Finally a Bushcraft UK in my hands :)

knoefz · Sep 9, 2015

Ever since I first held one at the Amsterdam meet many moons ago I wanted to own a Bushcraft UK.
Never held a knife in my hands that felt more natural and comfortable.

The stars all aligned to make me have sufficient funds, the right state of mind and the right deal under a mouseclick from forummember Grog who made this deal with me go real smooth.

A Bushcraft UK factory seconds with the beautiful spalted maple burl handles. A crack that the previous owner fixed.
With a beautiful JRE dangle sheath to carry comfortably during my wood hikes.

One of the previous owners scratched up the spine (on a firesteel I guess). I'll try to sand that out later but it's gonna be a user knife for me anyway. The edge appeared unsharpened by the previous owners, fixed that on my water stones and strop... scary sharp now

Can't wait for the weekend to begin and have some fun with this beauty!

RayseM · Sep 9, 2015

Good for you. Looks like a great set up and the knife is a beauty. :thumbup:

Ruarch · Sep 10, 2015

Beauty!

NoFair · Sep 10, 2015

Sweet knife. Mine developed a pretty bad crack (not a second) and wasn't fixable. Spyderco were great about it so no hard feelings what so ever.

If you plan on using a fire steel I'd leave the spine as it is, if not a rounded spine is more comfortable to work with.

C_Claycomb · Sep 10, 2015

Good catch, hope you enjoy it.

Mors Kochanski is the most accomplished knife user/wood carver I have spent time with, and he has remarked that if he could, he would sharpen the spine of knives like an ice skate. Both to throw really good sparks from a ferro rod, but also to punish folk who put a thumb on the spine!

He does not advocate this hold...

, however, I still find that I do so on occasion. In my case, I find that I either put my thumb on the spine within the first 1.5" from the handle, or the last 1" near the tip. For me, the stretch between these areas can be left square and sharp without it ever bothering my errant thumb, and still leave me somewhere to scrape sparks.

All the best

Chris

NoFair · Sep 10, 2015

It is actually when doing pull cuts I touch the spine (index finger).. (my thumb might stray onto the bit closest to the handle at times as well

)

I remember your protos back in Leeds Chris, I preferred the non scandi

DocT · Sep 10, 2015

Wonderful knife!

knoefz · Sep 12, 2015

Thanks for all the positive comments guys!

NoFair said:
Sweet knife. Mine developed a pretty bad crack (not a second) and wasn't fixable. Spyderco were great about it so no hard feelings what so ever.

If you plan on using a fire steel I'd leave the spine as it is, if not a rounded spine is more comfortable to work with.

I use a dedicated striker for my firesteels so won't be using the spine for this.
I've put the spine on my whetstones and the scratches are gone now

C_Claycomb said:
Good catch, hope you enjoy it.

Mors Kochanski is the most accomplished knife user/wood carver I have spent time with, and he has remarked that if he could, he would sharpen the spine of knives like an ice skate. Both to throw really good sparks from a ferro rod, but also to punish folk who put a thumb on the spine! He does not advocate this hold..., however, I still find that I do so on occasion. In my case, I find that I either put my thumb on the spine within the first 1.5" from the handle, or the last 1" near the tip. For me, the stretch between these areas can be left square and sharp without it ever bothering my errant thumb, and still leave me somewhere to scrape sparks.

All the best

Chris

Very nice to see you join in here. I've read alot about your journey to have this knife become reality on the bushcraft UK forums.
So many opinions when you put the design out there, you have a strong spirit and a done a great job.

When sanding out the scratches on the back I choose to keep the square profile, just in case I ever loose my striker and need to strike my firesteel there.
It sounds interesting to have both rounded parts and a square part on the spine.
Do you have a picture of a knife with this made? I have a hard time imagining how this can still look good aesthetically

C_Claycomb · Sep 13, 2015

Hi Knoefz,

Took me a little while to find photos. I don't have any of the knives like this any more, all were done for other folks.

NoFair · Sep 14, 2015

Some of my Chef knives have spines ground like that because when using them in a pinch grip a sharp spine is uncomfortable. Those that aren't from the factory get a few seconds on the belt grinder

Sweet knife Chris:thumbup:

Lycosa · Sep 14, 2015

Gratzee!
You are getting a heck of a nice knife.
rolf

knoefz · Sep 15, 2015

Thanks Rolf!

C_Claycomb said:
Hi Knoefz,

Took me a little while to find photos. I don't have any of the knives like this any more, all were done for other folks.

Thanks for the pics, very clear now. Looks great! Thanks for digging that up.
Maybe after using it for a while I'll have the nerve to attempt rounding my spine in a similar way, it really makes alot of sense in use to me.
Right now I enjoy it's beauty too much to risk messing it up

Also a nice detail hoe the tang disappears.

Here's some pics of it's first trip in the Netherlands

Used a folding saw to get a nice dry piece of beechwood from a dead tree branch:

Baton it into nice sticks to feed my fire

Thin curls to light with a firesteel:

First flames... yay, always give me a nice feeling

Lets get cooking

RevDevil · Sep 15, 2015

C_Claycomb said:
Hi Knoefz,

Took me a little while to find photos. I don't have any of the knives like this any more, all were done for other folks.

Very nice Chris, I'd absolutely love one of those. I do have a couple of the BushcraftUK knives, they are some of my all time favorite knives. Also, some of the sharpest out of the box.