Penetrator

richstag

richstag

Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Messages
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I got bored today and decided to figure out how to make a penetrator tip. I have no Busse knives with the penetrator tip but I have seen a few pictures. Don't mind the old D2 Kabar that has been used for practice many other times... I used the HF belt sander. Not sure if it is good for this and suggestions are welcome.

Anyhow, anyone do this themselves and have some pointers? I am putting this in here because I would like to add this to one of my ASH blades. It will probably be a few years before I attempt it so don't worry:D

Here is what I came up with....Not to happy with it....

Penetrator.jpg


Thanks again everyone:)
 
I've never heard of anyone doing it themselves. I've seen pictures of a lot of Busse blades that came with penetrator tips from the shop though.
 
I wouldn't use a belt sander if I was looking to put a penetrator tip on my blades, not until I had a lot of experience. It just removes too much metal too quickly.

I think if you used a file then that would allow you a lot more control. I imagine some sort of home made Edge Pro rig/set up. That would allow consistency to the grind and make it easier to have a symmetrical penetrator tip.

Good luck with this mod, i'll certainly be watching with interest.
 
I am fairly confident I can put a symmetrical penetrator with a belt sander. I had not thought of a file though. That might be a much better idea and also give me a flat surface. I really don't think a belt sander is the right tool BTW.

I remember a guy I used to work with, who grew up on an island, told me that my convexed machete was nothing. He said they would sharpen them almost flat with a file.

Maybe Rolf is right...
 
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I don't see anything wrong with the penetrator you did for practice. using a belt sander will likely void your Busse Lifetime Warranty but if you do a reasonably sized penetrator with a file it'll likely be less of a problem. Check first though!
 
Phill Hartsfield showed my how to make a point that penetrates...even on a fat blade.
 
The small PP on Busse and SR seem to me to be of a styling feature than a useful thing. YMMV.

I would agree that a file or a coarse diamond stone might be a more controllable way to do one yourself.
 
FWIW, I had a Penetrator Point on my PD. I asked Garth to put a Double Ridge on the spine and the PP blended right in with the point. ;)
 
you know something, most of the penetrator tips I have seen are on FFBM, but you gotta think most of them are for chopping and not for stabbing, so what's the tip for except to push into a tree to take picts :)
 
I did my SOD back in January
(I know, it's not quite a "tip" modification, but very similar in function.)

IMG_7180.jpg

IMG_7182.jpg


When punching holes in aluminum cans I can definitely tell that it goes in easier, even compared to much smaller blades. The back edge isn't shaving sharp or anything crazy like that (though with a bit of stropping it could be), but it does the job.
I'm 90% happy with the job I did. There are a few spots where I wish I had been a little more careful, but the grind is very well centered, and I wasted virtually no steel (the blade outline is the same on both knives).

The biggest problem is that it's a coated blade. If I were to do anything like this again, I would strip the whole blade first (an option I'm still considering).
Take it slow, have a big bucket of water at your feet, and be paranoid every time that blade goes anywhere near the belt sander.

Having duplicates of the knife makes it a little less painful.:o
Thankfully I've seen at least one custom from Jerry that has this kind of grind on a coated blade, which helps a lot in legitimizing it.
 
Lycosa said:
Bro--- Just do a traditional point. You don't need a PP.
Click to expand...

Lol! Think about it.;):D

Richstag, I think that tip looks great, the edge looks nice as well.:thumbup: Do you have a spine shot?
 
Oh, I should mention that I specifically bought a full set of belts (30") to do that job, from Blue Zircona 80 grit up to 600 grit. It makes finishing a lot easier. The final finish was applied with benchstones (some 2,000 grit sandpaper would probably look better though).
 
Joshua J. said:
I did my SOD back in January
(I know, it's not quite a "tip" modification, but very similar in function.)

IMG_7180.jpg

IMG_7182.jpg


When punching holes in aluminum cans I can definitely tell that it goes in easier, even compared to much smaller blades. The back edge isn't shaving sharp or anything crazy like that (though with a bit of stropping it could be), but it does the job.
I'm 90% happy with the job I did. There are a few spots where I wish I had been a little more careful, but the grind is very well centered, and I wasted virtually no steel (the blade outline is the same on both knives).

The biggest problem is that it's a coated blade. If I were to do anything like this again, I would strip the whole blade first (an option I'm still considering).
Take it slow, have a big bucket of water at your feet, and be paranoid every time that blade goes anywhere near the belt sander.

Having duplicates of the knife makes it a little less painful.:o
Thankfully I've seen at least one custom from Jerry that has this kind of grind on a coated blade, which helps a lot in legitimizing it.
Click to expand...

Wow! I give you a lot of credit for that. I considered doing this to a dog father with the same black coating. I have two of them... so... How did you assure that the edge was centered? I even considered doing that, and then adding teeth using a cone shaped grinding tip on my dremel. Yeah yeah... I'm sure theres a 98% chance I'll screw up the blade, but whatever.

Oh- also, why would a non coated blade be better?
 
Go easy when grinding, that HF grinder goes much faster than a knife belt grinder. Your grinding heat treated metal, if you get it over 400 degrees you blow the heat treating.
 
Yeah, a spine shot....about that....

I tried with my good camera earlier and could not get anything decent.

Just tried again with a point and shoot with macro setting...

This is the best I can get. Very thin spine.

L1010911.jpg


Cropped

spineshot.jpg


First try...Go easy:o
 
About the heat, the way I work I have my finger right on the edge for most of the length of the blade on the opposite side to be grinded. So, I can feel, with bare hands, how hot the actual edge is. Thank you for the warning!

Joshua J. - Thanks for sharing! Looks great!
 
adrock1978 said:
Wow! I give you a lot of credit for that. I considered doing this to a dog father with the same black coating. I have two of them... so... How did you assure that the edge was centered? I even considered doing that, and then adding teeth using a cone shaped grinding tip on my dremel. Yeah yeah... I'm sure theres a 98% chance I'll screw up the blade, but whatever.

Oh- also, why would a non coated blade be better?
Click to expand...

I measured out the half thickness point with a ruler (a good steel one) to get an approximate measurement, scratched that in with a pencil, then once the rough grinding was done you go a little slower and just go by eye (make sure you know what angle you want before you start. That's the kind of thing that's hard to adjust after the fact).
Don't get in the habit of looking for straight edges though, nearly all my production folders are ground uneven. Noticing it can get annoying.

Modding an uncoated blade would be better simply because it would look better. You'll notice my grind stops abruptly where the blade spine straightens out, if it were uncoated I could have gone all the way and had a nice smooth transition. the problem with doing that right now is it would leave a funny bald patch on the spine.
Also, the end product wouldn't advertise "this knife has been modified to stab things".

richstag said:
About the heat, the way I work I have my finger right on the edge for most of the length of the blade on the opposite side to be grinded. So, I can feel, with bare hands, how hot the actual edge is. Thank you for the warning!

Joshua J. - Thanks for sharing! Looks great!
Click to expand...

Yup, I keep a finger on the blade as well. I got all my practice re-profiling small folders.
 
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