- Joined
- Jun 23, 1999
- Messages
- 1,209
I recently bought <a href="http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~echang/ebony.jpg" target="_blank">this heavy hunter</a> from Eric Chang. As Eric tells it, this is one of his first experiments with high-polish. I intend it very much to be a user, so slight imperfections in the buff didn't concern me as Eric made the price very attractive.
The knife is a little over 9" OAL, with the blade proper being 4.25" long. The stock is 5/32" thick, but the blade is a little over 1.25" wide and the very smooth flat primary grind gets the blade down to only .014" thick right behind the secondary bevel! This is thinner than my Hocho! Eric's secondary bevel was a little steep so I thinned it out to about 18 deg. per side. Handle is Ebony. Not exactly stabilized (as in plasticized), but treated with something called Deft which soaks in a bit to seal the wood but otherwise leaves it pretty natural looking and feeling.
This is a heavy knife for its size weighing in at 8 ounces! My <a href="http://www.quine.home.sonic.net/mwknife.html" target="_blank">Wesolowski hunter</a> which is only 1/4" shorter in OAL weighs only 4oz! I've put Eric's blade to some simple work around the farm here, and it does very well at most everything. Not exactly a chopper, it can chop in a pinch (which is something the Wesolowski can not do). With its thinned secondary edge it melts through hemp rope almost as fast as my Dozier K1 or Master Hunter. It shaves wood better than any other knife I have other than the Dozier Master Hunter, and it does a fine job dismembering chicken or slicing vegetables. I've used it on thick cardboard, hose, slicing thin slabs of alfalfa from bales, and batoned it through some 2" sticks to make smaller kindling. It seems to do it all just fine. The simple handle is very comfortable. Its balance point is right at the first-finger where the groove is.
The knife also came with a simple but nice leather sheath. The leather is a natural blond-brown, thick, and well sewn. Also wet formed around the hilt and handle covering all but the last 3/4" or so of the handle. This makes it pretty secure for vertical carry without needing a strap, but the knife is consequently a little hard to draw since you can only get one finger around the handle to start off.
All in all, this is the first hunter-sized knife I've owned whose heft pushes it toward the camp knife arena. Although heavy, it is still 2oz lighter (and 1" shorter blade) than my Livesay AA which has been my primary camp knife for a couple of years now. I do believe that I will try Eric's knife in this role for now. While an inch shorter than I usually like in a camp knife, this blade seems to have the heft I like in an all-purpose camping blade (provided I have a light saw).
I hope Eric becomes a famous knife maker some day and I can pull out this blade, show people what it could take over the years, and wow them with the great deal I got on it!
The knife is a little over 9" OAL, with the blade proper being 4.25" long. The stock is 5/32" thick, but the blade is a little over 1.25" wide and the very smooth flat primary grind gets the blade down to only .014" thick right behind the secondary bevel! This is thinner than my Hocho! Eric's secondary bevel was a little steep so I thinned it out to about 18 deg. per side. Handle is Ebony. Not exactly stabilized (as in plasticized), but treated with something called Deft which soaks in a bit to seal the wood but otherwise leaves it pretty natural looking and feeling.
This is a heavy knife for its size weighing in at 8 ounces! My <a href="http://www.quine.home.sonic.net/mwknife.html" target="_blank">Wesolowski hunter</a> which is only 1/4" shorter in OAL weighs only 4oz! I've put Eric's blade to some simple work around the farm here, and it does very well at most everything. Not exactly a chopper, it can chop in a pinch (which is something the Wesolowski can not do). With its thinned secondary edge it melts through hemp rope almost as fast as my Dozier K1 or Master Hunter. It shaves wood better than any other knife I have other than the Dozier Master Hunter, and it does a fine job dismembering chicken or slicing vegetables. I've used it on thick cardboard, hose, slicing thin slabs of alfalfa from bales, and batoned it through some 2" sticks to make smaller kindling. It seems to do it all just fine. The simple handle is very comfortable. Its balance point is right at the first-finger where the groove is.
The knife also came with a simple but nice leather sheath. The leather is a natural blond-brown, thick, and well sewn. Also wet formed around the hilt and handle covering all but the last 3/4" or so of the handle. This makes it pretty secure for vertical carry without needing a strap, but the knife is consequently a little hard to draw since you can only get one finger around the handle to start off.
All in all, this is the first hunter-sized knife I've owned whose heft pushes it toward the camp knife arena. Although heavy, it is still 2oz lighter (and 1" shorter blade) than my Livesay AA which has been my primary camp knife for a couple of years now. I do believe that I will try Eric's knife in this role for now. While an inch shorter than I usually like in a camp knife, this blade seems to have the heft I like in an all-purpose camping blade (provided I have a light saw).
I hope Eric becomes a famous knife maker some day and I can pull out this blade, show people what it could take over the years, and wow them with the great deal I got on it!