Matthew Gregory
Chief Executive in charge of Entertainment
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2005
- Messages
- 6,573
Pretty sure this is my buddy Patrick's fault.
Had dinner with him a few months back, and as we don't get much chance to spend time with one another too often, the conversation was lengthy, and ranged far and wide. We've both been known to read some, and it doesn't take much to get me on my pulpit about the horrendous dreck TV broadcasters purvey as programming these days... Anyway, in my tirade about the rotting of minds in this time and place, I mentioned having attempted to watch that most vile and epic of all zombie shows "The Walking Dead", and made it as far in as three episodes before my stomach couldn't handle the stupidity of it all. Patrick explained to me that the first season was pretty bad, but that it really opened up as it entered the second season. Assured me that I'd find more interest if I gave it another go.
...so, here I am, as far as Netflix has allowed me to get, and I'm addicted. I can't remember any of the character's names, I truly have no interest in any of them, and the only reason I tune in is to see which one of them is next to violate all the laws of self preservation and die a genuinely justified death. Pretty sure that makes me a bad guy, and I know this isn't even a little bit like what the illustrious Mr. Darwin was referring to in his treatise, but there's something thrilling about watching these dumbasses off themselves in the next foolish, contrived way.
ANY knifemaker worth their salt is going to witness these shows and start complaining about how they're not doing it right, and what they need is something better.
The MattChettay is my take on a modern blend of that Polynesian parang, and a made-for-tv prop for the Zombie Apocalypse. I swore I would never make anything this crude, yet here it is. Proof once again that I have no shame, apparently. ; )
The 12" long (300mm) blade is .140" (3.55mm) thick Crucible CPM-4v, with all the glorious mill scale left on the flats, and cold blued. Handle length is a generous 6" (150mm), and allows for choking up for quick tip swings, or grabbing back at the butt for power swings. I positively love the crunchy appearance of it, and the steel has rapidly become one of my personal favorites. It's a perfect compromise between Crucible's ultra-tough CPM-3v, and their ultra-wear resistant CPM-M4. Not quite as tough as 3v, but still crazy tough, and not as impossible to sharpen as CPM-M4, but not too far off, either. The bevel is fully convex.
The handle material is Cumaru, also known as Brazilian Teak. One of the key features I was looking for was a natural handle material that was still tough as nails, and holy cow! did I find it. Cumaru is almost three times harder than red oak, and features an interlocking grain structure which makes it tough and offers a unique visual appeal. Flared stainless steel tubing and aerospace-grade epoxy secure the scales to the handle, and will also do double duty as lanyard holes, with both fore and aft holes work great for this.
I wanted something that would look like you found it in your Grandfather's shed (or, for those of you that are Millennials, in your Great-Grandfather's shed
).
The simple leather sheath has a touch of tooling and has been weatherproofed with SnoSeal.
The overall efficiency of the knife is staggering. I was zipping through 18" long sections of pine 2x4's lengthwise like they were butter, and if I'd thought about it before cutting them all up for testing, I should have left a few pieces 24" long or longer, as I bet this would have sailed clean through those, too. You can see an example of this on my Instagram feed, as well as chopping a water bottle, if you wish.
I also zipped through an 1-1/2" thick black cherry sapling in the forestry with one swipe, and nearly hit my own leg - I genuinely didn't think it would pass through as effortlessly as it did!
Perfect for light to medium camp chores, or shelter building, as well as zombie decapitation. Heck, you could probably splatter a few heads with the flats on this pig, as I hear zombies are pretty soft and squishy. ; )
Price: $OLD via Paypal, shipped to anywhere in the continental US. Contact me for shipping elsewhere and we'll find a way. I'll absorb all Paypal fees.
Had dinner with him a few months back, and as we don't get much chance to spend time with one another too often, the conversation was lengthy, and ranged far and wide. We've both been known to read some, and it doesn't take much to get me on my pulpit about the horrendous dreck TV broadcasters purvey as programming these days... Anyway, in my tirade about the rotting of minds in this time and place, I mentioned having attempted to watch that most vile and epic of all zombie shows "The Walking Dead", and made it as far in as three episodes before my stomach couldn't handle the stupidity of it all. Patrick explained to me that the first season was pretty bad, but that it really opened up as it entered the second season. Assured me that I'd find more interest if I gave it another go.
...so, here I am, as far as Netflix has allowed me to get, and I'm addicted. I can't remember any of the character's names, I truly have no interest in any of them, and the only reason I tune in is to see which one of them is next to violate all the laws of self preservation and die a genuinely justified death. Pretty sure that makes me a bad guy, and I know this isn't even a little bit like what the illustrious Mr. Darwin was referring to in his treatise, but there's something thrilling about watching these dumbasses off themselves in the next foolish, contrived way.
ANY knifemaker worth their salt is going to witness these shows and start complaining about how they're not doing it right, and what they need is something better.
The MattChettay is my take on a modern blend of that Polynesian parang, and a made-for-tv prop for the Zombie Apocalypse. I swore I would never make anything this crude, yet here it is. Proof once again that I have no shame, apparently. ; )
The 12" long (300mm) blade is .140" (3.55mm) thick Crucible CPM-4v, with all the glorious mill scale left on the flats, and cold blued. Handle length is a generous 6" (150mm), and allows for choking up for quick tip swings, or grabbing back at the butt for power swings. I positively love the crunchy appearance of it, and the steel has rapidly become one of my personal favorites. It's a perfect compromise between Crucible's ultra-tough CPM-3v, and their ultra-wear resistant CPM-M4. Not quite as tough as 3v, but still crazy tough, and not as impossible to sharpen as CPM-M4, but not too far off, either. The bevel is fully convex.
The handle material is Cumaru, also known as Brazilian Teak. One of the key features I was looking for was a natural handle material that was still tough as nails, and holy cow! did I find it. Cumaru is almost three times harder than red oak, and features an interlocking grain structure which makes it tough and offers a unique visual appeal. Flared stainless steel tubing and aerospace-grade epoxy secure the scales to the handle, and will also do double duty as lanyard holes, with both fore and aft holes work great for this.
I wanted something that would look like you found it in your Grandfather's shed (or, for those of you that are Millennials, in your Great-Grandfather's shed
). The simple leather sheath has a touch of tooling and has been weatherproofed with SnoSeal.
The overall efficiency of the knife is staggering. I was zipping through 18" long sections of pine 2x4's lengthwise like they were butter, and if I'd thought about it before cutting them all up for testing, I should have left a few pieces 24" long or longer, as I bet this would have sailed clean through those, too. You can see an example of this on my Instagram feed, as well as chopping a water bottle, if you wish.
I also zipped through an 1-1/2" thick black cherry sapling in the forestry with one swipe, and nearly hit my own leg - I genuinely didn't think it would pass through as effortlessly as it did!
Perfect for light to medium camp chores, or shelter building, as well as zombie decapitation. Heck, you could probably splatter a few heads with the flats on this pig, as I hear zombies are pretty soft and squishy. ; )
Price: $OLD via Paypal, shipped to anywhere in the continental US. Contact me for shipping elsewhere and we'll find a way. I'll absorb all Paypal fees.
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That's a beauty and it looks like that limb didn't stand a chance. 
