The "Ask Nathan a question" thread

The Behemother has been in the pipeline a long time. We put it on hold to do the 10" Chopper preorders but we're finished with those now and the Behemother is being dusted off.

They're machining now but the scales are already made and probably won't be revisited. Unfortunately no wood.

We'll do some Friday sales. By their nature, those are already basically made. But, once they're in production and being delivered, existing customers like you (and Uncle Knucklehead ^) could approach Jo to order a customized version with things like a hand ground swedge or an acid wash or satin finish and we'll be able to accommodate them. We may have a few antique micarta scales left over from the pre-order that would be available.[/QUOTE]

Wow! That’s Super Duper!

 

and here I had just been saying ... it's probably best I missed out on the BC and just got a MC & HDMC ... and here comes the BC again ...

My poor poor wallet ... anyone need a kidney? Or interested in buying a bridge?

 

I’m so far out of the loop. What in the hell is a Behemother?

 

Behemoth Chopper size, Competition Chopper-thicker trainer grind(?)

 

Thank you

 

I think that with this heavy baaadboy, I gotta go with Terotuf for max grip. Since you said that scales have already been made, I was wondering if you had thought about TT in that drab OD green which you have chosen for the K18s? Would be great to have a K18 and a Behemother in matching handles

 

I think the 12" Behemoth Chopper predates the current 10" Medium Choppers. It's actually kind of an older pattern. It was 1/4" thick and 12" long and one of my personal favorites. Mine has seen a lot of use. It was tweaked and then put into a production run and a pre-order. That was the standard 12" Behemoth. Then we applied some of what we've learned from the competition choppers (which are winning races) and applied some of that geometry to our current run of 10" Choppers. So, here at the end of the Chopper production I have "gone back to the well" and completed some 12" Behemoth Choppers with the narrower taller primary grind, thicker spine (.275") and greater weight of most recent batches of choppers, given it a moderate (not indestructible) edge thickness and named it the Behemother. It will be an extremely effective cutter. It's big and heavy and very expensive so it isn't a very practical knife, and it is too big and too wide to be competition legal, so I don't anticipate there being much interest in them so I've only made a micro batch of them. They're almost ready for heat treat and we'll start to finish some up in about a month and then we're moving away from choppers for a while. There's Field Knives, the K18 pre-order, DEK1, Kephart, Folder, Integral Shiv and others in the pipeline for 2020.

 

^^^^Thanks for the update Nathan I have opened a New Savings account for the Integral Shiv's (Yes that means more than 1)

 

Don’t anticipate much interest? Yeah right!

 

It's like the 14" Behemotherer but 2" shorter

 

I am excited for what you have planned for 2020
All I ask is you please continue to consider pre-orders

 

Well with the recent choppers they may not fly out in 10 seconds but I know after handling the 10" and talking to @91bravo about what his thoughts on the comparisons ... I was thinking maybe I could pick a BC up later ...

This case later just is going to be sooner ...

Then I'll need a good pour and reflection to over think ... when will the DEK show up ? ... what other possible smaller blades might pop up soon ? ... including the possibility of a CRK folder ...

and which kidney to sell ...

 

Nathan, I have the opportunity to buy a spare set of FK2 Ti screws, can I switch the MC black stainless screws?
Thank you sir!

 

yes, if I understand your question. The screws are interchangeable. The titanium screws are a little larger head and may stand slightly proud but a lot of people have not found that to be a problem.

 

That was my question, thank you very much!

 

Hi Nathan, first of all a big thank-you for developing the best HT protocols for premium CPM tool steels and sharing your extensive study into the subject, which helps all of us to understand steels better and make more informed choices.

A question about your Delta HT protocol for CPM-3V, does it also apply to CPM-4V, so I know what to request at Peter's? Delta is the low-temp protocol optimized for cutlery, correct? I'm preparing to make a 6"-blade strong but nimble utility/outdoors/fighter intended for all-around camp/prep/bush tasks, but capable of hard use within medium-duty tasks (light chopping, mostly heavy batoning), 3/16" stock, saber grind, edge ~15deg inclusive, blade 1.5" wide. I want it to be usable with confidence, without worrying about damaging the edge or breaking the tip. Would you say that optimized 4V is plenty strong and edge-stable for such purpose, or should I opt for Delta-3V?

 

don't mean to step on anyone's dick here, but the Delta protocol is proprietary and unavailable to anyone but CPK and those involved in developing it.

 

Yeah, optimized 4V is a great choice for that. Peter's had already done an optimized tweak for 4V/V4E for Bladesports and when I was done with my work on it there are a lot of similarities in both the process and the final result. My process has a couple extra steps and somewhat different times and temps but they are fundamentally similar. They both significantly outperform the industry standard with better edge stability, you will see less chipping and rolling at a given hardness. If you send a blade to Peter's for heat treat and ask for a low temper tweak (doesn't use the secondary harden hump) they have a very good process and you'll get good results. I've tested it.

 

Thanks a lot for the clarification, much appreciated. I forgot to ask, what hardness should I ask for for optimized 4V for a 6" knife as outlined above to meet its strength criteria?