Here's a picture of a few of the blades I have lying around the place:
I made the tomahawk from a bit of an old cold chisel. The forge was just a shallow hole in the ground and the fuel was charcoal. The eye is plenty big enough in diameter, but I wish that I had managed to make it a bit taller to have a greater contact area for the handle. Nevertheless it works well enough and it has been quite a handy tool to take on a trapping or hunting expedition. I am glad that I left a small "hammer" on the back of this 'hawk...I can especially recommend having one.
The folding knife didn't cost much. We don't seem to have such a wide range of knives available in New Zealand like you fellas have in America. I came across CKB Products site on the internet where these knives were advertised for about US$1.37 each. I just had to buy some so I ordered a goodly number and paid by credit card. I don't regret buying them. I've lost a few knives in my time and I figure it is good to be able to buy maybe 20 of these for the price of a folder that has an upmarket name. Not that I am putting down the big brand name folders... but I don't reckon that they are 20 times more useful than one of these "cheapies". I have had this knife for probably a year or so now and I am not disappointed. The blade pivot screw did tend to come loose, but I fixed that with a dob of epoxy on the thread. The edge-holding ability doesn't seem to be as good as some of my knives, but it stays sharp long enough for most things that I do. I use it alot when setting possum traps... I have to cut through the NZ flax leaves that I use to tie some parts of the trap in place, I whittle a few sticks and I cut some vegetation away from the trap area. The day after setting I check my traps and use the knife to cut away the flax holding parts of it in place and then I might use it to skin a few possums.
A while back I omitted to tie part of my trap into position and the possum dragged the pole it was tied to up a tree. I did not have a rifle with me. I tied my folder to a stick and speared the possum up under the ribs, and I am pleased that it died quickly. I then easily cut through the cord that had everything tethered up the tree and the whole lot fell to the ground. This knife stayed in position on the end of my spear shaft quite well because it has a pocket clip that helped prevent it get pushed away under the hastily tied lashing.
The knife with the antler handle was one I made from a saw blade about sixteen years ago. It is a good knife. I wish I could tell you the story behind the deer antler, but to be honest I cant be sure who shot the deer or whether it was just a cast antler that somebody found. I'm fairly certain it is red deer antler though.
The knife on the stick is my modified Cold Steel Bushman. When the blade was full length I used the same knife and handle to kill a big boar I caught in a snare. But after a while I decided to shorten the knife to make it more manageable. It now fits in the sheath better and is still plenty long enough to be a spear. I guess I should have ordered the mini Bushman. Instead of using a screw or nail to hold the knife in place, I drilled a hole for a cord at the front end of the handle (using a specially sharpened tungsten-tipped masonry drill). When the knife comes off the handle all you see is a walking stick with a slightly tapered end that has a bit of cord wrapped around it. It is quite a quick process to tie the knife in place to make a very formidable spear.
Below the spear is a full-sized Cold Steel Bushman. I bought these from the USA over the internet.
The knife at the bottom came to me from the maker, Ed Shaw. Ed is a a buddy of mine and a very clever craftsman who has recently started to make a few knives. The handle is walnut, the wooden sheath is kahikatea or NZ white pine. The steel came from a special saw blade that Ed has had considerable success with.
Ed hasn't got a computer. He lives in a relatively isolated community on a small farmlet. Do you folks reckon that there might be a market for a few of his knives in the USA and elsewhere?
Best wishes.... Coote.
I made the tomahawk from a bit of an old cold chisel. The forge was just a shallow hole in the ground and the fuel was charcoal. The eye is plenty big enough in diameter, but I wish that I had managed to make it a bit taller to have a greater contact area for the handle. Nevertheless it works well enough and it has been quite a handy tool to take on a trapping or hunting expedition. I am glad that I left a small "hammer" on the back of this 'hawk...I can especially recommend having one.
The folding knife didn't cost much. We don't seem to have such a wide range of knives available in New Zealand like you fellas have in America. I came across CKB Products site on the internet where these knives were advertised for about US$1.37 each. I just had to buy some so I ordered a goodly number and paid by credit card. I don't regret buying them. I've lost a few knives in my time and I figure it is good to be able to buy maybe 20 of these for the price of a folder that has an upmarket name. Not that I am putting down the big brand name folders... but I don't reckon that they are 20 times more useful than one of these "cheapies". I have had this knife for probably a year or so now and I am not disappointed. The blade pivot screw did tend to come loose, but I fixed that with a dob of epoxy on the thread. The edge-holding ability doesn't seem to be as good as some of my knives, but it stays sharp long enough for most things that I do. I use it alot when setting possum traps... I have to cut through the NZ flax leaves that I use to tie some parts of the trap in place, I whittle a few sticks and I cut some vegetation away from the trap area. The day after setting I check my traps and use the knife to cut away the flax holding parts of it in place and then I might use it to skin a few possums.
A while back I omitted to tie part of my trap into position and the possum dragged the pole it was tied to up a tree. I did not have a rifle with me. I tied my folder to a stick and speared the possum up under the ribs, and I am pleased that it died quickly. I then easily cut through the cord that had everything tethered up the tree and the whole lot fell to the ground. This knife stayed in position on the end of my spear shaft quite well because it has a pocket clip that helped prevent it get pushed away under the hastily tied lashing.
The knife with the antler handle was one I made from a saw blade about sixteen years ago. It is a good knife. I wish I could tell you the story behind the deer antler, but to be honest I cant be sure who shot the deer or whether it was just a cast antler that somebody found. I'm fairly certain it is red deer antler though.
The knife on the stick is my modified Cold Steel Bushman. When the blade was full length I used the same knife and handle to kill a big boar I caught in a snare. But after a while I decided to shorten the knife to make it more manageable. It now fits in the sheath better and is still plenty long enough to be a spear. I guess I should have ordered the mini Bushman. Instead of using a screw or nail to hold the knife in place, I drilled a hole for a cord at the front end of the handle (using a specially sharpened tungsten-tipped masonry drill). When the knife comes off the handle all you see is a walking stick with a slightly tapered end that has a bit of cord wrapped around it. It is quite a quick process to tie the knife in place to make a very formidable spear.
Below the spear is a full-sized Cold Steel Bushman. I bought these from the USA over the internet.
The knife at the bottom came to me from the maker, Ed Shaw. Ed is a a buddy of mine and a very clever craftsman who has recently started to make a few knives. The handle is walnut, the wooden sheath is kahikatea or NZ white pine. The steel came from a special saw blade that Ed has had considerable success with.
Ed hasn't got a computer. He lives in a relatively isolated community on a small farmlet. Do you folks reckon that there might be a market for a few of his knives in the USA and elsewhere?
Best wishes.... Coote.
