- Joined
- Feb 4, 1999
- Messages
- 5,786
I thought I'd do something fun to lighten up the forum a bit. I finished my forst knife last night, so here's my own review of it.
The knife is constructed of 3/16" thick differentially hardened 1084 steel that is lightly acid etched to reveal the temper line. It has a 3.5" blade that is convex ground and has a width at the choil of almost 1.25". The overall length is about 7" and the handle has a small finger cut out to prevent sliding forward onto the blade. There is a swedge cut into the spine that falls short of the point and leaves what some call a "battle bulge" and there is some filework on the spine that increases thumb traction. The handle scales are black linen Micarta and there are red liners underneath. The handle is held together with four 3/32" stainless pins.
<center><h3>Aesthetics</h3></center>
This knife looks horrible. The maker obviously used a file to grind the blade, and as such there are deep dig marks all over the blade. The areas that aren't plagued by deep scratches are nicely polished, but offset by the ugliness of the rest of the thing. The swedges are crudely made, but even, and the edge is so thick it is a wonder the knife can cut anything at all. The temper line is revealed, but who cares anyway? He couldn't even get the blade hot enough to harden the entire edge. This guy is a real hack!
The handle is well shaped, and the linen Micarta is nicely grippy with a 120 grit finish. The handle scales are perfectly centered and the red liners are a nice addition. A liner tube in the thong hole would've been nice, but at least the maker went to the trouble of putting some epoxy inside it to prevent it from rusting. The thumb filework is crude, and is obviously an experiment gone bad.
<center><h3>Ergonomics</h3></center>
The knife handles nicely. It is a heavy sucker for such a short knife, but it seems balanced well, miraculously. The scales are thin, but comfortable, and they fit the hand nicely in a variety of grip positions. I would make the finger notch much deeper and also radius the scales around the notch more to prevent wear and tear on the user's finger.
<center><h3>Performance</h3></center>
Who the hell cares? The thing is so ugly I would rather die from an attacker than be caught using it. Maybe the sheer fright of looking at it would be enough to scare off attackers! The convex edge is so thick that I will be surprised if it cuts anything at all. The maker must have gotten tired after several hours of monotonous filing and simply said "well, that's good enough, I guess". What a lazy jackass!
<center><h3>Conclusions</h3></center>
For a first effort, I suppose this knife is somewhat functional. It is ugly and heavy, but the design is sound and there is potential for quality work in the future. I wouldn't tell the maker to give up his day job, certainly. Let's consider it's value: the 1084 stock was sent free by Rob Simonich (he must have friends in high places!), he paid $.50 for the liner material and $1.00 for the scales from Koval when they were blowing scraps out at the Badger Show, and the pin stock was about $1.00, too. The most expensive part was the $2.00 epoxy! So, for a total investment of under $5, I suppose this knife is worth owning. Now, will someone please explain to me why I had to pay $400 for the damn thing?! What a rip-off!
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My Knife & Sheath Pages:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/frames.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
Sheath Makers Referral Directory
agocs_s@dd.palmer.edu
Madpoet (Mel Sorg, Jr.) Tribute page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/madpoet/main.html
The knife is constructed of 3/16" thick differentially hardened 1084 steel that is lightly acid etched to reveal the temper line. It has a 3.5" blade that is convex ground and has a width at the choil of almost 1.25". The overall length is about 7" and the handle has a small finger cut out to prevent sliding forward onto the blade. There is a swedge cut into the spine that falls short of the point and leaves what some call a "battle bulge" and there is some filework on the spine that increases thumb traction. The handle scales are black linen Micarta and there are red liners underneath. The handle is held together with four 3/32" stainless pins.
<center><h3>Aesthetics</h3></center>
This knife looks horrible. The maker obviously used a file to grind the blade, and as such there are deep dig marks all over the blade. The areas that aren't plagued by deep scratches are nicely polished, but offset by the ugliness of the rest of the thing. The swedges are crudely made, but even, and the edge is so thick it is a wonder the knife can cut anything at all. The temper line is revealed, but who cares anyway? He couldn't even get the blade hot enough to harden the entire edge. This guy is a real hack!
The handle is well shaped, and the linen Micarta is nicely grippy with a 120 grit finish. The handle scales are perfectly centered and the red liners are a nice addition. A liner tube in the thong hole would've been nice, but at least the maker went to the trouble of putting some epoxy inside it to prevent it from rusting. The thumb filework is crude, and is obviously an experiment gone bad.
<center><h3>Ergonomics</h3></center>
The knife handles nicely. It is a heavy sucker for such a short knife, but it seems balanced well, miraculously. The scales are thin, but comfortable, and they fit the hand nicely in a variety of grip positions. I would make the finger notch much deeper and also radius the scales around the notch more to prevent wear and tear on the user's finger.
<center><h3>Performance</h3></center>
Who the hell cares? The thing is so ugly I would rather die from an attacker than be caught using it. Maybe the sheer fright of looking at it would be enough to scare off attackers! The convex edge is so thick that I will be surprised if it cuts anything at all. The maker must have gotten tired after several hours of monotonous filing and simply said "well, that's good enough, I guess". What a lazy jackass!
<center><h3>Conclusions</h3></center>
For a first effort, I suppose this knife is somewhat functional. It is ugly and heavy, but the design is sound and there is potential for quality work in the future. I wouldn't tell the maker to give up his day job, certainly. Let's consider it's value: the 1084 stock was sent free by Rob Simonich (he must have friends in high places!), he paid $.50 for the liner material and $1.00 for the scales from Koval when they were blowing scraps out at the Badger Show, and the pin stock was about $1.00, too. The most expensive part was the $2.00 epoxy! So, for a total investment of under $5, I suppose this knife is worth owning. Now, will someone please explain to me why I had to pay $400 for the damn thing?! What a rip-off!
------------------
My Knife & Sheath Pages:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/frames.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
Sheath Makers Referral Directory
agocs_s@dd.palmer.edu
Madpoet (Mel Sorg, Jr.) Tribute page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/madpoet/main.html
