My interpretation of "Tactical Kitchen Knife"

A

AlexI

Joined
May 5, 1999
Messages
49
This post could as well be titled something like "poor man's TKK".
I liked the idea of TKK as discussed here at the bladeforums, but good custom knife is out of my price range.
On the other hand, I had a cheap but very functional CS "Scalping knife" (one of their "Green River" series). The blade is pretty much in keeping with the TKK concept: 1/8" thick, clean flat grind with distal taper, drop point, just a little longish at 7".
The biggest problem with it was the square uncomfortable handle of some simple wood. I got rid of the scales, reprofiled the tang and put burgundy dimondwood scales on. It looks good and feels very comfortable with the finger indentation, rudimentary self guard and rounded dropped butt.
The result is a comfortable, usefull knife in the spirit of TKK (at least so it seems to me), for something like $15! But now it begs me for a Kidex sheath, which I may eventually try to make - but the materials will cost more then the knife itself...


<p align="center">
tkk.jpg
</p>

In case if image didn't work, take a look here: http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Tower/1047/pics/tkk.jpg

Let me know what you think about this.

Alex.
 
Very nice looking knife. Very, very similar to my TTTKK from Trace Rinaldi. The handle looks like it should be extremely comfortable.

AJ
 
I'm impressed. I love it when someone does something really great on my type of budget. It's inspiring. Keep up the good work.
Paul

"Now where did I put that Green River knife I had?"
 
While I'll admit to being quite fond of my own TKK, I have to say that this is a great job! Heck, Trace should offer you a job!
smile.gif


------------------
Don LeHue

The pen is mightier than the sword...outside of arm's reach. Modify radius accordingly for rifle.


 
Great job! I bought one of the CS Scalping Knife blanks a long time ago, but haven't done anything with it yet. What did you use to grind in the index finger groove?

The only major divergence from my theory of what a TKK is, is the fact that the Scalper is fast-rusting uncoated Carbon V, and I lean strongly towards at least D-2 type rust resistance, if not more.

All in all, great job!

Joe
 
Thanks for all the nice comments!
Answers for Joe:
- I used a small sanding drum ($2) in a hand-held electric drill to grind finger grooves. Did the job in just a couple of minutes.
- the fact that CarbonV rusts does bother me a little. But I figured - what the heck, I will just let the blade darken and will take care to wipe it clean after use on food. Should be enough to keep it from rusting, and not too much of a problem considering low price and great edge holding and ease of sharpening. After all, men managed to use carbon steel knives for hundreds of years under field conditions!

Alex.
 
The fact that the whole damn thing only cost $15 to make, more than makes up for any problems with rust resistance! It's a great idea. I'm pretty sure Cold Steel no longer sells those Scalping Knives or the blanks. Is that true?


Joe
 
Nicely done, Alex. I've got an old yellow handled, three blade Schrade pocket knife (with gum stuck on the sheepsfoot). If I send it to you will you make me a Sebenza?
smile.gif


Jack
 
Great thread.
My "TKK" is one of those "Blackie Collins" machetes with the awful D handles and a 12" blade. I removed the abomination of a handle, did some reshaping of the tang, and then did a little careful localized annealing so I could drill holes in what had been the choil area. I installed black linen micarta scales with Loveless-type rivets that I made by tapping slices taken from a 3/8" carriage bolt. I also cleaned up the edge bevels by draw filing.

I now have an MHKK (mucking huge kitchen knife!) with a saber-ground, 11" blade that's 1/8" thick. It'll quarter a chicken in no time flat!

machete1a.jpg


[This message has been edited by Dirty Bob (edited 05 October 1999).]
 
AlexI, That’s an impressive modification of the inexpensive original knife. I think I have one of those, and your picture has inspired me to try a similar modification. I think I’ll keep the oak scales though. But I’ll sand them down and smooth them up. I’ve been using one of the similar models for several years in the kitchen. I reprofiled the edge and sanded the sharp edges off the scales. It is a good knife. When cooking, the most important part is to start with good ingredients. I think it is important in an endeavor of this sort also.

WBHK.jpg


The top knife in the photo is the knife I believe you started with. It can serve as a before picture to illustrate the skill of your transformation.

The bottom knife is an old butcher knife I found. When I first saw it the original scales were falling off, after many years of use. I took off the scales, and cleaned the knife up. Then I put on new scales, complete with a bump in the front to minimize the chance of “stubbing” accidents in field use. The TTKK uses a different approach to keeping the hand from sliding up the blade. I gave this knife to my son four years ago, and he has been using it since then. It is his “blackberry knife,” for use when he has to face the thorny thickets.

I didn’t know there were so many of us who liked to resurrect inexpensive kitchen blades. Do you think we could form a cult?


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Howard Wallace
Visit the Khukuri FAQ




[This message has been edited by Howard Wallace (edited 06 October 1999).]
 
Howard, thanks for posting the picture of an original CS Scalping knife. I was kicking myself for not taking a picture before I started modifying it. May I use this picture on my Web page to show both "before" and "after"?
As to the "resurrected kitchen knives cult" - this is an interesting proposition, but I tend to be EXTREMELY carefull about elevating any idea to a cult status. I guess the experiense of growing up in the former USSR made me apprehensive of ideas becoming cults... OK, winking face is in order here - but I don't know how to put it in. And I'm wondering off the knife topic anyway.

Alex.
 
AlexI,

You may use that photo. I apologize for the poor quality of the photograph. I took it last night in poor light. The blade on the CS knife appears black, although in reality it is shiny, similar to your finished blade.

My cult suggestion was tongue-in-cheek. I am also very wary of mobs, religious or political groups, and aggregates of people in general. I much prefer one-on-one relationships. People often seem to absolve themselves of moral responsibility when acting as a part of a group. When acting alone, a person who is wild in a group situation will often hold himself to a much higher standard of behavior.

To get a winking face type ";" and then ")" with no space in-between. Bladeforums will automatically turn it into a winking face.
wink.gif


------------------
Howard Wallace
Visit the Khukuri FAQ




[This message has been edited by Howard Wallace (edited 06 October 1999).]
 
How many of those type of knives did Cold Steel make ? I have one of the Hudson Bay butcher knives, a couple of the Red River elk skinners I guess they're called, and I've seen another Red River hunter. Were they a regular Cold Steel product for awhile or just a special project ?
 
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