The Ugly Stick

you can call me al said:
Yuk..................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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LOL. And that's why I called it The Ugly Stick.

If functionality has a beauty all its own, then I guess it has a certain beauty, because it would be functional as all get out. But pretty? No. Even lipstick won't help this thing.:D
 
I'll admit that first glance, I thought it to be a little "busy". However, after further consideration, I find this to be a very practical piece of bush equipment. And at 13 3/4 inches, it would be a serious worker. I would really like to see this come to fruition. Nicely done!!:thumbup:
 
dawsonbob said:
I think the only area that would be even a little problematic for some people would be where there is a slight recurve where the serrations are. Other than that, a stone would work just fine.
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The you sir not only have me whooped in artistic talent, but sharpening skills as well. :D

And I'd buy one in a heartbeat...
 
Bridgeman said:
The you sir not only have me whooped in artistic talent, but sharpening skills as well. :D

And I'd buy one in a heartbeat...
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Thanks, Bridgeman. I muddle through, somehow.:D

I've been sharpening for over fifty years, and have some decent equipment. Nowadays I prefer DMT diamond stones, followed by a stropping. Good equipment makes a difference, although I also use plain old wet and dry and a mouse pad.
 
I have a simple Arkansas stone which I use for my nice thin folding knives. I convex all of my fixed blades nowadays, so me and my mouse pad are close friends. Oh how I long for the day I can convex a 3/16" - 1/4" thick folder.
sigh...
 
Bridgeman said:
I have a simple Arkansas stone which I use for my nice thin folding knives. I convex all of my fixed blades nowadays, so me and my mouse pad are close friends. Oh how I long for the day I can convex a 3/16" - 1/4" thick folder.
sigh...
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Nothing at all wrong with an Arkansas stone. Used one for years. I just got to the point where I wanted a lot sharper with less effort, and DMT diamond stones give me that. DMT extra extra fine, followed with a stropping gets an edge pretty darn sharp.

I also convex some of my blades, especially my machetes and axe heads.

I like sharp (gives me something to do, some days).
 
What's the space between the batoning surface and the saw doing? You don't have a use labeled.

I'd rather see the saw extended to fill that area. Four inches of saw blade is better than three inches of saw blade.
 
Raymond1000 said:
What's the space between the batoning surface and the saw doing? You don't have a use labeled.

I'd rather see the saw extended to fill that area. Four inches of saw blade is better than three inches of saw blade.
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That space between the batoning surface and the saw is dedicated to being a space: in other words, it's not doing a darned thing. I don't remember what I was going to put in there, but I'm with you: that space would be better used to extend the saw. I dislike wasted space on a tool like this.

I'll see if I can fix it in the morning.

Thanks for pointing it out, Raymond.
 
dawsonbob said:
Oh, no, Bobby's at it again!

This time it's a... it's a... well, we're not sure exactly what it is. It's kinda sorta a combination of my pancake turner machete, a BK-3, and something that Bladite showed, all mixed up after a long night of passion. If it's a love child from that exciting night, it's an ugly one, for sure.

It may be ugly, but I have a feeling that it could grow up to be something useful. If any of you can think of anything it should have, but doesn't, let me know. So far it's just flat, vector art. I won't take it to 3D until the details are worked out.

Anyway, here's my new ugly baby:

ngt6py.jpg


Oh, and some specs:
Blade length: 8 inches
Overall length: 13.75 inches
Blade at widest point: 2.4 inches.

Lemmeknow.
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it reminds me a bit of a Condor Tool as well :>

interesting...

i'm not a fan of sharp saw/notch backs (they're for notching really, not sawing, imho)... would like to see a relatively wide spine, mininum 1/4 inch, with the rest tapering rapidly, like a "real" khukri... fat soft spine good - rounded or flat, there's the rub.

now, i've seen a "smooth" notched system; smooth enough for bare hands to grab, but tough enough to actually do some precise notching. it's almost rounded over false edge, but with little Vs...

etch a ruler along the spine too for fun? :)

i'm also a big fan of a sharp 90 or sharper chisel point (like the various pictures i illustrated), and similar to the CRKT version of the Razel.

not sure the rounded over top point is safe? sharpened spined, even the point, makes me nervous.

just my thoughts. i like it. definitely ugly, and i'd buy a version of it, for sure.


Bladite
 
Bladite said:
it reminds me a bit of a Condor Tool as well :>

interesting...

i'm not a fan of sharp saw/notch backs (they're for notching really, not sawing, imho)... would like to see a relatively wide spine, mininum 1/4 inch, with the rest tapering rapidly, like a "real" khukri... fat soft spine good - rounded or flat, there's the rub.

For the most part, I really, really dislike saw backs on most knives. Having stated that, I have to say that — on a tool like this — a real saw might make some sense. Yes, most saw backs are more for notching, and most do a poor job of it. On this thing I think I would like to have a saw that's actually capable of cutting a two or three inch branch. With a 1/4 inch spine, though, that may be asking a bit much. I'll have to think about this one.

now, i've seen a "smooth" notched system; smooth enough for bare hands to grab, but tough enough to actually do some precise notching. it's almost rounded over false edge, but with little Vs...

I know the type of notching your talking about — they're way tougher than saw teeth — and almost used it instead of the saw teeth. I just wanted a real saw up there for a scenario where:
Okay, you're in the woods, and you can only have one tool to do everything; chop, slice, saw a frame for a shelter, saw and baton fire wood, dig little holes, tend the fire, become a spear if necessary and — oh yeah — carve a spoon to eat with. We all know that no one tool can do everything, and do it well, but this thing should be able to do everything sufficiently well to get you through your predicament. That's why I went with the real saw, and the rounded sharp edge up top (for scraping out spoons and bowls... stuff like that).

etch a ruler along the spine too for fun? :)

This is the part where I slap my forehead and go "D'oh! Why didn't I think of that?" Excellent idea.

i'm also a big fan of a sharp 90 or sharper chisel point (like the various pictures i illustrated), and similar to the CRKT version of the Razel.

I concur. I can fix that.

not sure the rounded over top point is safe? sharpened spined, even the point, makes me nervous.

My thinking on the rounded over top point is explained above. Let me think about is some more, because now I'm not sure how effective it would actually be for what I designed it for.

just my thoughts. i like it. definitely ugly, and i'd buy a version of it, for sure.


Bladite
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I'm glad that, overall, you like it, since you're the one who got me thinking about doing one of these in the first place.:D

There's more that goes along with this puppy, like a good sheath, and I'd like to throw in a BK-13, too.

I'd like one, too. Now we just have to see if (cough) anyone (cough) thinks it's worth producing.:D

I'll work on it some more tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback: it's the kind I need.

P.S. You never did reply to my PM.
 
dawsonbob said:
I'm glad that, overall, you like it, since you're the one who got me thinking about doing one of these in the first place.:D

There's more that goes along with this puppy, like a good sheath, and I'd like to throw in a BK-13, too.

I'd like one, too. Now we just have to see if (cough) anyone (cough) thinks it's worth producing.:D

I'll work on it some more tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback: it's the kind I need.

P.S. You never did reply to my PM.
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i'm sure they're buried right now ... ANY new designs ... even their own stuff ... months and months out.

and yeah, i did, but the system ate it. will have to do that again.


Bladite
 
Bladite said:
i'm sure they're buried right now ... ANY new designs ... even their own stuff ... months and months out.

and yeah, i did, but the system ate it. will have to do that again.


Bladite
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Oh, yeah; I knew that. I like doing the designs, of course, and would like to see some of them in production if they like them, but I figured probably a year out.

I've been in the ad business and doing products for well over thirty years, so I have a pretty good idea of how things operate. The general public usually has absolutely no idea of how long something takes from concept to shelf, but it's not (usually) quick. I've done photorealistic 3D art for products that were still over a year out: brochures and ads were done and printed long before the actual product was ever made.
 
The knife shape reminds me of a platypus tail with some nice sharp bits that you don't want to mess with.

I'm always amazed at how people can still come up with ways to innovate The Knife.

You obviously put a lot of effort into making this, so I wanted to give the best feedback I could.

1. I think the arrow straightener feature is redundant. It looks like the lanyard hole could be sized to have the same use.

2. I'd move the fire steel striker into the pommel to give more room for the saw.

3. The tool looks essentially useless as a spear, and big enough to not have any need to be lashed to a large stick for use as a machete. What are the lashing holes for?

4. If you insist on the saw, in order to make it more useful I would move it to the front top of the knife where the current unsharpened whacking edge lives. As it stands, with the area presented for batoning doesn't leave much blade to baton through any sizable pieces of wood and the saw right in the middle of the knife doesn't leave much room to get a good draw. With a knife like this, would a saw that size meet any branches that couldn't be better met with the belly of the blade? The saw should either be bigger, or placed in a better position, or removed.

5. I'd consider ditching the serrations in an effort to give the knife more edge real estate and even have a bit of a recurve for big, tough swings.
 
sqoon said:
4. If you insist on the saw, in order to make it more useful I would move it to the front top of the knife where the current unsharpened whacking edge lives. As it stands, with the area presented for batoning doesn't leave much blade to baton through any sizable pieces of wood and the saw right in the middle of the knife doesn't leave much room to get a good draw. With a knife like this, would a saw that size meet any branches that couldn't be better met with the belly of the blade? The saw should either be bigger, or placed in a better position, or removed.
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I think the design needs the current "unsharpened, whacking edge" in order to be able to use the blade as a draw-knife. That would be the place to grab onto the blade...
 
i agree, that is one ugly knife :D i think it's so ugly it looped back around and i think it's now decent looking :eek: but like all beckerheads, as long as it does a good job of processing wood, we will buy it eventually.
 
JV3 said:
i agree, that is one ugly knife :D i think it's so ugly it looped back around and i think it's now decent looking :eek: but like all beckerheads, as long as it does a good job of processing wood, we will buy it eventually.
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Kinda grows on ya, doesn't it. Actually, it won't look quite so ugly in the final version. I worked on it some today, and I'll refine it more tomorrow.

By the time I'm finished, it will have a good sheath with a pouch, and I hope to incorporate a BK-13 into the sheath design.

Process wood? This baby will process wood like nobodies business, and help tend your fire, too (and help start it, for that matter).

Whether we ever see it for sale is up to Ethan and KA-BAR, of course. It may fly, then again, it may not. I don't think anyone is even going to give it a good look though, until sometime after the Blade show.

Incidentally, Blade starts next Friday, and there'll be wondrous new Beckers to drool over and buy then. Can't wait.

The Tweeners are coming!
 
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