- Joined
- Feb 27, 2000
- Messages
- 82
Does anyone have any experience with the Texas Knifemakers Kits? What's the quality of the blade like?
Thanks,
Davy
Thanks,
Davy
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
Kit Quality
- Thread starter Davy Davis
- Start date
I bought their "Moose" blade and 303 stainless bolsters earlier this year. Still working on it
otherwise I'd post a picture.
The blade: I really like this one. It's *almost* a bowie but is a bit too short and the belly seems wrong. The tang is tapered very nicely and the steel (high vanadium stainless) is claimed to be a Spanish steel that should come close to 440v in performance. Time will tell if that's really true. The only thing wrong with the blade is that the false edges are ground a little off - they're not exactly even. I don't care though, it's not that noticeable. Let's see, what else... The tang had lots of pin head sized dings in it, probably from some hardness testing after it was cryo treated. As an aside, I think someone from TKS posted a message saying that they re-heat treat the blades when cryo treating, but I could wrong.
The bolsters: While I didn't order a full "kit" I did order the bolsters. Their catalog lists brass but I ordered the (unlisted) stainless version. I think it's 303 or 304 and is very easy to bring to a mirror polish. The bolsters were about 1/4" thick and the predrilled holes were nicely chamfered (but I'm not sure why - I peined like you wouldn't believe but I still have rings around the pins). You have to shape them yourself, their just big rectangular blocks of steel*.
I also ordered some 1/4" stainless tubing and two slabs of green canvas micarta.
For my first bolstered knife I think it's turning out rather well. The knife will be hefty enough and just the perfect size to take if/when I go camping.
Jon
* - I think some (or all) of the japanese kits (featuring 6A steel) have preshaped bolsters.
The blade: I really like this one. It's *almost* a bowie but is a bit too short and the belly seems wrong. The tang is tapered very nicely and the steel (high vanadium stainless) is claimed to be a Spanish steel that should come close to 440v in performance. Time will tell if that's really true. The only thing wrong with the blade is that the false edges are ground a little off - they're not exactly even. I don't care though, it's not that noticeable. Let's see, what else... The tang had lots of pin head sized dings in it, probably from some hardness testing after it was cryo treated. As an aside, I think someone from TKS posted a message saying that they re-heat treat the blades when cryo treating, but I could wrong.
The bolsters: While I didn't order a full "kit" I did order the bolsters. Their catalog lists brass but I ordered the (unlisted) stainless version. I think it's 303 or 304 and is very easy to bring to a mirror polish. The bolsters were about 1/4" thick and the predrilled holes were nicely chamfered (but I'm not sure why - I peined like you wouldn't believe but I still have rings around the pins). You have to shape them yourself, their just big rectangular blocks of steel*.
I also ordered some 1/4" stainless tubing and two slabs of green canvas micarta.
For my first bolstered knife I think it's turning out rather well. The knife will be hefty enough and just the perfect size to take if/when I go camping.
Jon
* - I think some (or all) of the japanese kits (featuring 6A steel) have preshaped bolsters.
I've ordered many blades from both Texas Knifemakers and Jantz.
I've never gotten a really bad blade from either place, but the blades do vary in quality. Some need some extra grinding and polishing, others come with good grinding and near perfect mirror finish. Actually, I'm glad some blades needed some grinding and polishing. This got me started in making my own blades.
One other thing.... the small cheap blades are nice to have to experiment with. I've bought many kitchen blades and cheap hunting blades to experiment with epoxy, handle material, soldering, etc. I think they are good for learning and developing your skills. Better to screw up on a $4-$8 blade than on a $50 one, or one that you spent 10 hours on grinding and polishing yourself.
Carl
I've never gotten a really bad blade from either place, but the blades do vary in quality. Some need some extra grinding and polishing, others come with good grinding and near perfect mirror finish. Actually, I'm glad some blades needed some grinding and polishing. This got me started in making my own blades.
One other thing.... the small cheap blades are nice to have to experiment with. I've bought many kitchen blades and cheap hunting blades to experiment with epoxy, handle material, soldering, etc. I think they are good for learning and developing your skills. Better to screw up on a $4-$8 blade than on a $50 one, or one that you spent 10 hours on grinding and polishing yourself.
Carl
I've ordered many blades from both Texas Knifemakers and Jantz.
I've never gotten a really bad blade from either place, but the blades do vary in quality. Some need some extra grinding and polishing, others come with good grinding and near perfect mirror finish. Actually, I'm glad some blades needed some grinding and polishing. This got me started in making my own blades.
One other thing.... the small cheap blades are nice to have to experiment with. I've bought many kitchen blades and cheap hunting blades to experiment with epoxy, handle material, soldering, etc. I think they are good for learning and developing your skills. Better to screw up on a $4-$8 blade than on a $50 one, or one that you spent 10 hours on grinding and polishing yourself.
Carl
I've never gotten a really bad blade from either place, but the blades do vary in quality. Some need some extra grinding and polishing, others come with good grinding and near perfect mirror finish. Actually, I'm glad some blades needed some grinding and polishing. This got me started in making my own blades.
One other thing.... the small cheap blades are nice to have to experiment with. I've bought many kitchen blades and cheap hunting blades to experiment with epoxy, handle material, soldering, etc. I think they are good for learning and developing your skills. Better to screw up on a $4-$8 blade than on a $50 one, or one that you spent 10 hours on grinding and polishing yourself.
Carl
I've ordered several kits from Jantz, but not from texas Knifemakers supply. The Renaissance dagger is the same but Texas cryo's theirs and I got the gambler/Lynx lockback from Jantz. Same thing as Texas, but w/o the cryo. The were prety decent overall, but some of the grinds were bad or needed some help. Generally, a decent quality blade. I hope to make some of my own soon, though.