My own round knife thread

Salolan, I really like the "spin in" style of your round knife sheaths. No worries about retention at all.

Paul
 
Oh geez. I just saw the half stitch across the top after reading Pauls comment. That's exactly what I had planned, only with a possible strap on the open side.

Ya beat me. :)
 
Very clever Chris. Hadn't noticed till Paul pointed it out.
 
Thanks fellas. The roll in design seems to be working quite well. As thin as the blade stock is though I knew there would be issues with them being loose. Dave will get a kick out of what I lined them with to get a friction fit that holds them in place. :D

Chris
 
No, not quite that exotic. You'll laugh when you see it especially if you remember one of our conversations from about 6 months back! :rolleyes:

Chris
 
Hmm no, how about Dr Scholl's moleskin? Yep that is what it is. No really, Chris' two roundknives came in the mail yesterday for me to test drive some. Stopped to fuel the truck while on the way home from the PO and unboxed em. VERY NICE knives. And the spin out sheaths what an uber cool idea. It really works well. Took me a while to figuere out what the lining was. Got home and did some slicing and dicing on some scrap leather. Then closed up the shop. Was suppose to go play with a buddy's mechanical cow but was feeeling puny so couched it for the evening. Working on ten sheaths today so will use these knives in a pretty good workout.
 
Good deal. I'm glad they are going to get a workout. I told you that you were thinking too exotic though I do like the idea of hair on hide for lining. I think that would add a bit of retention as well and be a whole other level of professionalism. I am truly looking forward to hearing how they perform.

Chris
 
Hey Chris if ya get a chance give me a call in the morning. I'll be in the shop from 8:30 to about 10:30 am pst.
 
So I've used Chris' knives now for two days and wanted to report back my findings.

These are very good knives. I estimated to Chris that in use they are at least twice as good if not better than the commonly available roundknives. They cut well and skive even a little better. I did have a few suggestions that would make them even better and Chris asked that I share them here. I want to temper these suggestions by adding that these are based on how I work and what I like. Not everybody uses a roundknife the same.

1) I would like the edge thinner. When I first got the knives I held one up side by side with the one of mine I'm using right now. I was able to foucs on the edge of Chris's knife and not on mine. Now thats not very scientific so I dug around in my stuff and came up with a dial micrometer thingy. On the dial the first marking is .100 with ten tick marks prior. So maybe somebody better with decimals can tell us what this is but Chris' knife just behind the edge was 3 tick marks. The one I was using is not quite 1.5 tickmarks.

2) I would polish the edge more. There were visible teeth marks on the secondary bevel. These grab in leather and make you work harder than you need too. I did do that with my buffers and it made a big difference. I forget what grit Chris said he took these too but I like to go to at least 600 and most of the time 800 before polishing.

3) I would prefer the handle shorter. As you cut curves with a roundknife I drop the handle down towards the leather. This allows the point to become more acute and you can cut tighter curves. The handle bottomed out before I could fully engage the point. I had spoke with Chris about maybe rounding one of the points a little so that the blade "skated" a little better. I think now after another days use, I would work more on getting the point to handle ratio/geometry worked out. I would like to try the knife again with the shorter handle before altering the blade shape.

Really thats about it. For first efforts and not having a lot of experience with a roundkinfe Chris really nailed it. These are only suggestions I offer, they are already great knives. Fit and finish was excellent and the symetry of the points was stunning. They were a pleasure to look at, handle and use. Chris was worried he had burned the steel in post ht grinding but I don't think so. Edgeholding was great.
 
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Do you think going even thinner would be a mistake? I noticed that the vintage Craftool knife that you sharpened (and daaayum is it sharp!) is much thinner behind the edge than the knife you made me. I'll enjoy trying all three knives (gift, vintage and passaround) back to back to see for myself, just curious about what you think.

Chris man, you really have me wanting to give one of these knives a shot. Unfortunately my widest steel is 1.5". Maybe a skiver then, but the round knife really seems like a more usable tool. I especially like yours in buffalo horn.

What I'd really like to see is a "high tech" version of a round knife. Maybe cpm m4 and a g10, micarta, c-tek or cf handle? Hell, do a tapered tang, black paper bolsters and cf handle with garolite pins and a cf tube to hang it by. Cerakote the thing too.

Yeah, that would be sick...
 
Yeah I think there could be a point where the edge could be too thin. That one I gave you is the first one I ever made. It was too thick and I thinned it some. That made it cut much better than it did prior. It could still be thinner but its working pretty good. Its at 60rc the passaround is at 63rc. You should notice a distinct difference particularly in edge holding. I hadn't used that first one since I made that second batch.
 
Thank you Dave. I really appreciate your input.

1. Thinner. Check. Pretty self explanatory.
2. More polished edge. I had sharpened them to 400 grit and then used the leather belt. Here on out, I can and will take them to 600 and then use the buffer as you say you do.
3. According to our phone discussion, move the points forward 1/2" and shorten the handle at least 3/4". I know you said that yours all had offset handles, square to the points. Do you think the handle cant to one side like the 3 blade had would help position the tip for the tight cuts?
pic for reference... far right blade.
Ie5pPFP.jpg


Dave, I know the buffalo horned knife is considerably heavier with the bolsters. Do you feel one knife feels better to use than the other based on weight alone?

Anthony, check out Alpha Knife Supply. I think the piece of 13c26 steel for the 6 blanks I cut was only about $25 and would easily be enough for a couple skivers and a couple round knives. As for your tapered tang idea, you realize the thickness of my stock was .053" before I started. If you do try your own, please don't forget that the this stock is essential.

Thanks again fellas!
Chris
 
Yeah Chris that canted handle does look like it would give you room to drop the handle down while making the cuts. I would still shorten them though. I like the butt of the handle into the heel of my hand, but again that may be just how I'm use to using one. No I don't think one feels better than the other.
 
Anthony, the photo below is a CPM M4 blade made by the late Joe Kious and given to me as a gift. We were close friends.

Any way it cuts like a laser and hold the edge really well.

If a blade is thin enough to please me (about .0041) then it is too thin to start with to even consider a tapered tang. My preference is for the handles to be premium wood and no bolsters, however spacers are always nice for looks. Full tang or hidden tang, I have both styles and like them all.

Paul
 
You guys are totally right. The taper would be silly. Got carried away. :)

Paul, do you know the hardness on that? It's gorgeous, and what a great way to remember a friend.
 
Antony, its 62 HRC. This is per test in Joe's shop on his harness tester.

Paul
 
sheathmaker said:
Antony, its 62 HRC. This is per test in Joe's shop on his harness tester.

Paul
Click to expand...
Beautiful in every way. Thank you very much for sharing that knife Paul. 62 HRC would make for a great knife no doubt.

I find m4 to be my favorite steel. It sharpens easily, the edge retention is excellent and it can be maintained with a strop. Aside from corrosion resistance (who cares?) it has a fantastic set of qualities.

AEB-L may give my fav a run for its money considering everything I've read about it. I should know soon.
 
I had a package at the door today and it was my 2 knives that had been visiting Dave. He even packed in a couple pieces of scale material. Desert Ironwood I think?
Thank you Dave. I truly appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to try out my knives and then give feedback on how they performed. I would also like to thank everyone else who commented or gave feedback the last 6 months since I started designing these.

Thank you,
Chris
 
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