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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
OT: Satori's Poboy Spear (One Small Pic)
- Thread starter Dave Rishar
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2004
- Messages
- 3,178
I beat the hell out of this thing today. It didn't do badly.
After numerous thrusts, throws, and chops, my target piece of plywood is on its last legs. My stand also picked up a bit of damage. I probably don't even need to mention it, but it performed very well on beer cans too. My chopping needs some work though.
Besides the usual stuff, I gave it the HI inspection, which it passed. The only real damage that occured:
- Rolled edge from chopping on concrete.
- Head came loose from shaft. (I doubt it will ever come off again now.)
- Entire blade bent slightly to the right.
The tip, surprisingly, held up just fine. The rolled edge was easily repaired by ironing it out with a chakma and grinding off the rough spots with a file. It's not as sharp as it was NIB but it's sharp enough for its job. (If I change my mind on this, the belt sander is always ready and this steel sharpens extremely easily.) For the bent blade, I clamped it in the vise and applied my body weight to the shaft, a bit at a time, until it was more or less straight. While it was in the vise I proceeded to remove the retaining screw and wail on the butt of the shaft with a 5 lb. sledge. If I ever need to remove the head from the shaft again, I suspect that I'll have to cut the shaft and burn out the stub.
The verdict? Lousy knife (too soft, poor ergonomics) but decent head for a polearm and worth the money. I'm happy with it. If it were symmetrical and double edged, and a millimeter or two thicker, I'd be extremely happy with it but it probably wouldn't be $20 any more.
As a bonus, the do-it-yourself stores around here stock similar handles, sans finish but sanded smooth with a proper taper on the end, for three bucks and change. They look quite nice after applying some stain and spar urethane.
Next project, when I get around to it: removing what's left of that butt ugly paint job and going with a bare metal finish.
After numerous thrusts, throws, and chops, my target piece of plywood is on its last legs. My stand also picked up a bit of damage. I probably don't even need to mention it, but it performed very well on beer cans too. My chopping needs some work though.
Besides the usual stuff, I gave it the HI inspection, which it passed. The only real damage that occured:
- Rolled edge from chopping on concrete.
- Head came loose from shaft. (I doubt it will ever come off again now.)
- Entire blade bent slightly to the right.
The tip, surprisingly, held up just fine. The rolled edge was easily repaired by ironing it out with a chakma and grinding off the rough spots with a file. It's not as sharp as it was NIB but it's sharp enough for its job. (If I change my mind on this, the belt sander is always ready and this steel sharpens extremely easily.) For the bent blade, I clamped it in the vise and applied my body weight to the shaft, a bit at a time, until it was more or less straight. While it was in the vise I proceeded to remove the retaining screw and wail on the butt of the shaft with a 5 lb. sledge. If I ever need to remove the head from the shaft again, I suspect that I'll have to cut the shaft and burn out the stub.
The verdict? Lousy knife (too soft, poor ergonomics) but decent head for a polearm and worth the money. I'm happy with it. If it were symmetrical and double edged, and a millimeter or two thicker, I'd be extremely happy with it but it probably wouldn't be $20 any more.
As a bonus, the do-it-yourself stores around here stock similar handles, sans finish but sanded smooth with a proper taper on the end, for three bucks and change. They look quite nice after applying some stain and spar urethane.
Next project, when I get around to it: removing what's left of that butt ugly paint job and going with a bare metal finish.
- Joined
- May 18, 1999
- Messages
- 15,395
How about a close up of the bugs so we can see them better? I, for one, would like to see a pic of a beetle that could take on a pussy-cat.
One of my favorite bugs is the Rhineocerous Beetle. I bet some of them could make a bear yell if it bit him/her on the toe or a more sensitive area of their anatomy.
One of my favorite bugs is the Rhineocerous Beetle. I bet some of them could make a bear yell if it bit him/her on the toe or a more sensitive area of their anatomy.
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2004
- Messages
- 3,178
Beetle is shown with kagas katne for scale.
On my laptop, at 1024x768 resolution, this picture is almost exactly life sized. Although not evident in the picture, the top four "horns" curve downwards, while the larger lower horn curves upwards. I don't know if these bite or not - I hope not. I do know for a fact that I would not want to step on one of these barefooted.
Remind me about the other bugs in a few days and I'll post more pictures. I'm tight on space at the moment.