Neil Blackwood small Hawkbill

Cliff Stamp

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I have wanted to use a decent Hawkbill for some time and after seening the shot Neil has on his webpage I ordered one shortly after. I specified a different color for the handle as I wanted something striking. I planned to use it as a daily carry knife so I wanted the handle to make an impact and hopefully reduce the "weapon" printing which is how a lot of people react. I also wanted to reduce the blade length a little for similar reasons. This was the end result :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/images/blackwood_hawk.jpg

Here are some comments after a couple of days work :

I spent some time cutting various materials, weeds, cardboard and other light work with the Hawkbill and a light utility knife that Mel Sorg made me awhile back. In many situations the power of the curve on the Hawkbill was readily evident. Of course on weeds and such this is a common shape so there is no surprise that it excelled for that type of thing.

However what was interesting was that the Hawkbill proved to be a very strong cutting tool on things like whittling wood. I could use a lot of force on the cutting stroke and the curve kept the blade from slipping out of the wood. This meant that the cuts could go very deep and thus I would require less strokes to remove a given amount of material. The same feature made pull cutting rope very easy.

As well the very low and narrow point was very useful for a lot of precise work such as opening boxes and dismantling them by running along seams. There was an obvious disadvantge in terms of prying or digging with the point because of its position in relation to the handle and the narrow width.

The most obvious disadvantge in terms of overall function cutting wise is on deep slices through thick material, fibreglass batting for example. On this kind of material you want a straight edge, any curves just increase the resistance of the cut.

Throughout all of this I was pleased with how the knife performed, the edge is fairly acute (15 degrees or so I would estimate), and the handle is very comfortable (at least or more so that my Phil Wilson blade, enough to make me actually think about which one is better which I have not done in awhile anyway).

The only real downside is that the G10 is a little slippery, it is fine with clean handle so I can get a secure grip but if my grip was sweaty or otherwise compromised there might be a problem.

In terms of fit and finish, the edge came push shaving sharp over the entire curvature. I checked it with a 10x scope as Neil has mentioned several times that he inspects each edge carefully - this one was evenly ground the whole length. The scales fit perfectly flush and even and the finish of the blade surface looks fine to me - but that aspect makes little difference to me so it would have to be covered with deep scratches for me to even notice it (and it wouldn't make any difference then).

Anyway, I definately look forward to doing more work with this blade. Neil was easy to contact by email, prompt in his responces and delivered the blade on time.


-Cliff



[This message has been edited by Cliff Stamp (edited 09-04-2000).]
 
Cliff,
Phew......Sending a little knife to Cliff Stamp........
eek.gif

I envisioned chains, etc, etc,
smile.gif


As I mentioned in my Email, the knife generated some interest here on the forum, I made a few changes to the the profile and grind slightly, after handling your finished knife. I will be glad to exchange the one you have for a newer version once I can show you some pictures of it.
The changes include thumb serrations, a higher blade profile and higher grind lines.
I have two more blanks ready to finish, once I finish one, I WILL take some pictures of it!!
Thanks for the review, I greatly appreciate it.
Neil


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Knives IN STOCK!!!!

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Some Things That Would Frighten me:

**Coming home from work and seeing Mike Wallace at my door from 60 minutes

**Actually buying a pair of bell bottom jeans since it would be easier to hike them up to test the shaving ability of my Blackwood Lite Wave.

**Being a knife maker and answering the phone and hearing, "Hi, this is Cliff from Canada, I want to order one of your knives for a little testing I have been thinking of.....I promis I'll publish the results"
smile.gif


**Having my wife give me an ultimative: "It's either me or those knives!" Uh...I'm not really going to answer that question.

I have the greatest amount of respect for these two gentleman. I have learned a lot from both.

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~Greg Mete~
Kodiak Alaska
 
Cliff- after I saw your first post about having Neil make a small Hawksbill I went ahead and ordered one also. Mine has the rare green rag Micarta scales. I wasn't sure how functional this blade shape would be, but it turns out to be great for a lot of daily cutting tasks. I don't have much experience with Kydex, but IMHO the sheath is first rate also. And, yes, Neil was a great guy to deal with!
 
Greg,
I have this mental picture of you hiking up those bell bottoms in the Alaska wilderness.......Nevermind
biggrin.gif

Glad you like the LiteWave!!!
Richard,
Thanks! I realy like that Green Rag Micarta. It's not the easiest stuff to finish but it looks WILD!! I no longer have one of my own knives to carry. As I have mentioned before, this is an on going problem for me, especially with hunting season aproaching. The next knife I make for MYSELF will have Rag Micarta and a Mosaic pin or two and some filework. I need another "floor model"!!
Neil

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Knives IN STOCK!!!!

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Neil,
That Lite Wave cuts exceptionally....why, I could shave the nutz of a nat with that thing.

As far as the bell bottoms go, I may have to dig out my old polyester leisure suit from the Saturday Night Fever period of my life.

smile.gif


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~Greg Mete~
Kodiak Alaska
 
Neil :

I envisioned chains, etc, etc,

That's next week. The changes sound interesting, but this one is a keeper, I look forward to the pictures though.

Richard :

I wasn't sure how functional this blade shape would be, but it turns out to be great for a lot of daily cutting tasks.

Exactly my viewpoint as well. I ordered it primarily as an experiment, it has proven itself to be a very functional shape for normal daily uses. I am now thinking of a stockman with a Hawkbill, Wharncliff and maybe spearpoint blades.

For example I recently had to replace a lot of rubber tubing fittings and they were quite old and thus very attached to the metal tubing they were on. Pulling them off was not an option so I had to cut them off. With blades with high points you have to use the belly to do the split and glances off of the metal can flatten a section of blade which can be annoying. With the Hawkbill the only part of the blade that touches the metal is the very top so I can haul it quickly along the tubing with no concerns about blunting.

Speaking of "custom", I measured my hand span and Neil made the grip to fit - which it does exactly, how is that for made to order. The sheath retains the blade well. Securing it is non-trivial because of the blade curvature, but I would assume this will become second nature after awhile.

The only real downside is that most people have a very strong "weapon" reaction to it. The hooked blade just seems "evil", odd reaction I know, but it is what it is. The best shape I have found for using around non-knife people is the Sheepsfoot. It seems to be the least threatening - unfortunately the lack of a strong penetrating point lowers the overall functionality too much for me. I prefer a Wharncliff but that prints almost as bad as a Hawkbill to most people - go figure.


-Cliff
 
Cliff- sure have to agree about people's reaction to that blade shape! And, yes, they react the same to Wharncliff's (which is one of my favorites). My knife has one of the changes Neil mentioned- the thumb grooves on the spine. IMHO, these were well done. Not the least bit uncomfortable and provides excellent traction for thumb or forefinger.
 
Neil,
That is a great looking knife. I ahve found that peoples reaction to a hawkbill (G10 Harpy) or S-Curve (Civilian) is always the same "That is wicked!!!)
Ironic since the hawkbill is very useful for line cutting and has a lower potential for penetration lethality.
Be safe,
Chad

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"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
George Orwell
"Those who hold the thin blue line keep order, and insure that anarchy and chaos will not prevail."
Chad
 
Originally posted by chad234:
I have found that peoples reaction to a hawkbill (G10 Harpy) or S-Curve (Civilian) is always the same "That is wicked!!!)
Ironic since the hawkbill is very useful for line cutting and has a lower potential for penetration lethality.

Hmmmm... not sure about that. From what I've read, a hawkbill, once it is cutting flesh, tends to induce deeper wound channels. There was a thread about it over on either "Practical Tactical " or "Common Sense Street Defense" sometime last week. And I've heard that the old Case Hawkbills were favorites in old bar fights, before the invention of the "tactical folder"
wink.gif
. That is a purrrrty knife, though, for whatever it might be used for.

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iktomi
 
If you are not a skilled knife user then a hawkbill is probably more dangerous as wild slashes are common and on a slash a hawkbill can sink to the depth of its curvature whereas a straight blade will penetrate much less. In addition a hawkbill tends to rip flesh apart whereas a straight blade will make a much cleaner cut. However a stab, or even a slice from someone who knows how to cut with a straight blade and thus presses into the cut as well as pulls it alone, can easily go deeper than the curvature of a hawkbill.

On a less bloody note, in the above picture see the area at the end of the primary grind where this is light reflecting from the blade. That is the transition from 1/8" stock to the sabre flat grind. Out of all the custom knives I have seen, Neil has easily done the equal of any and better than most. The transion is very smooth, and even the top of the primary grind curves nicely before it runs down to the blade.

I think that maybe it is the animal claws similarity that creates the "fear" . I would be interested to see how many people who have an adverse reaction specifically to Hawkbills are fearfull of dogs and such. The people with farming experience just look at it like a small sickle.


In terms of function smooth flowing transitions like these enhance strength as sharp corners and abrupt angles will creates regions of high stress. While it is obviously not of extreme importance on a knife of this function, I was very pleased to see the attention to detail for perfectionists sake - as well as stress risors just look very ugly to me (because of the implied lack of functionality).

-Cliff

[This message has been edited by Cliff Stamp (edited 09-07-2000).]
 
Originally posted by Cliff Stamp:
If you are not a skilled knife user then a hawkbill is probably more dangerous as wild slashes are common and on a slash a hawkbill can sink to the depth of its curvature whereas a straight blade will penetrate much less. In addition a hawkbill tends to rip flesh apart whereas a straight blade will make a much cleaner cut. However a stab, or even a slice from someone who knows how to cut with a straight blade and thus presses into the cut as well as pulls it alone, can easily go deeper than the curvature of a hawkbill.

I could believe that; I don't have any experience with either in that manner. Just know that from what I've ever read and heard, only butcher/kitchen knives are used by bad guys, and only hawkbills (non-locking sod-buster type) are used in "self defense". Heck, from what I've ever read in the news, or heard of personally, no one really does need anything other than an old Case sod-buster type hawkbill for self defense....
confused.gif
now that I think about it....

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iktomi
 
Cliff,
As a full time tool maker, I have ruined my share of punches, dies and other tooling do to stress cracks. NOTHING provides a worse feeling than working on a complex die for several days OR LONGER and noticing a crack after heat treat
frown.gif

Tool steel in knife blade thicknesses is less likely to crack than most of the machine tooling I make, however I do my best to take that into consideration with my knives. Models like my LiteWave with the many holes curves and angles get special attention prior to heat treat!! Any sharp edges are broken and holes are countersunk AND deburred. A .010" chamfer may be all it takes to prevent a crack!!

Hawkbills, design, slashing, grip, etc.....
When I first started to make the Hawkbills, I tested them on old 3D deer targets. The first thing that I found was that the grip HAD to be good enough to retain the knife under full force slashes!! On my earliest designs, burrying the blade full depth in the fake deer material gave some scarry first results
eek.gif
This is how the "semi-hooked" handle shape came about. Once I came up with the right amount of "reverse blade retention" the results were consistantly DEVISTATING!!
Being a knifemaker and not a knifefighter, I will leave it at that!! I bought the the Spyderco Civilian video about 3 months ago and havn't had time to watch it yet!!!!
Neil


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Knives IN STOCK!!!!

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Neil, concerning the necessary grip retention, yes, I noticed this immediately after doing some carving. It was readily apparent that I could do full force slices without the blade slipping out of the wood as of course it could not ride up along the recurve, this allowed a much greater force to be used than on blades where the curvature is the opposite, the upturned point common on skinners being the extreme example.

An an update, I have been using this as my daily work knife now for the last while and the results have been positive. The only real downside so far has been in regards to food preperation, which is kind of expected.

Sharpening has been infrequent, just some stropping mainly and once light session on an 800 grit ceramic rod (1 stroke per side), has been all that is necessary to keep the blade shaving sharp. I would conclude that the edge retention is far above the common production grade AUS-8A common in folders, to be expected obviously. I'll do more controlled comparisions to see how it compares to some of the higher end blades I have later on.

I refinished the handle with some 220 grit SiC sandpaper. It slightly dulled the finish but left it rougher which gives a more secure grip.

-Cliff
 
Cliff,
Thanks for the update! I just finished another full size Hawkbill with the same blue handle material as on yours. I polished the G10, then sandblasted a design on it. The sandblasted area is quite deep and provides great grip.
This is something I hope to do more of with my folders.
Neil

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