Want This Made

J

JNieporte

Joined
Nov 1, 2004
Messages
3,352
I'm looking for a new chopper, and it will be a Christmas present. If this is in the wrong forum, then I apologize; I didn't see a "Wanted To Buy / Make" forum in the custom makers' section.

Let me describe what I'm looking for, and hopefully somebody can give me their thoughts...

Shape: Pretty much the knife from Rambo 4 in terms of blade shape; the handle is flat in the back and has 1-1/2" long guard which curves a little toward the hand. The last 1/2" of the butt should be exposed.

Construction: 3/16" or 1/4" thick steel. O-1 or something similar would be ideal. Fully exposed tang. Handle slabs should be micarta or G-10. The blade should keep its thickness all the way to where the tip slopes down, and it should be a full flat grind. Two lanyard holes should be placed in the butt, each 3/16" in diameter.

Measurements: 10" long blade, 2" wide. 1-1/2" of jimping on the back of the blade, approximately 1/16" deep and 1/16" apart. 5" long handle, about 1-1/4" wide. Including the scales, the handle should be around 3/4" thick.

I'll get a photo of my paper drawing on here ASAP, but that's the best way I can describe what I'm looking for. Is this something anybody would like to try?

Added: This Rambo 4 -like chopper from Walt Davis is nearly perfect, but I'm not sure about the measurements. I'd also like a guard and exposed tang on mine. Just for photo reference...
rambos009.jpg


With a guard like the second knife in this photo...
Rambo4TrioLR.jpg


However, the guard should be one solid piece, with the blade and handle.
 
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galadduin said:
So you want a steel handle??? I couldn't understand the point, it will be something too heavy that is somewhat unusable...

Emre
Click to expand...

No, not a steel handle. The handle should be the same piece of metal as the handle and blade. In referencing that handle, I was meaning shape and measurements only. The whole knife should be one piece of O-1 (or whatever steel is used) with G-10 or micarta slabs pinned on.
 
I believe what you are describing is an integral guard. There are a few makers who do that sort of thing, but I haven't seen to much of that on here. You could certainly ask any of the makers on here and see what they have to say, but if they can't do it, I do know of another forum (gasp!) that has several makers on it that make integrals and you could ask them if it's something they can do.

~Noah
 
JNieporte

I posted a pic of a knife that is being finished on my work bench right now. It's Aldo's 1084 forged to shap with just under 1/4" spine. The Pic is from when I took it for a test run. I know it's not quite what your looking for but I can work with you. IM me if you want to talk.

chopper1.jpg
 
JNieporte said:
I'm looking for a new chopper, and it will be a Christmas present.
...
Construction: 3/16" or 1/4" thick steel. O-1 or something similar would be ideal.
With a guard like the second knife in this photo...

However, the guard should be one solid piece, with the blade and handle.[/QUOTE]

Hey J, just for reference here, just so that you know, the integral guard is going to be a big, big sticking point.
Just about any maker can do a large chopper knife.
But I'd guess maybe one in fifty is capable of an integral guard on something that size. [U]Maybe[/U].

If you're willing to have a guard that's just [i]attached[/i] to the knife, you're on easy street. You'll have lots and lots of guys willing and able to make that for you.
If it really must be integral (where you start out with a 5/8" thick bar and forge or grind both the blade and the tang down to knife thickness) you've just thinned out your potential sources dramatically, and the price is going to be correspondingly high.


It wouldn't suprise me if you that blade cost you $150 non-integral and $550 integral. It's that big of a deal.

Again, this is just information. I'm not recommending one way or the other. You know what you want. And in fact, maybe I'm way off and somebody's going to pipe up here in a minute, "Sure, fourteen inch knife with and integral guard, no problem, how bout a hundred bucks." :D

But probably not. And if you have a tough time finding a maker, that's going to be the reason why.
Hope you get your perfect knife, good luck! :thumbup:

Mike
Click to expand...
 
That type of guard, that is part of the full tang, is not difficult to make and is not what Mike was trying to describe. He was decribing an integral guard (one that is thicker/fatter than the blade - they look similar to a slotted guard but they are one piece with the blade steel).
 
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HEy Bud,
If you want a "Rambo 4" knife, why not contact Gil Hibben, who made the ones for Mr. Stallone?
Why mess with a near miss when you can have the real thing?
 
John R. Fraps said:
HEy Bud,
If you want a "Rambo 4" knife, why not contact Gil Hibben, who made the ones for Mr. Stallone?
Why mess with a near miss when you can have the real thing?
Click to expand...
That's what I was thinking, they are made from D2 and are a real beast of a knife.
 
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