Nathan the Machinist
KnifeMaker / Machinist / Evil Genius
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2007
- Messages
- 17,507
The Light Chopper was a collaboration with Lorien Arnold. It has been a long time in the making. It is an exercise in geometry, weight distribution and ergonomics to make a light weight well balanced chopper that hits well above its weight. It's a large woods knife, with a ~10" blade that weighs 17.1 oz that is somewhere between a machete and a camp knife. It's light enough to be carried on a long hike without weighing you down and it's engineered for performance when you go to use it.
It's made of CPM 3V at HRC 60.5 with the newest heat treat for 3V that I believe is the finest heat treat for this material available anywhere. The performance is phenomenal with a combination of toughness, edge durability and edge retention that will blow your mind. A lot of R&D went into developing this heat treat, it is truly different and better.
With that in mind I gave it relatively thin cutting geometry designed for cutting performance. This is not some overbuilt pry bar, it cuts like a demon, but it is very durable, see 2nd video.
It's light enough and long enough to develop tip speed to cut thinner vegetation that heavy choppers struggle with. But when you put it to work in the big stuff you'll find that it hits hard and bites deep and it won't wear you out. The grip and aspects of the cutting geometry were designed in collaboration with Dan Keffeler.
The hand grip works great as a camp knife when held towards the front with good balance and dexterity. When held towards the back it fully fills the hand and offers control and reduced hand and forearm fatigue for extended hard work.
It has a forward lanyard hole (as used in competition cuts) and a hidden rear lanyard hole.
Light Chopper Specs:
CPM 3V, 60.5 HRC, .188 thick at ricasso
Total length 15.625
Blade length 9.875
Edge is sharpened 20 DPS
Weight 17.1 oz
Grippy 3D machined scales in micarta
Black oxide treated 18-8 stainless steel fasteners
$340 without sheath, $410 with a David Brown custom Kydex sheath. There is only one sheath available at this time.
Shipping is $10.
There are two knives available in this sale. One with natural micarta scales, the other in black micarta. First come, first serve, who posts in this thread.
The knife in the picture is not the knife you will receive.
Dan doing what Dan does, with an early prototype:
[video=youtube;TvUsh5FijcY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvUsh5FijcY[/video]
Durability demo:
[video=youtube;yC2PLk_04vE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC2PLk_04vE[/video]
^ This has an outstanding combination of cutting performance, toughness and edge retention.
These are "field grade" with tool marks, milled and tumbled. The bevels are lightly hand ground and slightly convexed after being milled.
Check us out next week, we'll have some more Light Choppers and a Heavy Chopper Prototype.
Thanks for looking.
It's made of CPM 3V at HRC 60.5 with the newest heat treat for 3V that I believe is the finest heat treat for this material available anywhere. The performance is phenomenal with a combination of toughness, edge durability and edge retention that will blow your mind. A lot of R&D went into developing this heat treat, it is truly different and better.
With that in mind I gave it relatively thin cutting geometry designed for cutting performance. This is not some overbuilt pry bar, it cuts like a demon, but it is very durable, see 2nd video.
It's light enough and long enough to develop tip speed to cut thinner vegetation that heavy choppers struggle with. But when you put it to work in the big stuff you'll find that it hits hard and bites deep and it won't wear you out. The grip and aspects of the cutting geometry were designed in collaboration with Dan Keffeler.
The hand grip works great as a camp knife when held towards the front with good balance and dexterity. When held towards the back it fully fills the hand and offers control and reduced hand and forearm fatigue for extended hard work.
It has a forward lanyard hole (as used in competition cuts) and a hidden rear lanyard hole.
Light Chopper Specs:
CPM 3V, 60.5 HRC, .188 thick at ricasso
Total length 15.625
Blade length 9.875
Edge is sharpened 20 DPS
Weight 17.1 oz
Grippy 3D machined scales in micarta
Black oxide treated 18-8 stainless steel fasteners
$340 without sheath, $410 with a David Brown custom Kydex sheath. There is only one sheath available at this time.
Shipping is $10.
There are two knives available in this sale. One with natural micarta scales, the other in black micarta. First come, first serve, who posts in this thread.
The knife in the picture is not the knife you will receive.
Dan doing what Dan does, with an early prototype:
[video=youtube;TvUsh5FijcY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvUsh5FijcY[/video]
Durability demo:
[video=youtube;yC2PLk_04vE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC2PLk_04vE[/video]
^ This has an outstanding combination of cutting performance, toughness and edge retention.
These are "field grade" with tool marks, milled and tumbled. The bevels are lightly hand ground and slightly convexed after being milled.
Check us out next week, we'll have some more Light Choppers and a Heavy Chopper Prototype.
Thanks for looking.
). And, Lorien and I are working on another small EDC collaboration. :thumbup:
