BogdanS
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2015
- Messages
- 856
Hello dear brothers,
In the last few weeks i worked on a more ample project that i named 'Scout's bush blade pro' - it is about the knife of a scout's group that reached me to work together into building an 'ultimate' knife for their use (i repeat - for their use not necessarily for all of us even though i find it very close to that
).
The requests, that in the beginning sounded somehow 'absurd' to me were:
- to be compact enough but not small;
- light enough but strong enough for force tasks;
- batoning worthy geometry but also very well fitted for food preparation;
- to have a very wear resistant edge but still be easy to sharpen in the field;
- to have a good finish but not be expensive;
I refused in the beginning as it looked like something that cannot be done. With God's good will, i have had some spare time outside the working hours in the shop so i could think on this 'utopia' blade and remembered my old pocket beat knives - ones that withstood some of the harshest abuse tests without flaw - that was the solution!
Wolfram Special high carbon tool steel was the winner and i was ready for the prototype. Working with the guys was a real pleasure and we ended up with a gorgeous blade in a classic presentation that looks, feels and acts flawless in the field.
Now the challenge was to fill each and every request they put on the list above - so thanks good God i did:
- to be compact enough but not small - we decided on a medium ratio handle/blade well fitted for the generic hand sizes - a 4.35" handle and a 3.55" blade.
- light enough but strong enough for force tasks - the blade stock is only 0.09' thick but we went for a scandi grind that leaves enough back bone for the blade to be tough yet it is very light for the proportions given.
- batoning worthy geometry but also very well fitted for food preparation - again the 15 degree scandi zero grind on the medium thin stock offered best of both worlds acting like a wedge in batoning but having a smooth enough shoulder and thin enough section for very easy food prep.
- to have a very wear resistant edge but still be easy to sharpen in the field - that's the best part of the Wolfram Special steel - it gets insanely hard (64 hrc), decently tough for normal bush tasks and yet it is very easy to sharpen; I state it once again - i have absolutely no role in this key feature, the only thing i did was to strictly and correctly follow steel manufacturer's 'cookbook' and the results are very impressive (as you can see in the destruction test below).
- to have a good finish but not be expensive - this was somehow sweetened through the consistent number of copies requested
The scales of this blade are securely fitted in place by solid brass inserts and stainless steel screws - no glue added and fully detachable (this was the request in order for them to be able to use paracord for wrapping if desired) - of course that i can glue them in place on request
The prices is only 120 usd for this prototype presented below (locust scales).
Please watch the destruction test below for the wolfram special steel.
All the best, God bless,
Bogdan
In the last few weeks i worked on a more ample project that i named 'Scout's bush blade pro' - it is about the knife of a scout's group that reached me to work together into building an 'ultimate' knife for their use (i repeat - for their use not necessarily for all of us even though i find it very close to that
).The requests, that in the beginning sounded somehow 'absurd' to me were:
- to be compact enough but not small;
- light enough but strong enough for force tasks;
- batoning worthy geometry but also very well fitted for food preparation;
- to have a very wear resistant edge but still be easy to sharpen in the field;
- to have a good finish but not be expensive;
I refused in the beginning as it looked like something that cannot be done
. With God's good will, i have had some spare time outside the working hours in the shop so i could think on this 'utopia' blade and remembered my old pocket beat knives - ones that withstood some of the harshest abuse tests without flaw - that was the solution!Wolfram Special high carbon tool steel was the winner and i was ready for the prototype. Working with the guys was a real pleasure and we ended up with a gorgeous blade in a classic presentation that looks, feels and acts flawless in the field.
Now the challenge was to fill each and every request they put on the list above - so thanks good God i did:
- to be compact enough but not small - we decided on a medium ratio handle/blade well fitted for the generic hand sizes - a 4.35" handle and a 3.55" blade.
- light enough but strong enough for force tasks - the blade stock is only 0.09' thick but we went for a scandi grind that leaves enough back bone for the blade to be tough yet it is very light for the proportions given.
- batoning worthy geometry but also very well fitted for food preparation - again the 15 degree scandi zero grind on the medium thin stock offered best of both worlds acting like a wedge in batoning but having a smooth enough shoulder and thin enough section for very easy food prep.
- to have a very wear resistant edge but still be easy to sharpen in the field - that's the best part of the Wolfram Special steel - it gets insanely hard (64 hrc), decently tough for normal bush tasks and yet it is very easy to sharpen; I state it once again - i have absolutely no role in this key feature, the only thing i did was to strictly and correctly follow steel manufacturer's 'cookbook' and the results are very impressive (as you can see in the destruction test below).
- to have a good finish but not be expensive - this was somehow sweetened through the consistent number of copies requested
The scales of this blade are securely fitted in place by solid brass inserts and stainless steel screws - no glue added and fully detachable (this was the request in order for them to be able to use paracord for wrapping if desired) - of course that i can glue them in place on request
The prices is only 120 usd for this prototype presented below (locust scales).
Please watch the destruction test below for the wolfram special steel.
All the best, God bless,
Bogdan
