First ever batch of Resolutes!

aarongough

aarongough

Joined
Mar 12, 2013
Messages
1,167
I just finished these last night. Very pleased with how they came out!

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This batch took a crazy long time, but now that I've got the process mostly ironed out I think the next batch will go much more smoothly/quickly.

Specs:
A2 tool steel @ 62HRC
G10 handle scales secured with epoxy and corby bolts
Blades are coated with Graphite Black Cerakote (which was a real pain to get right I can tell you!)
Kydex sheaths with stiff nylon webbing belt loops.

Thanks for having a look! I'm very happy to have finally gotten these over the finish line!
 
Those look fantastic, Aaron!

Seems all of your hard work put into testing everything paid off immensely. The cerakote and routed mark came out awesome. As someone who normally isn't a fan of normal Kydex carry methods, those belt loops look perfect... simple and effective.
 
weebus said:
Those look fantastic, Aaron!

Seems all of your hard work put into testing everything paid off immensely. The cerakote and routed mark came out awesome. As someone who normally isn't a fan of normal Kydex carry methods, those belt loops look perfect... simple and effective.
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Thanks mate!

I totally agree with you on the normal kydex plastic belt-loop things. Not a fan of kydex loops either as they tend to be awkward or too stiff, or ride too high... I was very pleased I was able to eventually get the webbing loop to work out. It's very comfortable to carry! It also works out to be very low profile which is nice!

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I still want one when you open your books again!

I love that design, it's very similar to my other favorite fixed blades, and my own attempts at making a knife that is tailored to my tastes. Almost scary how much I like the design.


ETA- A2 was an excellent choice for steel. I was impressed with your testing, but I preferred A2 from the comparable steels to begin with for a fixed blade survival knife. Really, you have put a lot into these knives, and I'm impressed with all of it individually. The cerakote is a nice touch. Really good job bro, I think there's a lot to be said for what you accomplished here, just as much or more than the accomplishment of finishing off an art knife after months of intricate detailing.
 
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Hi. I saw these on Reddit. I'm glad you are posting here too. These look great.

I'm interested on how you got your makers mark in the Cerakote. It looks very clean.
 
sweet batch of blades.
Did you mask the handles and cerakote??
 
A Justice said:
I still want one when you open your books again!

I love that design, it's very similar to my other favorite fixed blades, and my own attempts at making a knife that is tailored to my tastes. Almost scary how much I like the design.

ETA- A2 was an excellent choice for steel. I was impressed with your testing, but I preferred A2 from the comparable steels to begin with for a fixed blade survival knife. Really, you have put a lot into these knives, and I'm impressed with all of it individually. The cerakote is a nice touch. Really good job bro, I think there's a lot to be said for what you accomplished here, just as much or more than the accomplishment of finishing off an art knife after months of intricate detailing.
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Thanks man! It's been a crazy few months for sure... I'm continually amazed at how much work it is just to chase up all the little details... Worth it in the end though I think!

FTR-14c said:
Super clean!
What are the size specs?
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Thanks! The four smaller ones are 4" blade, about 8.75" overall. The larger one is 5" blade, about 9.75" overall. The blades are all 5/32" thick... Thick enough to be tough and have a nice weight, but thin enough to still be nice slicers!

leozinho said:
Hi. I saw these on Reddit. I'm glad you are posting here too. These look great.

I'm interested on how you got your makers mark in the Cerakote. It looks very clean.
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The makers mark was actually engraved into/through the Cerakote using a CNC router as an engraver... The bit I used for the engraving was a 90º solid carbide 'scoring' bit. I'm lucky to have a friend that lets me use his CNC router! I give him technical support in exchange, so I guess it works well for both of us!

I tried laser as well, but the etching came out kind of fuzzy around the edges (at least with a CO2 laser) not nearly as clean as the mechanical engraving.

daizee said:
sweet batch of blades.
Did you mask the handles and cerakote??
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Cheers mate! Basically the uncoated blades and the scales were temporarily pinned together, everything was shaped and finished, then the scales were pulled off and the blades were coated. After the coating the blades were pinned and epoxied to the scales, with a lot of care take to clean up any excess epoxy!

That method seems to work well. There was a very minor misalignment (maybe 1-2 thou) between the scales and the tang after re-fitting, but I think that can be sorted on the next batch by making the pins and the holes a bit more closely matched in size. On this batch I drilled the pin holes in the tang 0.003" oversize to avoid binding, but I think that was a mistake in hindsight.
 
So clean and nice looking. I'd love to have one of these on my hip!
Congratulations on a great total package- they look like money in the bank to me!
 
Aaron I absolutely love these knives. The one your wearing in the pic with green liners is my favorite. Have you thought about making any small pocket size? Keep it up, can't wait to see more.
 
Bigfattyt said:
Very nice lineup.
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Thanks mate! More uncoated blades coming soon, which I think should add some variety!

DanielDeesCreations said:
Excuisite, like all of your stuff. Soooooo clean!
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Thanks mate!

killharder said:
Aaron I absolutely love these knives. The one your wearing in the pic with green liners is my favorite. Have you thought about making any small pocket size? Keep it up, can't wait to see more.
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The green liners is my favourite too, that's my personal knife!

I have been working on a few options for smaller fixed blades:

2.5" blade
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1" blade
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Everyone seems to like the really small one, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. To make the handle comfortable the steel has to be quite thick, but that means the blade becomes a wedge... Not useful at all for stuff where you have to cut deeply (cardboard, apples, etc...)
 
Wow. I'm 34 years old and I got a little fanboy thrill when I stumbled across this. Aaron Gough's tutorials on youtube are weekly watchers for me. Aaron, I have learned more from you and mike at gavko, crashblade, and Jon at 3 River Blades than almost anywhere else. Your basic tutorials got me started. When I get my next batch in, I would like to send you one as a thank you, if that would be appropriate.
 
sc_bane said:
Wow. I'm 34 years old and I got a little fanboy thrill when I stumbled across this. Aaron Gough's tutorials on youtube are weekly watchers for me. Aaron, I have learned more from you and mike at gavko, crashblade, and Jon at 3 River Blades than almost anywhere else. Your basic tutorials got me started. When I get my next batch in, I would like to send you one as a thank you, if that would be appropriate.
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Hey mate! Glad the videos wee helpful! Hopefully I'll be making quite a few more this year, but I have to get the new shop setup first!

No thanks is necessary beyond enjoying what you do mate. I do appreciate the kind offer though!

felizalde55 said:
Great, smart and looks confortable. Congratulations!
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Thanks!
 
sc_bane said:
Wow. I'm 34 years old and I got a little fanboy thrill when I stumbled across this. Aaron Gough's tutorials on youtube are weekly watchers for me. Aaron, I have learned more from you and mike at gavko, crashblade, and Jon at 3 River Blades than almost anywhere else. Your basic tutorials got me started. When I get my next batch in, I would like to send you one as a thank you, if that would be appropriate.
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Same here sc_bane. Checkout Sugarcreek Forge's videos. He is another good resource.

Aaron I love the small 2.5" knife, kind a mini Resolute.
 
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