Forged in Fire-Knife or Death blades[img]https://i.imgur.com/gzUts4S.jpg[/img]

[Tom Lewis]

There seems to be a lot of interest in the Knife or Death TV show. I thought I would start a post to give knifemakers a chance to show pictures of their competition knives, or knives that might see use in a knife competition.
This is one I made of W-2 steel. For competition the knife should be larger. I had fun making this knife. I am not sure about the sharp top edge. I have cut myself twice on it.

 

[Kevin McGovern]

This is what I came up with specifically for FIF- KOD. It's 4V at 61-62rc, .22' thick, 14.5" blade, 22" OAL. The grip is about a hand and a half, should "$hi+ get real".

 

[Tom Lewis]

Kevin, that looks like a real cutter. How was the 4V to work with?

 

[Stromberg Knives]

Haven't had much shop time lately, but I managed to make some progress today.

 

[Kevin McGovern]

Kevin, that looks like a real cutter. How was the 4V to work with?

Pre heat treat- no problem, post- let's just say it's Very abrasion resistant.

 

[Tom Lewis]

Stromberg, that's a well designed knife. What steel did you use?

 

[Richard338]

Stromberg, beautiful execution! I'm working on a similar design. Mine will have a similar handle (1.5 hands) but less curved, slightly longer overall, but a bit less pointy. I want to keep a bit more weight farther out and have a steep bevel on the backside for cracking ice blocks...

 

[Stromberg Knives]

Stromberg, that's a well designed knife. What steel did you use?

Thank you! I used my go to carbon steel, O1. It's easy to get in all sizes and dimensions and I think it's pretty allround.

 

[Stromberg Knives]

Stromberg, beautiful execution! I'm working on a similar design. Mine will have a similar handle (1.5 hands) but less curved, slightly longer overall, but a bit less pointy. I want to keep a bit more weight farther out and have a steep bevel on the backside for cracking ice blocks...

Thanks man!

Sounds like a plan, keep us posted!

 

[Stromberg Knives]

And here's my specimen in it's full glory.

It's 6mm O1 at 61 HRC, built to last with canvas Micarta handle and corby bolts. It's meant to be used, so the finish is 240 grit hand sanded. The handle is also finished at 240 grit for a good grip. The swedge is sharpened and will shave.

I've hacked some 2x4 and a substantial amount of small trees as I did some light forest clearing with it. The swedge was great for clearing small branches before cutting the trunk. No chipping or rolling of the edge. I'm pretty impressed with it since it's not made of a fancy super steel.

 

[Tom Lewis]

Stromberg, very nice knife. How did you do the heat treat on the O-1 steel?

 

[JTknives]

I thought about forging one out of 3V. After watching last epasode it was aperant that getting two hands on it is a big advantage. But long handle have a tendency to want to slide forward. So why not make a swell right at where your hand would end then start the second hand section after that and also end with a swell.

 

[Stromberg Knives]

Stromberg, very nice knife. How did you do the heat treat on the O-1 steel?

I heat my kiln to 800 degC and keep it there for about 30-45 minutes to get an even heat. I then insert my blade (dip coated in Condursal Z1100) and keep it there for 30 minutes to really get the carbon into solution. I then quench in 30 liters of Canola heated to 55 degC. Then it's into LN2. Yeah I know, O1 doesn't benefit from it, but since I have it and it gets me another HRC point it goes in.

And finally I tempered it twice at 200 degC.

I did most all of the grinding before HT.

 

[Kevin McGovern]

I thought about forging one out of 3V. After watching last epasode it was aperant that getting two hands on it is a big advantage. But long handle have a tendency to want to slide forward. So why not make a swell right at where your hand would end then start the second hand section after that and also end with a swell.

I don't know about Stromberg, but I can get a good grip with both hands, as my handle is a hand and a half. I was worried about losing dexterity on some tasks with a longer grip. Like the watermelon drop for one.

 

[Stromberg Knives]

I don't know about Stromberg, but I can get a good grip with both hands, as my handle is a hand and a half. I was worried about losing dexterity on some tasks with a longer grip. Like the watermelon drop for one.

Same here, was going for hand and a half. But since I don't have enormous hands (I'm glove size Large) I can almost fit both hands.

 

[SirSpice]

Why would a longer grip decrease dexterity? Wouldn't it increase dexterity for the same reason that baseball bats and golf clubs are two handed?

 

[Kevin McGovern]

Why would a longer grip decrease dexterity? Wouldn't it increase dexterity for the same reason that baseball bats and golf clubs are two handed?

I was worried about being able to quiclqu react and cut with increased weight . You can react too, and cut faster with a Tanto than a claymore. It's all give and take.