KA-BAR Tech Talk

Tooj;

What's the Rockwell hardness on the Grass Machete? Is it full tang? Is it true that each bevel is blessed by blind monks and then purified with virgin tears? I plan on getting two or three once my local knife shop gets them in stock.
 
JNieporte said:
Tooj;

What's the Rockwell hardness on the Grass Machete? Is it full tang? Is it true that each bevel is blessed by blind monks and then purified with virgin tears? I plan on getting two or three once my local knife shop gets them in stock.
Click to expand...

acaccio webpage!

http://www.kabar.com/knives/detail/125

no, it's not full tang. fairly thick extended tang just smaller than the handle. there are pictures of naked warthogs around BH for example.

the only virgins used are olive oil... can't speak to monks ;)

i'm sure there's a vendor (cough tomars cough) that has them (or will soon), at a good price
 
Tooj;
On your leather-handled hunting knives (1226, 1232, 1233, 1234, 1235, 1236) is the tang a stick tang?

Also, when you test the Rockwell hardness on your blades, how often do you do it? Every 500 knives or so, or randomly? If it's out of spec, do you discard the whole batch?
 
Toooj,

1) I hope SHOT was fun.
2) Is Kabar planning on any sub hilts?
3) pic request of you, moose, and the big E roaring drunk would be great (unless what happens in SHOT stays at SHOT)
 
Hey Toooj...

As you've mentioned that Product Development meetings are on Friday...

...thought I'd check on the R&D status of the KA-BAR Mk1 - "Garandimal"... or would that be "Toooj" :D





Thanks Toooj.

GR
 
JNieporte said:
Tooj;
On your leather-handled hunting knives (1226, 1232, 1233, 1234, 1235, 1236) is the tang a stick tang?

Also, when you test the Rockwell hardness on your blades, how often do you do it? Every 500 knives or so, or randomly? If it's out of spec, do you discard the whole batch?
Click to expand...

Blimey Toooj, looks like you are getting a QC audit! ;)
 
JNieporte said:
No, they're all good knives, just wondering how often Rockwell hardness is tested. And what happens if anything is out of spec.
Click to expand...

I jehst of course, but they probably have pretty strict AQL's and LTDP's, especially given they are a miltray contractor. I would imagine they operate batch sampling plans, which are well defined such as ISO9000 or similar ASTM equivalents.

RcC aside, I wouldn't have thought they'd want to disclose too much detail about that to Joe Public though.
 
JNieporte, Scruffuk,

We use a sampling plan based on the quantity from each shipment. Statistically, if we do a good job of randam sampling each container, we will find out of spec trends. Typically we will Hardness test 1-3 pieces per shipment, if we find low or high readings, we sample a whole bunch more determine if it is just an isolated incident or a trend. We have, much to the chagrin of our suppliers, rejected whole shipments. That is rare as we chose our suppliers very carefully. Lots of rejects from a supplier usually means Bye-Bye.
We are not an ISO Certified company as there is no requirement to do so. However, we try to follow the ISO Protocol and mindset. We have two 6-Sigma Master Black Belts on staff and several people (Myself included) have spent our entire lives in the TQM arena.

Qeth,

Sorry, I don't light up like I used to do. I've been to Las Vegas so much that the vices have lost their appeal. Remember we are working pretty hard at the show and we are away from our families for a week. It is good to see industry friends and to get as much SWAG as possible.....Also the food is pretty good. Sorry no sub-hilts as of yet.

Grandimal,

We are meeting today. Fingers crossed.


Best Regards,


Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
 
Toooj:

From what I've read (in the database) The Becker BK13 Remora is made from 440A stainless steel. I was just wondering what the reasoning behind this was? As opposed to using 1095CV like the rest of the BK&T lineup. Just curious about the specifics?

Thanks,
Corey
 
CaptinRedbeard,

The very first BK-13s were cheap 420J2 Chinese knives that we gave away with the knives when we reintroduced the Becker Line. Because the BK-13 was so sucessful, we brought out the US made version in 440A.
There were two reasons for the stainless steel. First we thought that the knife would be stuck in the sheath or second, next to the body as a neck knife. So corrosion resistance was an issue so we thought the BK-13 would best be made in stainless.
Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
 
Toooj said:
CaptinRedbeard,

The very first BK-13s were cheap 420J2 Chinese knives that we gave away with the knives when we reintroduced the Becker Line. Because the BK-13 was so sucessful, we brought out the US made version in 440A.
There were two reasons for the stainless steel. First we thought that the knife would be stuck in the sheath or second, next to the body as a neck knife. So corrosion resistance was an issue so we thought the BK-13 would best be made in stainless.
Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
Click to expand...

Good to know. That makes sense. Thanks for the quick reply.
 
BOW TO THE TOOOJ AND ALL THE AWESOMENESS THAT IS TOOOJ!!!!

He's great guy with more knowledge of the knife industry than I can hope to amass in a lifetime.

Moose
 
Tooj,

Thank you for fielding these questions no matter how many or how unique; you keep answering them. Thank you.

Now my turn :D

Is the 5 grooved (or ringed) stacked leather handle of the Ka-Bar protected as the intellectual property or a protected design feature of Ka-Bar? I feel I should ask because EVEN Cold Steel didn't copy it in their Leatherneck. And if Cold Steel didn't copy something you better pause and ask why they skipped a feature.

I love the handle and would like mimic it on something Ka-Bar will never make. There will be no profit ventures using it of course.

-RonM80
 
Toooj said:
CaptinRedbeard,

The very first BK-13s were cheap 420J2 Chinese knives that we gave away with the knives when we reintroduced the Becker Line. Because the BK-13 was so sucessful, we brought out the US made version in 440A.
There were two reasons for the stainless steel. First we thought that the knife would be stuck in the sheath or second, next to the body as a neck knife. So corrosion resistance was an issue so we thought the BK-13 would best be made in stainless.
Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
Click to expand...

Would it ever be possible to have a limited run of the BK13 in 1095 for us Remora nutts? I would pay $40+ for a carbon steel Remora, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one.
 
ron_m80,

The five groove handle is not protected by any trademark or patent protection. Many manufacturers have used it. You can use it for anything you want. We do get a little bit grumpy if another company comes to close to our "Look". (for example, compare Ka-BAR's F/U knife handles to Ontario or Camillus. Three separate styles.) Sometimes someone, usually inadvertently, gets too close to a "look" or trademarked name and we have to discuss. However, most in the knife community are gentlemen and ladies and we can usually come to an agreement without resorting to threats and lawsuits.
So Ron, go for it. We also have several non knife projects that use the 5 groove handle.

MWTIC,

We hear you. Many people have mentioned this. We recently got a large amount of 0.125" thk 1095 CRO-VAN for another project so a run of BK-13s may be possible.

I pay homage to the MOOSEZMAN. He worked his first SHOT Show for KA-BAR/Becker. He worked his tail off. Well done.

Hope all of this helps.

Best Regards,


Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
 
Toooj said:
ron_m80,

The five groove handle is not protected by any trademark or patent protection. Many manufacturers have used it. You can use it for anything you want. We do get a little bit grumpy if another company comes to close to our "Look". (for example, compare Ka-BAR's F/U knife handles to Ontario or Camillus. Three separate styles.) Sometimes someone, usually inadvertently, gets too close to a "look" or trademarked name and we have to discuss. However, most in the knife community are gentlemen and ladies and we can usually come to an agreement without resorting to threats and lawsuits.
So Ron, go for it. We also have several non knife projects that use the 5 groove handle.

MWTIC,

We hear you. Many people have mentioned this. We recently got a large amount of 0.125" thk 1095 CRO-VAN for another project so a run of BK-13s may be possible.

I pay homage to the MOOSEZMAN. He worked his first SHOT Show for KA-BAR/Becker. He worked his tail off. Well done.

Hope all of this helps.

Best Regards,


Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
Click to expand...

Heck yeah!! Put me down for one! Who should we hound about them?

Thanks Toooj!!
 
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