Swamp Rat Proudly Introduces The Free Rein Wakizashi . . .September 21, 2022 At 9:00 PM Eastern

SolidSnake83 said:
Does "swamp comp" mean satin? What type of finish is that?
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"Comp" = Competition finish. It's uncoated. All surfaces are ground back and polished to an extent, but there may still be minor tool marks, scratches or other imperfections. It isn't as polished and perfect as satin.

It looks great. Makes it look like a user, not a safe queen.
 
t1mpani said:
I’ll add a further comment as one who also makes knives…I would rather make three knives out of 52100 than one knife out of 3V…talk about an uncooperative (I don’t WANNA be shaped! I don’t WANNA be ground!) alloy. Mind you, it’s not my least favorite to work with—that title is currently held by S110V, though magnacut (at least in the bandsaw-cutting phase) is a close contender.

Anyway, long and short of it, I would charge somebody a lot more than the Swamp is charging to make this sword…and I’d probably throw it at them when I was done.
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Good insight from a Maker, thanks.

It is worth noting that Swamp Rat and CPK, perhaps the two leading purveyors of high performance 3V, both use CNC to carve their blades. This might alleviate some of the stubbornness of the steel towards shaping.

VooDooWitchDoctor VooDooWitchDoctor , I bet that your new fans would love to see some WIP vids of these new Wakis being carved.
 
Jack of All Blades said:
Two questions
1- Can I order a Sterile option?
2- Where is the balance point?
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I'm curious about the balance point as well, and how it handles compaired to the TNT-15. I love my TNT-15 because it's got some weight to the blade, I love how it handles and that it was made to be sword like, rather than like a machete.
 
Well I like what I see but its not something I can afford currently. And my TNT-15 is great. I am hoping to see something smaller. How about a swamp ASH in 3V?
 
Currawong said:
"Comp" = Competition finish. It's uncoated. All surfaces are ground back and polished to an extent, but there may still be minor tool marks, scratches or other imperfections. It isn't as polished and perfect as satin.

It looks great. Makes it look like a user, not a safe queen.
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Actually Competition Finish is (or has been) not so much polished as lightly bead blasted to clean up the blank rather than give it a uniform blasted finish
 
elof_alv said:
Actually Competition Finish is (or has been) not so much polished as lightly bead blasted to clean up the blank rather than give it a uniform blasted finish
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I do not agree with this assessment as a whole, as someone who does finish work. That may be true of difficult to reach places like fullers, etc.... but it is my belief that 99% of this work is done with something along the lines of a Scotchbrite abrasive wheel at high speed to remove oxide scale and decarburization quickly.

Blasting gives a more matte look no matter what the grit size is in comparison to what really is a type of polishing on the Comp Finish blades. What has NOT been done is the knives have not been surface ground to remove dimpling and machining/tooling marks, as Scotchbrite merely scuffs the surface more than reshape it.

I use the same type of abrasives and the results end up much the same in my work, you will notice subtle scratch patterns perpendicular to the blade... which are minimized due to the nature of the woven mesh abrasive material being a continuous synthetic thread.

This one was hand rubbed on a coarse Scotchbrite pad and looks very close to my factory Comp Finish example, though it really needs a lot more elbow grease to approach the level of 'polish' they leave the factory with. This is a user so I decided not to do a whole lot but just smooth and brighten it a touch.

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I know it has been a while since the Rats have been fed, but it sure seems like you guys are plenty hungry. Glad to see you didn't try to eat each other before the Swamp came back to life!
 
Busse Combat: Let's offer an amazing steel in a popular design that everyone will want and price it accordingly!
 
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