Turning an Old Hickory butcher knife into a Kephart

Stumps

Stumps

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Feb 9, 2011
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I have been searching for a Kephart style knife.
Some came close to what I was looking for, but not exactly.
I saw this thread; http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1295709-Why-Not-A-Kephart-Style-Model and decided to give it a try myself.

Here is the beginning of my project…I bought a 7" Old Hickory butcher knife.






I wanted a more blunt end than most Kepharts being made these days.



I did a little grinding making sure to use lots of water to keep it cool.
It ended up being about 9" overall.
I love the look of the Old Hickory blade with the Ontario Knife Co. logo and "Made in USA" stamped on the blade!! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:



The handle still felt too small for comfortable use in my hand, so I decided to replace the handle also.
Here is where I took the handle off and figured out what to replace it with.



I was going to use part of an old axe handle I had laying around, but when I cut it down the middle and held it to the knife it still felt too small.



I had some old cherry wood laying around that came from an old Ethan Allen plant that closed down.
It was plenty fat enough…all I had to do was sand it down to fit my hand.

 
I did some preliminary sanding until I got the cherry close to what felt comfortable in my hand.



I then fit some brass pins to the handle and knife.



I sanded the handle area of the blade and epoxied it all together.
Clamped it for 24 hours.



This is what I had this morning after the epoxy had set.



And a top view.

 
Next I sanded the pins down a little, then peened them to fill up the lightly angled holes in the cherry handles.



I love the thickness of the blade steel on this knife!!



I kept sanding until it felt just the way I wanted. It fits my hand very well!!



Top view of the handle thickness.

 
I put six coats of Danish Oil on the cherry handles and sharpened, then stropped the blade.









I have never felt a more comfortable knife than this.
I'm thinking this knife is going to get lots of use!! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Thanks for looking. :)
 
bghorn said:
Nicely done. What kind of grinder did you use?
Click to expand...


Thanks!!

I used a wheel grinder for most of the blade and used a belt sander to finish forming it the way I wanted.
I would have used a cut off blade, but don't own one and didn't want to buy one for this small project.
 
Thanks everyone!

I've only had an opportunity to use it in kitchen duty so far, but it excels there.
I've even bought another one to do the same mod just so I can keep one in the kitchen and use one in my pack.
 
Yours turned out a lot more nice looking than my "Old Hickhart" did. I like how the handle feels as-is but that looks like quite an improvement for someone who likes thicker handles. Looks good! :thumbup:

The Old Hickory blades, along with the logo in the handle, give it a look all its own that make me like mine much more than any other brand or model of kephart pattern knife. It just fits. :)
 
I was using the knife this thread is about again this morning and had a thought…it's time to post an update now that it's got over four months of daily use.

This is the most comfortable knife I own and it gets used more than any other knife I have.
I use it mostly in the kitchen for now, but I have plans on fitting it with a sheath and have it go with me on my backpacking trips.
I like it that much!

This is my first knife with a blunt spear point blade. I am surprised at how useful that design is. I've got OKC and Kephart to thank.













I've recently purchased another 7" butcher knife and going to make another just like it. :)
 
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Thanks for the update. I had just seen another post here on BFC about these conversions, and have been thinking about doing it. I have an Old Hickory 7" Butcher's knife in my kitchen knife drawer that just doesn't get used that much....
 
Mine does not look as nice as yours, but it was a fun & useful project.
 
I liked the first one I did so well that I decided to do another, but slightly different than a Kephart.
I left the blade deeper and about 1/2" longer. It got a grey liner next to the blade, then a white liner, then pinned Macassar ebony.














The one with cherry covers has become my most used knife of all the varieties I own.
Hoping the Macassar ebony one gets as much use.
 
Oh man. That second one looks even better than the first!!! You have some major skills!
 
Both are very NICE!!:thumbup: Looks like you got it going on!!! KUDOS!!! Another maybe??? :D John
 
Out of curiosity, how many hours of work does it take you to do these?
 
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