- Joined
- Oct 28, 1999
- Messages
- 1,563
I have been making the Combat Special for a few years now but had it in mind to make a "next step" progression to that basic knife. The idea has been cooking for awhile....and I combined elements of experimentation with 52100, G10, and most importantly, the cutting comp that I was involved with.
This knife is not a replacement for the basic Combat Special....just a different grade. Kinda like a basic parkerized 1911 vs a Gold Cup...so to speak.
The blade is 8", forged from 52100 that I got from Ray Kirk, rolled down from a round bar. During the forging process I shock quenched the steel several times...then being careful to reduce forging heat as the profile came finish. Normalized a couple times...then a somewhat long process of a triple quench...the last being an edge quench....that I derived from processes from several excellent 52100 bladesmith. The blade was finish ground and triple tempered.
The handle is green/black/pistachio G10. It is in three 1/4" layers...bonded with Acraglas, two stainless Corby bolts, and two 1/4 stainless thong pins. The handle is butted up against a black linen micarta guard. I added friction grooves which are VERY grippy and some filework on the guard face. The handle design is derived from my cutting comp knife.
The blade runs 5/16" thick and has been bead blasted and coated in matte silver GunKote.
A tremendous edge holder....the razor edge flexed for its entire length along a brass rod.
I think I want to play with it for a couple days and it will go onto the sale area. Also want to make some better pics...the weather is crappy right now. Pretty sure it will be equipped with a Spec Ops or Eagle sheath.
This knife is not a replacement for the basic Combat Special....just a different grade. Kinda like a basic parkerized 1911 vs a Gold Cup...so to speak.
The blade is 8", forged from 52100 that I got from Ray Kirk, rolled down from a round bar. During the forging process I shock quenched the steel several times...then being careful to reduce forging heat as the profile came finish. Normalized a couple times...then a somewhat long process of a triple quench...the last being an edge quench....that I derived from processes from several excellent 52100 bladesmith. The blade was finish ground and triple tempered.
The handle is green/black/pistachio G10. It is in three 1/4" layers...bonded with Acraglas, two stainless Corby bolts, and two 1/4 stainless thong pins. The handle is butted up against a black linen micarta guard. I added friction grooves which are VERY grippy and some filework on the guard face. The handle design is derived from my cutting comp knife.
The blade runs 5/16" thick and has been bead blasted and coated in matte silver GunKote.
A tremendous edge holder....the razor edge flexed for its entire length along a brass rod.
I think I want to play with it for a couple days and it will go onto the sale area. Also want to make some better pics...the weather is crappy right now. Pretty sure it will be equipped with a Spec Ops or Eagle sheath.
