my big ugly hackin' knife

Jason Magruder

Jason Magruder

Joined
Mar 27, 2004
Messages
570
Looking at Mark Williams turkey slayer I thought it was really cool if just a little undersized for the job. So I thought I'd post a picture of what a REAL big knife should look like. :D
This was supposed to be a fancy bowie with damascus S guard and carved handle but a camping trip the day after I heat treated it ruined all that :D I knocked the scale off with 36grit belt, slapped a couple slabs of osb on the sides and went out to do some "field testing" I had so much fun I decided to keep it around.




specs:
1/4" 1080
water quenched with clay backing (not that it matters with a 36g finish :rolleyes:)
oal 24"
blade 18"
1 5/8" at widest point
full flat grind with distal taper
OSB handle scales tied on with shoestrings. can you say Ghetto :)
Clear plexiglass belt sheath Not shown


This thing cuts like mad!
 

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:eek: Very big :D (hints of a Zombie whacker???) it looks like it curves down, i thought water made it curve upward. but i bet that curve helps with choping :D What is OSB handle meaterial? :confused: what grit are you going to polish it to?
 
Yeah it curves down. Before quench the tip was about 1/4" lower:)
OSB = Oriented Strand Board a cheap plywood substitute
I doubt I will ever do any more work on this knife but for the occasional resharpening. I cannibalized the guard to make a neck knife. Besides, it is really handy. I keep it in my car for clearing brush at work and cutting tree roots while digging. I also use it to mow my lawn since I don't have a weed whacker :D
 
Hell, that aint no knife, thats a SWORD

Your starting to sound like IG, Higgy.

It's a very moderate sized using knife. I'll bet he gets a lot of use too. Nothing like a moderate sized user for yard work! :eek:
 
I cant go too much bigger. I need to get my 48" tempering oven made THEN I'll show you a knife he he he. Nice one Jason. Clean it up and etch it so we can see some metal.
 
I can't go any bigger at all. I never even thought about trying to temper it until I pulled it out of the quench and it didn't fit in my oven :eek: I had to take out the racks and run this thing from the bottom corner to the opposite top corner and it still barely fit :cool: For that matter I didn't think about quenching it until I had the forge all warmed up and realised it wouldn't fit in my bucket of oil. That's why it was water quenched :D
 
There's an old trick for tempering the long stuff. You have to have a thermometer, a hotplate and stovepipe and end cap.

Drill three holes in the side of the stovepipe. You can connect sections to make it as long as you like. The first hole goes through both sides near the top and you insert a steel rod to hang your work from. The second goes near that and the third goes a little less than halfway up.

The second is where you stick your thermometer for the top. This should be the hottest area so hang the work by the tang.

The third hole is to get the lower temps so you can average it out. To be honest there is very little difference between the top and bottom once the thing heats up so you can omit the third hole if you want.

Cap the top and set the bottom on a hotplate.

Adjust the thermostat until you get the desired internal temperature.

Temper your sword.

I find yard sale hotplates all the time for a buck so your cost for the entire thing is under $15.00.

BTW, this setup also works well to bake on paint like Brownells Baking Moly!
 
Ol' Don is pretty dang sharp, for sure. I haven't figured anything he can't do, really. Pretty neat idea with the stovepipe and hotplate. Jason, if you wear a hockey mask and go out in the yard with that big knife, you would really excite yout neighbors!
 
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