice I spent quite a bit of time further refining it. I sanded off the black forge scale (audible gasp as many forum members suck in air in shock) - but I figured my primay use for the blade would be in the kitchen and I liked the look better without the scale for that use (although the scale looks great in tedwca's desktops!). I sanded the entire knife, handle and blade while I sharpened it with the increasing-in-fineness sandpaper. It ended up ultra-smooth except for some of the deeper grind marks from Tirtha in the fuller which retained some of the scale.
After wiping the blade and handle with mineral oil (the handle was very thirsty!) the blade was ready to hang in the kitchen and start cooking. Slicing peaches in half directly through the pit was a start followed by neatly chopping a small round birthday cake into quarters (I had just gotten the knife hung up in the kitchen and my wide egged my into using it to cut her cake! I was surprised that it actually worked quite cleanly). A taco dinner was a more "routine" use for the knife, although my kids wanted to see the avocado pit diced - which the knife cut through like butter (bottom right of photo).
Yesterday morning we had some severe storms which wreaked havoc on many trees in the neighborhood including two of mine. What happened to the top of the pine tree?
It's impaled into and lying on the ground:
Time to grab Farmcata and start chopping to get this guy to the curb:
Stop to pose for a new desktop photo:
Farmcata cutting like the wind:
Done:
Remnants of the 2nd tree limb after disecting:
Now back inside for a nice juicy ripe tomato after all that chopping (after wiping blade off with mineral oil, but not honing or sharpening):
It's still sharper than most of my other kitchen "knives."
Examining the knife for damage, there is a small nick about the size of the tip of a toothpick that will easily come out with sharpening.
And back home to wait for the next meal:
What a fantastic knife. The hook at the end really enables a secure grip on the knife without grasping it too tightly (and without worrying about it flying out of your hand!). The "J" at the front of the handle (by the blade) is really comfortable and guarantees that your hand won't slide up onto the blade (although I don't know what normal knife motion would cause that direction of slippage - I don't plan on stabbing anything with the tip). The shape of the handle is a very natural shape to grip and use without hand fatigue or blisters. In my case the length of the handle provides for about an extra 2 fingers which enables me to shift my grip forward or back depending on what I'm cutting/chopping.
I have diffferent HI favorites for different reasons, but this one is shaping up to be my most frequently used. Looking forward to carving many watermelons this summer.
Cheers,
Wallpapers (click download button to get full resolution):
1600x1200
1280x800
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