3 Attachment(s)
Making a knife and a sheath - part 8 testing
Right, so its been a while but i wanted to put this thing through some paces to see how well it would hold up to some use and abuse.
To recap though I started with this:
Attachment 45440
Which was a piece of O1 tool steel blade 220 mm in length and 5 mm thick, two loveless bolts in steel and brass, a brass lanyard tube, two green liners and two pieces of curly birch. Armed with some rudimentary hand tools and more enthusiasm than skill I set to work.
Several weeks of sweat and tears later I had this:
Attachment 45441
Which in turn, after another few weeks I managed to turn into this:
Attachment 45442
Now I believe I have mentioned that the sheath is bollocks, its really not very good due to the fact that I just could not find a nice thick piece of leather for a decent price (I could find massive pieces for a massive amount but I did not want or need that), however is is functional and has allowed me to cary the knife without losing it or cutting myself so it does what it is supposed to do, and eventually I may make another or buy a good one.
Now the knife in the end kept its length, and ended up being a fairly hefty 282 grams in weight without the sheath, now the handle is unstabilised wood so it will go up bit in wet damp weather and down a bit in dry weather in theory, I attempted to stop this by coating the handle in superglue, but in the end I sanded that off as I preferred the natural feel of the wood rather than the artificial feel of the glue in my hand.
Some may think of that as too heavy, I prefer a substantial feel though, makes me aware of where it is and what I am doing with it.
The handle is thick, but contoured, normally I would have gone for a thiner handle thinking that would make it more comfortable but this one I found to be very comfortable with a thick handle and so I stopped sanding and started oiling, go figure.
Now the knife has a scandi grind, and that was half the point as I was curious about them, well my curiosity is over now, not that I do not like the grind, its just that I feel its not the best grind around, oh its great for cutting into wood and splitting stuff but for everyday use its a tad awkward.
Actually thats not quite right, its just that I had to rethink how to use it to get the most benefit out of it, to cut something I had to learn to adjust my angles, carrots and potatoes being the most notable things, cutting straight down and the thick blade with the scandi (scandivex technically) would tend to force the item apart at the end causing the carrot to split open rather than slice through, turn the blade on an angle though and you could get thin slices, its was just a matter of technique and learning a new one, given enough time with it and it becomes second nature - to the point where I am having to unlearn it for my other knives.
Slicing soft stuff however was a different matter, meat, bread, fruit, skin, carpet (don't ask) and paper was a breeze, the blade would bite in, the thick angles push whatever you are cutting apart and let the blade continue to glide into its target. A joy to use. Totally successful there.
Wood - now this is intended as a "bushcraft" knife, this term is a tad weird to kiwis but essentially it means to got camping but to spend time constructing camps and tools out there, as opposed to just throwing up a tent - thats bit simplistic but I think we kiwis spend so much time in the bush anyway that a lot of the skills involved in bushcraft we already have, we know how to light a fire, find drinkable water and catch dinner anyway I guess we live in a society and a culture where those skills have not become so esoteric as to need a term to describe them - so this is where the shape does really well, it bites into wood like a chisel, whether its carving, barking, notching or splitting it does amazingly well, as long as you go with the grain, the thickness of the blade does not allow it to go through wood sideways or against the grain that well (its stoutness does let you pound it through without fear of it breaking though) but working with the grain and it it demolishes wood, splits wood like nobodies business, in bushcraft its called battoning (and there is much controversy as to whether this is abuse of the knife or whether the knife should be able to handle it) essentially you are using the knife like an axe or hatchet, either to make a tool or to get at dry inner wood for kindling.
I won't go into the pros or cons of it, I will just say that this knife can handle it, and I will continue to do it and leave it at that.
So do I like the knife, well I do, I made it, or maybe I just dressed it, but it turned out better than I expected, its not perfect but I learned a lot and would one day like to try forging a blade myself, but that would require a lot more tools to do it than I currently have.
Will I give up my other knives or stop getting knives now I have this - not a chance mate!
So thats about it really, the knife will continue to get used from time to time, depending what I am doing and where I am going, as will my other knives;
all the best,
Shelley
