Kit knife??? (W2 fighter)

Nick, what are the chances that each of those little clouds are influenced by hammer blows. It never struck me before when looking at a hamon, but I can almost see a pattern like forging out the blade.

Hmmm, I might be onto something here, have to do some expermenting.......
 
Your video said you started making knives in 8th grade.
What grade are you in now?

Kind of surprised they let you make knives in middle school.
Don't they know that knives are dangerous.
You could poke your eye out with one of them things.
 
So where do i go to buy a kit knife like this? Maybe i can put a few together and be a knife maker too!

Spectacular Nick, as we have come to expect from you. Just wanted to point out,you left some finger prints on the blade... :D
 
Alright....so, something showed up at my door today.

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:D

You can't open a custom with anything except another custom....which makes a quandary if this is your first one :confused:. Luckily, this isn't my first one :D.

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Oh...the anticipation!!

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--nathan
 
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Pictures really don't do the desert ironwood justice. Beautiful, dense burl.

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Sexy little @..

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I'm not the photographer that Nick is, so it's hard to do this knife justice.

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The sheath work is really really good. Great finish, and very nice details. It fits nice and snug.

Being a fighter that's 1/3" thick at the ricasso :eek:, it's weighted a bit forward of the guard which will lend some impetus to any swing/blow. However, it's has a ton of distal taper, making it fast in the hand. The amount of action is this hamon is amazing to the point of distraction. There are clouds and ghosts and fuzzies everywhere (yes, that's technical hamon jargon). The handle shaping is sublime. I hope Nick doesn't mind too much, but I'm going to be referencing this handle a great deal as I move to doing more sculpted hidden tang handles. The fit up of the ricasso to the guard is perfect. This one has a sharpened clip as well as a very fine edge. It's a prickly "little" thing for sure.

Now after all those pics and nice talk, I'm sure some of you are thinking, "well sure it looks good, but can it perform." I don't buy a knife to be a safe queen. I buy a knife to use, and to use hard. I started with simple stuff like cutting paper. It will cut a floating page of 20-weight paper cleanly in two without a thought. I've got some videos of that I'll post later. Next, I took it out and started hacking up a 2x4 in the shop. Not a bit of edge rolling or chipping. I had some really tough old pine knots, so I baton'd the blade an through (hard to do with a sharpened clip), and it help up like a champ. I did a few car-hood penetrations followed by stabbing the tip into a cinder block about 10 times. There was a bit of edge damage following those two, but it still cut nicely. From there, I did a free-drop tip first into the concrete from 3.5 feet up. The tip didn't suffer at all, and I actually made a nice little indention in the concrete pad.


Ok....so none of that testing beyond paper cutting actually happened :D. This one IS going in the safe for my enjoyment, and someday for my son's enjoyment. However, if the zombie apocalypse every happens, it's getting strapped on to my hip along with all the handguns and ammo I have. ;)

Nick, I want to thank you for an amazing knife. I have seen some amazing work by a bunch of different smiths through the years at various shows. I can say without hesitation that this level of fit and finish is among the best. Are there those that can match it? Sure. But this in my mind is just about as good as it gets. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

--nathan
 
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A few videos. Sorry, my cutting technique sucks and I need to drop about 40 pounds :D. Make that 20, since the camera adds 20 all by itself. And yes, I know that cutting paper is trite. This is 20 weight printer paper. And I let the paper go prior to cutting it. It takes good geometry and a very consistent cutting edge to cut through it cleanly in free fall.

[video=youtube;mK-J9sntENQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK-J9sntENQ[/video]

[video=youtube;ieONQPAoXL8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieONQPAoXL8[/video]

[video=youtube;C9JwnQwkp3w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9JwnQwkp3w[/video]

The last video probably shows the speed best.

--nathan
 
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Thanks guys. :)

Dewey... It's crossed my mind, but I'm not too sure. I've gotten similar "dots" on test pieces that were never hammered on, just squished down to bar-stock with the press. I think it's really just a matter of structure in the steel all based on times and temps.... But IDK for sure... :foot:

Nathan--- THANK YOU SO MUCH MY FRIEND!!! :) My family and I appreciate this so so much!!! :) I'm so surprised you already have it, it wasn't scheduled for delivery until Monday. Very glad to hear you like it, and that it passed the concrete drop! ;) :D That's cool with the videos... I've never tried cutting paper like that. The home you and your wife built is gorgeous! :)

Thanks guys! :)
 
That is so pretty, the nicest kit knife I've seen.

I didn't expect that to pop up on the exchange or I'd have paid more attention.

Of course the knife is perfect, but I'm spending time eyeballing that sheath too.
Very nice.
What colours would you say the sheath is in real life ?



You Tube comments are whole other level of trolling, combine the general ignorance of the public re handmade knives, the really young age of some users, the anonymity that allows trolling, the unusually large safety brigade it's a wonder anyone bothers to post decent content.
 
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Nick, thanks! We've got a spare if you're ever down in this neck of the woods, though I can't imagine why you'd make the trip :D.

Count, I'm looking at the sheath right now compared to the picture I posted, and it's accurate to color. I took the photo in indirect natural light. It's a very warm medium brown with a very dark brown in the center patterning. It's a beautiful color, really. Maybe Nick can tell you the dye shades used.

--Nathan
 
Hey Nick,

I have a huge pile of that very same kit knife.:p Now I just need to get them to turn out the same way:eek:.. Great job buddy, and yes you have and do inspire me. Keep it up
 
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