SaVaGe LaMeY CHoPPeR

[Lorien]

I've got twenty photos of a newly acquired knife from Bladesmith, Matt Lamey, starting here:

 

[Lorien]

...and another five...

 

[Lorien]

I usually don't cut cans with knives, but what the hell! It's fun!

 

[Lorien]

This is one hell of a knife.
It's heftier than my Shosui Takeda bowie and generates a lot more force. It's a little hard on the wrist, but I specified a front mounted lanyard, which will take off some of the strain.
I tapped my knuckle on a branch, and the blood from my knuckle found its way onto the blade. I think that's ok. At least I didn't get blood on it from cutting myself, (I'd be missing a digit or limb if that were the case!)
I'm currently making the sheath, and this knife is so sharp it sails through 9-10oz leather. Stay tuned...

 

[BURNSY56]

Gotta love Lamey...dude it will cut your bike in half if you are not careful
Congrats!

 

[Lorien]

that gives a whole new meaning to the term 'chopper bike', Bill!

 

[cobrachris]

Congratulations, that's one badass blade. Put it to good use.

 

[RogerP]

Cool chopper, dude.

Roger

 

[xuesheng]

Very nice - Matt's choppers are nearly unmatched for function, sharpness, and edge retention.

 

[Lorien]

not that I did a lot of hacking with it, nor did I chop copious amounts of cans with it, but the edge on this knife came to me extremely sharp and did not show any signs of use after what I did with it yesterday.
I'm extremely impressed!

 

[Robert H]

Ah, that's a nice blade. Mr. Lamey is a master!

 

[kauai Marc]

Very nice indeed,right up my alley,what are the specs and steel?
Marc

 

[Lorien]

about 8-9mm thick at ricasso, tapers to 1.5mm at the tip, blade length is about 270mm and handle around 140mm.
The steel is a fine grain 1095 and handle is canvas micarta held on with hollow stainless fasteners

 

[xaman]

VERY nice!

I only have one Lamey, and I do believe it's the sharpest I've ever received from a maker -- scary sharp...

 

[nikoknife48]

gotta love a lamey. chop chop!

 

[Keith Montgomery]

Looks to be very well designed for its intended purpose. Glad to see that you like it so much. That's what's important.

 

[RMLamey]

Glad you like it Lorien, and thanks for the kind words from all. I enjoy making the big choppers, much more work... but SO much more fun than the small knives

 

[Lorien]

The sheath, she's almost built. This will be my first attempt at a riveted and glued sheath, with no stitching. It will be brutish, and will serve the purpose. The ergonomic concerns should be interesting for such a large and hefty blade.

I'll head into the hills and blaze some trails. I have 4 lines underway, and this tool is going to be a real blessing, as the bowie I'm using currently is not so great for chopping wood out of the way, which limits the kind and amount of work I can do. This knife is a good compromise between quick handling for the light stuff, and power for the heavy stuff. If anything, my wrist will become much burlier

Carrying a tool like this, for this stage of the trail building process, is far better than a chainsaw. It allows for great range, at speed, with less fatigue. Once the corridor is mostly clear, I come back with the saw to get rid of the big stuff.

Thanks so much, Matt. You totally nailed this one!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[resinguy]

Very nice working knife. :thumbup: I like the tapered tang, and the micarta instead of the cord wrap.

I just found pics of that blade in the Gallery section on Matt's web site. Are those forge marks on either side?

 

[Lorien]

Matt is a tough guy who smashes steel! Yep, those hammer marks are a little deeper than the flat grind could clear away. I'm glad Matt chose edge geometry over making this knife 'cleaner'. The hammer marks are one of my favorite aspects of this knife. I find myself gazing at them, in fact they are more interesting to me even than the hamon, which in itself is amazing.

I hope this doesn't sound too weird, but I was kind of thinking I'd like to name this lovable brutish knife. Any suggestions?