Saddlehorn Mod

black mamba

black mamba

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Oct 21, 2009
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I have always liked the frame shape of the 3-1/2" saddlehorn with two blades-- fits my hand well with the rounded butt and a little thicker handle. The only problem with it is, I don't see the need for two blades with nearly identical bellies. Now to be fair, this is not the same as a muskrat with totally redundant blades, but it's close. And as I prefer my curved blade to be slender, I usually use the skinner blade on a saddlehorn rather than the clip. So I decided to modify the clip on one of my two cheapo Ocoee River saddlehorns, grinding and sanding it down to a Wharncliffe style straight edge.

Now I wasn't smart enough to take before pictures, so I had to photo the other undmodified saddlehorn after I did the mod.

Here is the original blade layout on a white smooth bone knife.
Xmod2.jpg


I liked the thicker scales on my ram horn version, so it's the one I modified.
Xmod.jpg


Now I'm no artist, and didn't even have any sandpaper finer than 220 grit, so be kind in your comments! ;)
At the very least, it made a $9 knife a little more useful to me. Whacha think??
 
Nice, what did you use to cut it to shape? Dremel?
Good work, thanks for sharing it looks like a good combo.
 
Steeltoe, I used a grinding wheel first, then a belt sander to fine tune the shape and add the swedges.

I had a jar of cold water handy to dip the blade in after each 1-2 seconds of grinding, so it wouldn't get too hot. Still, the very tip took a little extra color from the heat, turning a brownish tint. It didn't seem to affect the temper, as it took a nice edge after I was done.
 
Jeff,
many times I've expressed my opinion on the fact that, in two bladed knives, the best combination is a curved blade (clip/drop) together with a straight (wharncliffe/sheepsfoot). And I do like the saddlehorn shaped handle.
So, what's not to like? Great job!

Fausto
:cool:
 
I've always like the look of the saddlehorn. With the two blades it seems like the perfect edc. You have me thinking. Thanks for posting and the knife looks good.
 
I like it! It looks like it should be more comfortable in hand now after removing the sharp point on the spine of the clip blade. It's also very enjoyable using a knife that you've customized to your own preferences.:cool:
 
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Ram Horn on a $9 knife? Looked good in the white too. What kind of steel are the blades?
 
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