Hawkbills!!!!

DR. Lathe, In my opinion the only
usefull blade for defensive use in
the hawkbill design must have a very
short blade, say 1 to 2 inches. If
you can hold the handle you could do
masssive harm with this blade size.
With a longer blade the knife tends
to stop or hang up on whatever medium
you are trying to slice whereas a
knife with belly would keep going. I
do relize they do make a good utility
knife with many uses with a longer
blade. Bu the way the emerson la
griffe rules as a defensive hawkbill
and so easy to hide. Just my humble
opinion of course.

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janefromnc

walker
 
sorry , did not mean to post twice. I will get the hang of this thing sooner or later.

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janefromnc

walker
 
I think the design must have enough curve and point to rip and must have a point which is in-line enough to thrust. The handle has to support both ripping and thrusting and the blade cannot be so long as to defeat the design strengths. All in a neck knife or concealed sheath would be really nice. I'm thinking fixed only, not folder.

I'm looking forward to seeing your prototypes Neil.
 
O.K.......
Now that I've ground the prototypes, I have to tell you all about the 2nd one! The first one I did is a Hawkbill, Neck Knife, tried to include the above mentioned ideas. It looks pretty good and feels good in the hand!
The second one..... It has about the same handle shape as the first one but the blade is very different! It has a hollow ground, inside curve that runs into a convex ground tanto point. If you're familiar my Split Finger Grip Tactical, it's sort of done the same way!! This allowed me to have more blade curve than the Hawkbill and still have a good solid point inline with the handle.
No one else has seen it yet, I think it looks very cool. I have to get a scanner!!!!
They are going to be heat treated tonight and hopfully finished tomorrow and friday. I'll put pics up ASAP!
Thanks again for all the input,
Neil

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Just updated 10/31!! New Knives, New Pics!!!
http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Meeting/5520/index.html

 
I think I follow you, Doc. I was kicking something like that around for quite a while, but eventually abandoned it because the grind was difficult and the customer appeal seemed to be low.

Then I came on here and - lo and behold - Darrel Ralph has done roughly the same thing (and beautifully) with his "Krait." Admittedly, the inside curve on the Krait is VERY shallow, a lot less than my design or (I'm betting) yours, but it is in a basic sense a merging of hawkbill and tanto.

Is this anything like what you're doing?

-Drew
 
Drew,
A little more about the Hawkbill-Tanto....
I'm sitting here with it, rough ground with a ruler, so here goes!
The blade is 3 1/2" long. It has just over 1/4" of curve if you hold the blade edge down on a flat surface to measure. Way more curve than Darrels Krait.
The first one is just going to be a skeletal handle. After drilling the handle holes I went a step farther. I kept looking at the knife tonight at work and decided to drill some holes in the blade. It's handy having a Brigeport right outside my office!! I drilled 8, 1/4" holes inline with the curved spine of the blade! Now it looks even more radical and is very light! I heat treat dies with lots of holes in D2 so I'm not realy worried about cracking. The knife has a total of 17 holes, 3 being 7/16 dia.
I have to agree with you about the dificulty of grinding these!! I'm using a thined down contact wheel that my belts hang over the edges. This seems to make it easier.
I also agree about merging the two styles. I wouldn't consider the Krait even close to a Hawkbill though.
Neil

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Just updated 10/31!! New Knives, New Pics!!!
http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Meeting/5520/index.html



[This message has been edited by Dr.Lathe (edited 11 November 1999).]
 
Hey, Doc! I dug up and scanned some of my old drawings. Dunno if this is anything like what you're working on, but have a look:

View


The top drawing was intended as a folder, the others would have been simple fixed-blades. I could never get the design to a state I was happy with, so no examples ever reached a fully finished state. Maybe I should have another go?

-Drew
 
i just found this thread, and am very interested. i find my harpy to be one of the two most useful knives ever. i also have a talon and am pleased with it. i can't wait to see the pics dr. lathe. and corduroy, i did some drawings close to that last year, but i thought appeal would be generally low because they don't look "cool". they would be a highly efficient design. have you guys ever seen the folders by a guy named ---- ryan? they were in an american handgunner last year and some were great. they had a definite hook about an inch or so back from the tip and had a nice point. this is just a brain fart, but what about a hawkbill combined with a little wharncliff? have the blade curve and then close to the tip, make it straight like a wharncliff? just a thought.
 
Drew,
No, I didn't break into your house and look at your drawings........
The folder in the picture on the top is VERY close to my design!! Same amount of curve. My point is at less of an angle and the blade is a little bit higher. Add 8, 1/4" holes in a line, above and following the curve of the hollow grind and that's what it looks like!!
Anytime neck knives are discussed, as above, weight is an issue. I think I took an extreme aproach but the knife is very light.
I was thinking if calling it the LiteWave if that name hasn't already been taken.
I heat treated it along with several other blades tonight at work. It got terrific reviews from several of my knife nut/co-workers! And it wasn't even sharp....
Leroy,
I believe that the knife you are talking about is the BIOHAZZARD! I saw one of them on a dealers table at the Florida Knifemakers Assc. show last month. Not the model you described but just as wild!! Very heavy duty, incredible grinds, thick Ti. liners. It had an ubelievable FLICK!!!!
Neil

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Just updated 10/31!! New Knives, New Pics!!!
http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Meeting/5520/index.html

 
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