Thread: The next knife

a couple pf points from my perspective , i think 4mm is to thick. my preference is 3.12 mm or 1/8th old money, and i don't think 01 is a great steel for knives . i would be happy to send you a piece of steel , carbon or stainless . cheers john

Originally Posted by john worthington

a couple pf points from my perspective , i think 4mm is to thick. my preference is 3.12 mm or 1/8th old money, and i don't think 01 is a great steel for knives . i would be happy to send you a piece of steel , carbon or stainless . cheers john

That's very generous of you John, thank you.

I had intended to taper both the tang and the blade, so in plan elevation the steel would be a very long diamond section. I appreciate 4mm is clunky, and when the grinder was through there wasn't going to be much -if any, of the blade left that thick. Do you think there is an advantage to running a constant thickness along the spine ? (assuming grinding time is discounted - I'm not doing this professionally).

having done I guess a few hundred deer and many sheep goats several tests stand out for me re knifes and shape of the blade - test one stand alongside deer and open up back leg - does the knife slide down the back leg cleanly towards the tail or does it have to sharp a point that wants to dig into the meat - second take out the deers ring gear - does it go in correctly to do the job or to short to fat - again take out the front wind pipe and trachea - to big a blade to wide to short ?? - open up front legs does the blade run along cleanly between skin and meat and give you a nice neat cut - most hunting knifes I see that guy who made it has never ever gutted a deer - 5-6 inch bowie style cant go wrong - the old bushmans friend was perfect - most knives I see are to short way to sharp a point and way to wide

Originally Posted by Ross Nolan

That's very generous of you John, thank you.

I had intended to taper both the tang and the blade, so in plan elevation the steel would be a very long diamond section. I appreciate 4mm is clunky, and when the grinder was through there wasn't going to be much -if any, of the blade left that thick. Do you think there is an advantage to running a constant thickness along the spine ? (assuming grinding time is discounted - I'm not doing this professionally).

i would taper the tang for sure. the blade it depends on what sort of grind you choose hollow or flat/convex . the problem with the thick stock and a flat grind is the blade gets thick fast with sharpening .

Originally Posted by Ross Nolan

That's very generous of you John, thank you.

I had intended to taper both the tang and the blade, so in plan elevation the steel would be a very long diamond section. I appreciate 4mm is clunky, and when the grinder was through there wasn't going to be much -if any, of the blade left that thick. Do you think there is an advantage to running a constant thickness along the spine ? (assuming grinding time is discounted - I'm not doing this professionally).

Tapering is just another process. Looks nice but a bit more faffing around, and a little more complexity when drilling pins for scales etc.

I've got a bit of steel floating around as well if you need some, I'm with John 1/8 inch is a good all rounder.

Happy to bash out a heat treat for you as well if you like, feel free to hit me up if you need a hand/any advice I'm around taupo quite a bit