Miles off topic: My new knife, a TRUE competitor for Jerry! PHOTO UPDATE

Thanks Meanwhile, several good suggestions.

1. I do want to taper the tang a bit. But I need to get a new grindstone (I've worn through a whole stone already -- I know a belt would be better but money is tight)

2. I'm not quite sure what you are suggesting I do differently regarding the guard transition?? The upper guard is more of a quick slope upward... Its creates quite a secure ergonomic feel and nice balance to the look of the blade, without getting in the way of choking up on the blade

3. RE choil, see my point about the grinder. Also I was going to see how I liked the feel of an 'elf-choil' like on some of the B-9s... More as a firestriker/scorer

4. The end of the handle is actually quite nice for two-fingered chopping. The nice thing with this project has been evolving the design as I go along to get a really perfect feel!

Thanks again for your suggestions/time, its helpful to get different perspectives
 
Something else to think about. I'm really looking toughness in this knife. I have other knives for slicing, so I'm thinking of hardening it to about 56/7 RC?? I want it to roll rather than chip... In a similar way to howe the old randall choppers are supposed to... The thickness and fact that its A2 should give it pretty nice toughness anyway I suppose. Having said that I don't want awful wear resistance. Any thoughts?
 
Oh god! I think I should go into hiding! My knife isn't ready to bug out with yet!!? Having said that I can't wait to reach the 'destructive testing' phase :)

On a more serious note, I would like to make it clear to all those joining the thread late that while I haven't met Jerry, I hear he is an incredible guy, and I know from experience that he makes the finest knives I have ever tried. I joke because I know he is so far out of my puny league that he can take it! If I can make a knife that is half as tough I will be pleased with myself...
 
I know you don't know anyone over on the Shop area, but you really should post this over there. You might get some good ideas from people who have been there, done that. Just a suggestion.
 
Thanks, medicevans -- I did want to move this from general discussion, but I couldn't see how to edit the thread into another section.

I have nothing against the shop forum, and I guess the best way to meet them is to post this is their area.
 
joshiecole said:
Thanks Meanwhile, several good suggestions.

1. I do want to taper the tang a bit. But I need to get a new grindstone (I've worn through a whole stone already -- I know a belt would be better but money is tight)
Click to expand...

Wouldn't an engineers' file (cleaned often with a wire brush) be better? Especially one with a flat and a curved side? Obviously you'd want an aggressive one.


2. I'm not quite sure what you are suggesting I do differently regarding the guard transition?? The upper guard is more of a quick slope upward... Its creates quite a secure ergonomic feel and nice balance to the look of the blade, without getting in the way of choking up on the blade
Click to expand...

Re. stress and the transition: I think you've fixed it in the version you have now: basic rule, avoid sharp corners especially at points where stress will be high. Always make transitions in blade width rounded/blended/curving. (That CS don't do this one of the reasons TM's break at that point.)

Re. the ergos of getting to the choil: I was looking at your orginal design. The new one... well, you know that you've lost the highest leverage position on the blade with your current design? Read Cliff Stamp's review of the MTECH 151 and explains why it won't carve as well as the Mora. If you want to be able to make feather sticks and point stakes well, etc, you need either a choil big enough for a finger, or choil-less blade where the edge gets very close to the handle. Basically, you need a position on the edge where your thumb can over the spot where cutting takes place. Reducing a knife's cutting ability so the you don't have to have carry a tiny extra piece of metal as a firestriker strikes me (haha) as a poor trade-off.

I'm talking about this position:

Busse_TGCG-grip1.jpg


If you google for Trailmaster mods, opening out the choil and reducing the upper guard so this position can achieved - and it should be possible on a good knife even wearing gloves - is about as common as re-handling. (Which is essential, because the bloody kraton handle flies off if you these knives hard.)

3. RE choil, see my point about the grinder. Also I was going to see how I liked the feel of an 'elf-choil' like on some of the B-9s... More as a firestriker/scorer

4. The end of the handle is actually quite nice for two-fingered chopping. The nice thing with this project has been evolving the design as I go along to get a really perfect feel!
Click to expand...

You might want to try a monkeyfist lanyard: google for Voldemort's - sorry, Cliff Stamp's - review of the Ratweiler. It should improve two-finger chopping quite a lot.

Of course, if you use a tapering tang you can put a much longer handle on - this is how kukris and bolos are handled. Getting rid of some of the tang lets you have a decent thickness of long wood fibres (or whatever) that give the strength and extended handle needs. (I'm considering de-tempering the tang of an MTECH 151 - a 440C TM clone - partly so that I can fit this sort of handle.)

But nice project - and I think the changes you've made away from the TM are generally improvements!
 
joshiecole said:
Thanks guys,

Gravelface, you're spot on with the TM, that's what I meant by 'the old enemy' :p the design is harking back to the era when the TM might have reasonably been discussed as a competitor, when they used Carbon V, made them in the US/Japan etc.
Click to expand...

Carbon V and US/Japanese manufacture are almost irrelevant to the thoughness difference between Busses and TMs. JB has an engineering degree and is very quality focussed: I just can't imagine him permitting a squared-off transition at the worst possible place in the blade to make fracturing more likely. And Carbon V steel isn't a homonogenous steel like INFI, so even if comes close in longitudinal impact resistance (which it probably doesn't, very) it's far behind in transverse resistance. When people used to take TMs and Busses as being of similar quality it was because CS are the Bullshit Masters Of The Universe and because Busse hadn't had time to prove their quality based on actual use.
 
Thanks again meanwhile.

Radiused transitions were something I did think about.

You make a very strong case about the choil. Tbh, the reason it looks like that is because I'm still very much in progress, and in fact haven't had much time for it this week. But I probably will give it a similar choil to my team gemini

I meant I might taper the handle interms of spine thickness towardfs the end. I want to keep it as a full tang. I can't make it perfect for everything, I want to keep it as robust as possible. Even if I lose a scale it will still be a functioning handle

You're right about the carbon V. I know the actual steel wasn't anything special, but the heat treat was pretty good. Hopefully my A2 should be pretty decent :)
 
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