What's happening in the David Mary Custom shop?

If the 50 ft-lbs he got with his first sample were the norm, it would be a no brainer, but I'm not sure yet.
 
The more I read about differing blade materials the more I just freeze up and can't make a decision
Then there's the whole heat-treating aspect
Eventually I just trust the maker and go with it. haha
 
I have often felt, especially after owning a bunch of the high carbide super wear resistant steels, that the debate between them is a little overblown. If a person is halfway decent at sharpening, then any properly heat treated steel will get you through the day, day after day, unless you have some super extravagant need for high volume cutting of hard/abrasive materials over short periods. This is why I love the less expensive fine grained, simple alloy steels like 1084, 15N20, AEB-L - and why my favorite steel of all, LC200N, is just a more expensive fine grained steel. When properly heat treated, they are tough and take and hold good edges. Of course, this applies to 1075 and 8670 also.

Anyway, I'll put more feelers out on Monday about this.
 
Sometimes, with limited resources, it can be hard to decide what to do between commissions. I pushed past that and started one anyway. I'm really low on 15N20 now, with only this and a few small blanks left. And one longer boning knife.

IMG_1896.JPG
IMG_1897.JPG
IMG_1898.JPG
IMG_1913.JPG
 
I also made one for myself. All the big knives I make end up leaving me, so here is one for me. I took an "Outbound" stainless (presumably 420) fixed blade knife from Canadian Tire, and ground off the coating, gave it a new blade shape and a new handle and sheath. It's not at all like the original knife any more. I figure because it's (presumably) 420 steel, nobody's gonna be knocking down my door to take this one from me. And that suits me just fine, because it's super thin and super tough, which is exactly what I like in my knives, and an easy way for me to justify having "nice things", i.e when they cost me relatively little. 💡 :cool:

IMG_9296.JPG
IMG_1899.JPG
IMG_1903.JPG
IMG_1909.JPG
IMG_1905.JPG
IMG_1907.JPG
IMG_1908.JPG
IMG_1910.JPG
 
Thank you. I really like it as well. And to think I wouldn't have discovered this design if I hadn't bought that exact knife (5 years ago, they were $30 CAD, on sale for $10, so I bought five of them), and decided to give the choil the boot. But after having made two like this now, I feel like I will draw up the design on the computer and give it a few adjustments, before making some "for real".
 
I just ordered two sheets of 8670 from AKS. One is .102" thick, and the the other is .170". The .102" is perfect for light fast machetes, or chef knives. The .170" is going to be great for big choppers or stout beater knives.
 
AKS called me as they had an inventory error, so we juggled things around, and now I have enough coming for two chefs in .102", and two machetes in .186", and 4 in .160". These are going to be relatively straight designs without much curve to them. I'm considering collaborating with Andy and having him make some pommels and guards. Maybe these will be more than just machetes????
 
And here is the entire haul for the day:
IIJJ4861.jpg


Starting from the left:

15N20 Hawkcliffe with carbon fiber scales and copper tubes;
15N20 EDChubster with layered Micarta, carbon fiber bolsters, and a brass mosaic pin and rear brass fob tube and black liners;
AEB-L Prevail in a Cherry Linen dress.


All nearing completion, but the red one is already spoken for.
 
Those remain unfinished as today's shop time saw some work on other items as well. I have one remaining AEB-L blank, and I thought it would be fun to work on it along with the Prevail and trainer I have going.

IMG_1980.JPG
IMG_1979.JPG
IMG_1978.JPG
IMG_1984.JPG



I often get stumped on handles. I have a number of blades ground already but I haven't decided on handles yet. This is the last of a run of 2 Prevails in 5/32 steel with no jimping. The is the version I prefer. The jimping prevented me from extending the handle material further forward. I can do this without worrying about jimping now, creating more material at the front of the handle for the sheath to lock onto.

Here's how it looks:

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top