One for you photo editors .

[tedwca]

It's actually an "S" with the top an bottom cut off by the highlights making it look like an "N"

I played with it in PS CS2 and used Smart Sharpen to bring it into better focus and Skyhawk is correct

 

[Sylvrfalcn]

It's good to know the Cantina has it's own "CSI" team.

Sarge

 

[Kevin the grey]

I appreciate both the effort and the technology . I,ll check out the idea . It is interesting due to the fact that on some level there must be speculation or at least some kind of randomness by the software . I doubt if randomness is a word I just can,t come up with a word that doesn,t bring thought into it .

There is a kind of mathematical rapport in nature . Aside from pattern there is form follows function and a plethora of other logical sequences that could come into play . Theorising is proabably way too strong a word to use for the next little while anyway . Let us settle on putting forth an idea ?

 

[jmings]

<snipakowski> I guess you get what you pay for.

Sarge

I beg to respectfully differ. You (generally, not personally) pay for what you get.

TANSTAAFL

On a personal note, I've not finished your order yet.
It's my wife's fault, honestly. Well that and heat waves, rain, jury duty. It's a conspiracy I tell you. I am sorry and hope to get back to sanding day after tommrow.

 

[Kevin the grey]

So, cheap junk, at a good price, is what, a bargain of some sort? Usually when I encounter knives of this "caliber", it's in the hands of rookies whose throwing skills are generally commensurate with their choice in equipment. Net result, I've more than once had to straighten out bent ones by laying them on the ground and stomping them with my boot. I guess you get what you pay for.
Sarge

Sarge someone walked off with my favourite set . They were made from tank armor . Ugly as sin and heavy as a guilty conscience . They threw great . One could take a right angle hit from the other without a visible scratch .

When we are at rendesvous there is an unwritten agreement that you could put your gear down and expect it to be there when you return . Anyone who admires your bow or other personal belongings might pick it up to admire it . Rarely would it go farther than that .

Your tent/Tipi/camp received similar respect . A pair of sticks crossed in front of your open doorway signified visitors would be welcome at another time .
While this practice seems to have gone by the wayside our rendesvous is generally families who know each other and are welcome in each others homes . We have hunted together , rely on each other for advice and often go to our Healer instead of a doctor .

The guy who made my knives lost his forge and trad skills center to bankruptcy . It will be a very long while before they are replaced .


I am looking at the Fort Turner throwing knife as a future alternative .

http://www.fortturner.com/store/throwingknives.gif

Those little knives (8,5 inches) are a compromise to be sure .Personally I think they will do for now . They seem well made . We all know a picture on the internet couldn,t lie . L:O:L
I also don,t agree buying knives from a source that may employ a maker who gets half a bowl of rice for their manufacture . Sometimes when I see a good deal I forget myself .

 

[Sylvrfalcn]

Kevin, my boringly predictable response to most knife problems is big old file and a grinder. Throwing knives are a dead cinch. Start with a 12-14" mill bastard file. Cut off the tang and round off that end. Now put a point on the other end, bowie shape or dagger shape, either will stick good. Round off all edges along the handle/blade until they're nice and smooth. If you like, you can grind the suggestion of an edge to the blade, but I'd recommend not bringing it all the way to sharp on a dedicated thrower. Any further grinding is up to you, you can grind off all the file teeth, but the improvement is only a cosmetic one. You can also do some shaping to the handle if you like, I generally keep mine parallel sided and slightly tapering toward the butt for a smoother release (NMLRA rules require that knives be thrown by their handles).
Now comes the critical component of this here venture, tempering. Put it in an oven, and gradually and incrementally increase the heat until your oxidation color change yields a light purple color. If you left the file teeth on, the place to check for color change is the edges you've ground off smooth, they should be shiny and clean going into the oven. When you get a light purple, turn off the heat and leave the thing alone to cool as slowly as possible. What you'll wind up with is a knife of high carbon spring steel, tough enough to stand up to throwing impacts, but still retaining enough hardness to keep a sharp point, and a pretty decent edge if you're thinking of making the knife pull double duty.
Handle treatments are to taste, and not even really necessary unless rules call for them. I've now made several large throwers, that have withstood considerable abuse from folks I've taught to throw, and none have so far broken, bent, or had any other problems. Files came from a swap meet for around fifty cents to a dollar. Have some fun and git 'r done. I might stash a stainless steel knife made in China in a tool box where nobody would see it. But dang if toting one around in public wouldn't play hell with my hard earned reputation.

Sarge

 

[Kevin the grey]

I might stash a stainless steel knife made in China in a tool box where nobody would see it. But dang if toting one around in public wouldn't play hell with my hard earned reputation. QUOTE Sarge .

Sarge you make me laugh . Its a good day for laughter .

Before I do what you advise don,t I have to anneal first ? I have a file given to me by a Cantina member. I was saving it to make a simple Seax . I think I will scare up a couple of others to do what you said .

Thats a good heads up on the handle throw only . I had no idea some competitions require handle only . I wonder if its a safety concern ?

 

[Sylvrfalcn]

I might stash a stainless steel knife made in China in a tool box where nobody would see it. But dang if toting one around in public wouldn't play hell with my hard earned reputation. QUOTE Sarge .

Sarge you make me laugh . Its a good day for laughter .

Before I do what you advise don,t I have to anneal first ? I have a file given to me by a Cantina member. I was saving it to make a simple Seax . I think I will scare up a couple of others to do what you said .

Thats a good heads up on the handle throw only . I had no idea some competitions require handle only . I wonder if its a safety concern ?

Negative, unless you have the means and know how to reharden and temper later (requires a forge large enough to accomadate a big blade, and a quench tank filled with old motor oil, etc.) DO NOT ANNEAL THE FILE. In fact, you should take pains to avoid overheating/burning the temper while grinding by dipping often in a bucket of water. Don't worry about it being full hard, a grinding wheel won't cut it as fast, but it will definitely cut it. Starting with a "brittle hard" blade, you can then use controlled heat (oven) to temper it down to wherever you want it. But, if you anneal that blade, you absolutely cannot reharden it unless you have access to a forge.

Regarding the handle only throw, yes, it's a safety thing. However, here's a side benefit for you. A large knife, designed to be thrown by the handle, is going to have a relatively heavy, "weight forward" blade. This yields throwing characteristics so similar to a light hawk, that I can throw either interchangeably without making any adjustment. Very handy when working on consistency/accuracy.

Sarge

 

[Kevin the grey]

Thanks you have cleared up a couple of misconceptions I,ve had for a while .

On a separate note do you think it is possible to hollw grind a brittle hard file with a grinder of some kind ? Or am I dreaming in color again ?

 

[Sylvrfalcn]

Thanks you have cleared up a couple of misconceptions I,ve had for a while .

On a separate note do you think it is possible to hollw grind a brittle hard file with a grinder of some kind ? Or am I dreaming in color again ?

If you have a good eye and a steady hand, you can hollow grind on an ordinary bench grinder. But, why would you want to? Research has proven that a convex grind is stronger than either a hollow grind, a sabre grind, or a flat grind. A fairly in-depth article in Blade magazine (IIRC) covered that very topic. IMHO, hollow grind is good for straight razors, period, dot. You couldn't give me a knife with that grind profile, it's simply not an efficient use of steel. There's plenty that will disagree with me, but thankfully, I'm not stuck with having to use their choice in cutting tools. I know what really works, and that's what I really use.

Sarge

 

[Bri in Chi]

Is this group of folks great, or what?