Question and Answer Thread

Chris, has the amount of knives you've sold increased every year? If so, do you expect steady growth? How much has the "bushcraft/survival" trend helped the knife business in the last few years?

For the first few years the number that I sold did increase each year.
The last 2 years though my production has been down so I have not sold quite as many knives.
I am hoping that will change in the years to come.
Once I get more kids in school I should be able to increase production.

I honestly do not feel that the Bushcraft or Survival trend has affected my sales at all.
I do not make many knives that fit into those genre's due to my thin edges and for the fact that I openly despise batoning.
 
I openly despise batoning.

Me too! I have one knife that I bought to feed a small woodstove and to see what the whole batoning thing was about, and I can't stand it. I need to sell that knife because it is too big to use for much else. I own several other knives with really good designs, but for me, they are not as functional as they could be because the blade is too thick behind the edge. My knife use is probably 90% slicing, and I find it difficult to find knives with a thin profile outside of boning/fillet knives. Your thin edge geometry, high-wear steel philosophy is right in line with what I want out of a knife.
 
Me too! I have one knife that I bought to feed a small woodstove and to see what the whole batoning thing was about, and I can't stand it. I need to sell that knife because it is too big to use for much else. I own several other knives with really good designs, but for me, they are not as functional as they could be because the blade is too thick behind the edge. My knife use is probably 90% slicing, and I find it difficult to find knives with a thin profile outside of boning/fillet knives. Your thin edge geometry, high-wear steel philosophy is right in line with what I want out of a knife.

You are in the right sub-forum then.

Thin and High Performing knives is the majority of I do.
 
Use your THIN THIN THIN Big Chris knife to carve a wedge... Then slam that into a log to split it.

By the way, the modern Nessmuk is ridiculously thin. Man oh man, this knife is the pinnacle of a slicer.
 
You are in the right sub-forum then.

Thin and High Performing knives is the majority of I do.

So I see. I'm looking forward to the bird and trout we discussed on facebook, and then perhaps some other designs in the future.
 
Honestly, I wish that the first thought in peoples mind when they heard my name would be for chef and kitchen knives.

I found this to be the most interesting quote. In retrospect, considering your beautiful tapers and thin grinds, it makes sense.
One possible downside to making kitchen knives - at least for me personally as an end-user - I tend to be pickier about the handle feel, the balance, the little details so to speak, than with my outdoor knives. Not sure if this translates into more headaches for the knifemaker...:D

I will keep an eye out for your winter offerings for sure! And I would second the idea of a kitchen knife group buy. What a way to get a bunch of kitchen knives out there and generate some buzz.
 
Hi Chris; I have admired your work and was wondering how to purchase. I visited your site and I have seen some of your work here on the Forum's Knifemaker Sales threads. Do you take custom orders like the profile shapes I saw on your website b/c I could use a Big Chris 3V blade or two in the repetoire!
 
I found this to be the most interesting quote. In retrospect, considering your beautiful tapers and thin grinds, it makes sense.
One possible downside to making kitchen knives - at least for me personally as an end-user - I tend to be pickier about the handle feel, the balance, the little details so to speak, than with my outdoor knives. Not sure if this translates into more headaches for the knifemaker...:D

I will keep an eye out for your winter offerings for sure! And I would second the idea of a kitchen knife group buy. What a way to get a bunch of kitchen knives out there and generate some buzz.

I really enjoy making knives and there is rarely a knife that I make that I would not be proud to wear myself.

However, I get a more of a feeling of pride or accomplishment from finishing and selling a kitchen knife.
Something about knowing/hoping that knife will be used on a regular basis to feed a family.

Not saying that we do not use our other knives, I just like to think we use our "kitchen" knives more regularly.

A chef knife group buy could become a reality.
The more I think about it and hear/read it the more I like the idea.
 
Hi Chris; I have admired your work and was wondering how to purchase. I visited your site and I have seen some of your work here on the Forum's Knifemaker Sales threads. Do you take custom orders like the profile shapes I saw on your website b/c I could use a Big Chris 3V blade or two in the repetoire!

I am still not accepting new custom orders yet.
I have a couple more to finish and get out of the shop.
Hopefully sometime next year I will be able to accept a few custom orders.

A lot of the knives on my website are no longer made or the pattern is out of date.
The website is really just a placeholder for BigChrisCustomKnives.Com at this point.

I have a very few 3V blades left at this time.
If you want to wait they will be posted here eventually, or you could email me.

There is also the Currently Available thread stickied at the top of my sub-forum where you can find what I have on hand.
 
Use your THIN THIN THIN Big Chris knife to carve a wedge... Then slam that into a log to split it.

By the way, the modern Nessmuk is ridiculously thin. Man oh man, this knife is the pinnacle of a slicer.

I was thinking just the same about how I like the thin edge on my 1/16 01 hunter. Here are a couple of pics

image.jpg

image.jpg
 
Chris can you tell us a little about the steels you use and their strengths and weaknesses? I for one, am still a bit ignorant when I comes to the "why" of all the different steels. Also, what do you think of 80crv2? I've seen it in a lot of custom made knives but I've never really seen anyone break it down.
 
Chris can you tell us a little about the steels you use and their strengths and weaknesses? I for one, am still a bit ignorant when I comes to the "why" of all the different steels. Also, what do you think of 80crv2? I've seen it in a lot of custom made knives but I've never really seen anyone break it down.

Very good suggestion!
 
Chris, most of my questions have been answered over the last two years that I have asked you in learning about knives so you have greatly influenced my philosophy about knives and I can say I am proud it was YOU who has shaped my philosophy after talking to MANY MORE makers as well in that time period. I have a two part question I do want to ask. How many times do you typically temper your blades and what is the reasoning behind the amount of times you choose to temper those blades? I have heard that tempering blades more times can effect the grain size and edge retention. We know from Jim's testing that the hardness in two blades may be equal and the retention be vastly different. In your experience besides getting into geometry and other variables how much does the tempering play a role in the "right" heat treat for a given steel in edge retention? Thank you.


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Chris can you tell us a little about the steels you use and their strengths and weaknesses? I for one, am still a bit ignorant when I comes to the "why" of all the different steels. Also, what do you think of 80crv2? I've seen it in a lot of custom made knives but I've never really seen anyone break it down.

Sorry I have been away from this for so long.
I have a bad habit of letting my attention waver.

There are a couple qualities that the steels I use have in common with one another.
I prefer Crucible Powder Steels, especially the ones loaded with Vanadium.
I like Crucible Steel because they are made with a larger powder mesh which translates to larger sized carbides.
This is what gives that saw-tooth feel when cutting.
- It is also the reason I am not a fan of AEB-L or ELMAX.
- Both are great steels but they do not give me that toothy feedback when cutting that I really like.

I, personally, still find 10V the King of edge holding.
I have used 10V for every knife and cutting use short of a large camp chopper or machete.
I have not chipped a 10V knife yet either, and that is with chopping and batonning.
- There is the possibility of a 10V Camp Knife coming in the future.

S90V, IMO, is the best choice for a high end high wear stainless.
It does not have the best edge holding or the best stain resistance, but it has good balance of properties.
S90V is cheaper than S110V or S125V and is much easier to machine, which translates to a less expensive knife.

Long lasting edge holding and high efficiency cutting performance is ultimately what I'm after.
To achieve this most efficiently you need the high alloy steels at higher hardness to withstand the thinner edge geometry.

I have not used 80CRV2.
I have used some 1084 and 52100 and have been quite pleased with both.
I especially like the fine edges I was able to obtain with 52100.

Let me know if this has helped or if it muddied the waters even more.
I can try to better clarify if needed.
 
Chris, you say you like the larger carbides and the toothy edge of some steels, have you used d2 and what are your opinions of it as an overall user?
 
Chris, you say you like the larger carbides and the toothy edge of some steels, have you used d2 and what are your opinions of it as an overall user?

I did use a little D2 when I first started to make some small wood carving knives.
It is a fine steel with it's place.

However, the large carbides I am talking about in PM steels do not compare to the gigantic carbides in D2.
They are like the size difference between Rhode Island and Texas.

In my experience, when D2 is ran with very thin edges it has issues with edge stability.

Now for a D2 option I prefer PSF 27 or XHP for a full stainless version.
 
Chris,
You have said you like to use steel's loaded with vanadium so my question is have you made a knife
In CPM REX 121 ? if not do you have any plans on
Using it in the future? Also what are your thoughts
On this particular steel ? Thanks for your time and answering our questions

Frank
 
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