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- Oct 29, 2006
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A little while back, Daniel Fairley posted a picture of some old knives. One in particular caught my attention. After making the Kukuri and testing it out on windfall in my yard, I thought this other design might work very well in this application. It reminded me of a version of a cane harvesting knife or something of that sort.
I forged two versions of this:
The first one (top) from a piece of 5160 leaf spring.
Specs.
11 15/16" blade
18 1/4" OAL
handle is Ipe with cane wrap and wrought iron ferrule.
POB is about 1 3/4" in front of the ferrule
weight is 1lb 11.5oz or 782g
It's heavy being about 3/8" at the ricasso with distal taper. There is a lot of mass in the handle combined with the length of the handle puts the POB back so it's not fatiguing to chop with.
The second one (bottom) is W2
Specs.
12 1/4" blade
18 3/8" OAL
handle is maple with epoxied hemp wrap and wrought iron ferrule
POB is about 2 3/8" in front of the ferrule
weight is 1lb 4.7oz 589g
It's lighter and faster being about 5/16" at the ricasso with full height grind and more taper. Slightly shorter handle and less mass in the handle makes it more nimble. Still a very capable chopper but excels at the "snick" cut.
Both really draw in lighter material rather than push it away as can happen with blades that curve away.
Both are through tang, threaded with a nut and epoxied for maximum strength. (first time I've use this construction)
The extra length in the handle allows for choking up for a more controlled strike.
The relatively short height of the blades at the ricasso combined with the thickness make that area good for use as a froe for splitting pieces of wood while batonning.
Here's some photos and a video. (you'll note that this isn't a very efficient way to chop a log. The center of these fir logs can get quite dense so it's much faster to flip the log over.)
(ps... the bandage is due to me sticking my finger in a jointer at work a couple weeks ago. NOT recommended
:thumbdn:
..kind of slowed the completion of the second one)
[youtube]43WZFORqlYM[/youtube]
Some big chunks in the foreground that came out while chopping.
Thanks for looking
(...sheaths are in the works and both are available...)

I forged two versions of this:

The first one (top) from a piece of 5160 leaf spring.
Specs.
11 15/16" blade
18 1/4" OAL
handle is Ipe with cane wrap and wrought iron ferrule.
POB is about 1 3/4" in front of the ferrule
weight is 1lb 11.5oz or 782g
It's heavy being about 3/8" at the ricasso with distal taper. There is a lot of mass in the handle combined with the length of the handle puts the POB back so it's not fatiguing to chop with.
The second one (bottom) is W2
Specs.
12 1/4" blade
18 3/8" OAL
handle is maple with epoxied hemp wrap and wrought iron ferrule
POB is about 2 3/8" in front of the ferrule
weight is 1lb 4.7oz 589g
It's lighter and faster being about 5/16" at the ricasso with full height grind and more taper. Slightly shorter handle and less mass in the handle makes it more nimble. Still a very capable chopper but excels at the "snick" cut.
Both really draw in lighter material rather than push it away as can happen with blades that curve away.
Both are through tang, threaded with a nut and epoxied for maximum strength. (first time I've use this construction)
The extra length in the handle allows for choking up for a more controlled strike.
The relatively short height of the blades at the ricasso combined with the thickness make that area good for use as a froe for splitting pieces of wood while batonning.
Here's some photos and a video. (you'll note that this isn't a very efficient way to chop a log. The center of these fir logs can get quite dense so it's much faster to flip the log over.)
(ps... the bandage is due to me sticking my finger in a jointer at work a couple weeks ago. NOT recommended


[youtube]43WZFORqlYM[/youtube]




Some big chunks in the foreground that came out while chopping.











Thanks for looking
(...sheaths are in the works and both are available...)
Last edited: