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RyanW SPK Passaround WIP

I am chomping at the bit to use the passaround SPK, but so far no deer have come to my hoist since receiving the knife. Hopefully this will happen in the next few days. Meanwhile all I can do is a mini-review of my first in-hand impression of the knife.

Since I consider the knife to be a custom improvement over the Schrade Sharpfinger, a knife with which I have been familiar for many years, I began by comparing their size. I had somehow envisioned the SPK as being a bit larger than the Sharpfinger, but it is not. While the SPK is by no means a copy in shape or proportions, the sizeing is almost the same in all dimensions. This is a good thing for me. One of the features which has made the 152 so useful to me is the fact that it is so compact. A longer blade or longer handle would reduce it's utility to me, if only slightly. I like that the butt of the handle ends in my palm, not beyond it in normal grip. It's roundness makes it a comfortable fit there and seems like it would remain comfortable when used to push the blade foreward, as does the 152.

Astheticly, there is no comparison between the two. Compared to the pedestrian workhorse 152, the SPK is a work of visual art in it's details, and in the executiion of those details. The handle cover contours are pleasing to the eye, yet quite functional feeling. The hamon adds interest to the relatively flat blade surface and the nicely etched maker's marks, sized and placed as they are, in no way detract from the overall look of the blade. The differences in the fore and aft finger/thumb groves on the spine are a bit visually distracting on first examination, but form may well follow function with them. I would not want larger grooves in the thumb ramp, but I may not want smaller ones in the foreward position. I won't know this until I am able to use it sufficiently.

Today is cold and foggy so There may be some hunting success before sundown. Deer have been feeding and moving at night with the current noon phase and the mast is still plentiful, as well as browse, so there isn't much pressure for them to do a lot of daytime feeding.

Michael
 
RyanW said:
Thanks again Everyone for the kind words... Kent I look forward to your next post!

I have had a few orders come in for this design. First one off the bench had some different requests.
1. Sharpen all the way to the ricasso (No "Safe Choil")
2. Add a choil to make a little easier to sharpen
3. No toothy Edge

I left the thickness where the safe choil would be that is why the secondary bevel climbs up the flat higher in the re-curve. I think if I am going to sharpen all the way up to the ricasso I would consider eliminating the re-curve.

RyanWMRSSPK.jpg


Specs: M.R.S. SPK:
Steel: 1/8" 1095 (With Hamon)
OAL: 7.5"
Blade: 3.5"
Handle: Black and OD G10
Misc: 1/4" Tube Pins, Tapered Tang, G10 Liner
Sheath: Stevenson Leather: Shark and Cow (Right Hand)

RyanWMRSSPKSheath.jpg
Click to expand...

This baby is on it's way to me! Super excited about receiving this blade.
 
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Thanks for the update and the first impressions of the knife. Looking forward to your post Codger! Troutfisher I will get it in the mail first thing Tomorrow, thanks again.
Ryan
 
Congrats Troutfisher. I know you will not be disappointed.

Codger, I hope you get some venison soon.
 
Thanks. Still two weeks of deer season left. I already have 3, but am hoping for one more. I should have the knife Monday, I would love to get the opportunity to use it on a whitetail this year. If not, I will be doing plenty of small game hunting.
 
Codger, I have been crossing my fingers for you!

Trout, Please feel free to let us know what you think when it arrives, and how it performs when you get a chance to feed it! :D
 
So far all I have been able to do is fondle it. It definitely fits my hand well in many grips. Ryan's craftsmanship is top notch, the knife is almost too pretty to use.

IMG_20121205_105441.jpg
 
Troutfisher. I love the way that turned out. It is almost too pretty to use but I know you will use it. It's far too well made not to use it.
 
Success. A small two-year old buck taken near sundown on a rainy day. I'll post up my experience with the SPK when I am finished sometime tomorrow. I am just going to gut it tonight under arclamps. I'll try to photo document the process I use in the hunting forum thread.

I can say for now that the tip pierced the pinched and pulled out belly skin ahead of the penis and easily made the sweeping cut back to the base and scrotum in one smooth motion, just as I have come to expect from the similar designed knife it is descended from. I won't be opening the abdomen until the belly skin is cut all the way up to the sternum from the inside (inverted blade, fingers guiding depth) so as to not cut hair and get it everywhere. I expect that initial cut to go smoothly and quickly as well. Then I will partially skin the hide back on either side of these initial cuts before opening the abdomen itself. To me, this seperation of the layers makes the full skinning easier later.

ETA: I have not sharpened the blade at all and using it just as received, excellent sharpening by JParanee.
 
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Thanks for posting everything everyone. Codger, make sure you post a link to your hunter forum posts. All the best, Phil
 
Great news Michael! Looking forward to your post, I will be watching closely and taking notes.
 
A quick update. I did the skinning and rough butchering this morning. I didn't find any flaws in the knife's size, shape or performance throughout these chores. When the carcass was reduced to a pelvis and spinal column with ribs, I severed the head to keep it for the hunter to get his antlers. As anyone who has butchered whitetain deer knows, the neck skin is about the thickest, toughest skin on the animal and prolonged cuts here dull a knife like few other cuts do. The knife cut through it to the spinal column completely around with no trouble.

This afternoon I began doing some fine butchering, again without touching up the edge. I cleaned up both backstraps, taken fron the ham to the neck full length and sliced them into roasts about 6-8" long. Then I fine butchered the first ham. By the end of this ham, the blade began to feel a bit dull. Not bad, but noticible. I am tempted to touch it up before doing the second ham, but may wait and sharpen it before fine butchering the shoulders.

One criticism. The jimping. While the thumb ramp jimping gives excellent traction to thumb or finger depending on the hold and I did not find them uncomfortable or abrasive, they filled with fat quickly and were not easily cleared without using a fine bristle nail brush. For this reason alone, I would prefer fewer TPI on them (coarser grooves) than on this knife. The foreward jimping I am ambivilant about. I did not really notice any advantage over a plain spine in this position.

The handle shape was comfortable throughout my usage so far. It did not tend to slip out of position in my hand when coated with blood, gore or fat. It indexed naturally in my hand and I never worried about blade orientation even when using it in conjumction with my othr hand, blind inside the chest cavity such as when removing the heart.

The blade belly performed exactly as I had hoped when using a rubbing motion to seperate the long loins from the ribs while keeping as much meat intact on this muscle as possible. This is one of the features I have always admired on the original Sharpfinger blade belly. My first cuts here are shallow slices the full length on either side of the spine to cut through the sinew and expose the muscle, perhaps 1" deep. I am certain that familiarity with this blade belly shape over the years is what has influenced my style of removal of the loins from the deer's back. The only plunge and slice cuts I use are at the fore and aft ends where they narrow and submerge into the neck and into the hams. The tip and thin foreblade performed these plunge and slice moves perfectly, again as expected.

The tip and foreblade again did the fine work of removing the hams from the pelvis, exposing the hip ball-and-socket joint, cutting those connecting tendons to the point that the hams could be lifted free with one hand while making the final slice cut using the other hand.

I almost always work without a helper and have to articulate the limbs by myself to expose joints to the blade, definately a two handed job. The shoulders dismounted smothly again using a slicing motion between the carcass and shoulder blade, my non-knife hand hidden in the opening created but not in danger due to familiarity with the short blade. Lower knee and hock joints were severed easily using the belly of the blade to slice tendons and explore the cartlidge to expose the joints.

I was left with the rough butchered shoulders, hams and loins to wrap and chill in my holding refridgerator, and a wheelbarrow of bones, hide and offal for the local coons, yotes and possums. And at that point, a still sharp SPK knife.

Summation, so far I have found no real weaknesses of design, construction or materials, only small personal preferences in changing the jimping detail. I'll update again tomorrow when I have finished all of the fine butchering.
 
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Great write up Codger, I felt like I was right there watching you do the work! I was looking forward to your post, because I know how familiar you are with the original Sharpfinger. It sounds like we got pretty close to what you like in a knife. I have always had reservations about jimping and how effective it really is. As you stated it doesn't take much to get gummed up with gunk.

I am excited to see your photos. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
Ryan
 
It's Been a little while since we heard anything on this project. I hope Codger is doing well, and everyone is enjoying the holiday season. I have an "SPK 7.5" order coming up (Codger's) in Ivory, Silver spacer and Bog Oak. He provided a beautiful set of Bark Ivory scales and worn silver coin. I have not done much work with Ivory so I decided I had better work one out before I move to Codgers prized Ivory.

RyanWIvorySPK_zps7a8903e2.jpg


Specs:
Steel: 1/8" 1095 (with Hamon)
OAL: 7.5"
Blade: 3.75"
Handle: Inner Ivory, Nickel Silver Spacer, Ebony
Pins: Mosaic, Alum. Tube, 1/8" Nickel
Misc: Tapered Tang, G10 Liner, Fine Jimping

IvorySPKClose_zpsa8756cc3.jpg

IvorySPKSpine_zps73a7896b.jpg

IvorySPKFingers_zpsf0815132.jpg

RyanWIvorySPKAngle_zpsfffd1ea1.jpg


Love to hear your thoughts
 
Ryan that is absolutely gorgeous. I can't stop looking at the pics long enough to put words together.
 
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