gut hook trouble!?!?

greshamblades

greshamblades

Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
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I have a good friend/customer who I'm making a custom fixed hunter for. He wants a gut hook/leg zipper on the spine of the blade. I dont ever put them on my knives for several reasons, the first is that not alot of hardcore hunters I know use them and dont ask for them. The second is that most of my serious hunting/skinning blades I make are very no frills and I try to keep them under the fowler philosophy of no stress risers or any areas of weekness in the knife. Anyways I'm having trouble getting it super sharp inside the hook, I have it ground out but I'm unsure of exactlly what to use to get it perfect, a friend of mine who works on helo's told me to use
Cratex drums? he brought me some and they just seem to polish? ANY advice or ideas would be great! thank you......
 
You have several options. Probably the easiest would be a set of various grit sandpaper wrapped around a file or other appropriately shaped tool. They make PSA sandpaper to make it even easier for you. You can get get grits up to over 8000 (like this stuff here)... plenty high enough to get scary, scary sharp!

You could also get a set of waterstone slips. Like these here.

There are other good options, too, I'm sure.
 
Take any size hardwood dowel. On a bandsaw make a cut about 1 1/2 inches in the dowel lengthwise. Cut sandpaper to length double it and leave enough on the side to overlap. chuck the dowel up in a drill press and sand away.
Works for me
TJ
 
ive been hunting since 1963 and have never had any use for gut hooks. that being said if he wants one he wants one.
another option you might offer is a seperate guthook blade. that way he gets what he wants and you get to make what your comfortable with. i've seen them made with an outside pouch on the sheath for the hook. it can be a simple gut hook with one or two finger holes so you needn't even mount scales on it. this would keep it thin for sheath attachment. troll the idea past him any way,,, might work.
 
greshamblades said:
I have a good friend/customer who I'm making a custom fixed hunter for. He wants a gut hook/leg zipper on the spine of the blade. I dont ever put them on my knives for several reasons, the first is that not alot of hardcore hunters I know use them and dont ask for them. The second is that most of my serious hunting/skinning blades I make are very no frills and I try to keep them under the fowler philosophy of no stress risers or any areas of weekness in the knife. Anyways I'm having trouble getting it super sharp inside the hook, I have it ground out but I'm unsure of exactlly what to use to get it perfect, a friend of mine who works on helo's told me to use
Cratex drums? he brought me some and they just seem to polish? ANY advice or ideas would be great! thank you......
Click to expand...
dremmel tool with apropriate grind stone.
 
I also had a lot of trouble putting a fine edge on a guthook Primarily because of the edge angle so I decided to design a different style. I talked to a lot of people about what they liked and didn't like about guthooks and here is what I came up with. It is hollow ground. It won't clog with hair because it is more open that the usual guthook and sharpened all of the way around. The upper arm is long to keep it from slipping out also it is rounded to keep it from ripping the gut sack. Final sharpening is done with a felt bob loaded with white buffing compound. This system works great! You are free to use the design if you wish.



Jerry
 
Jerry: That is a really nice piece of work there. Good thought and design, nice execution. Can we see the rest, please?
 
Thanks to all for the ideas, very usefull!! I really like the idea of a seprate blade on the outside of the sheath. Thanks also for the pic of your hook design, very clean lines, and well thought, thanks again to all!!!
 
rj: I will post some pics of my guthook skinner; but Ill start another thread. I have no wish to hijack this one.

Jerry
 
I have hunted all my life and never had much use for gut hooks untill recently a avid hunter asked me to design a skinning knife with a hook that is larger than most. I got to tell you after using it, it is now my favroite knife. It is just like using a zipper anywhere you want it. I can skin a deer threee times faster now.
see attachment Leon
 

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I use one of the tapered diamond sharpeners for gut hooks. Several manufacturers make them. I like the DMT one.
 
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