Help me design a "Bushcraft" knife - [CONTEST]

Yeah...I'm leaning that way too.


I have erred in making the flats black in the drawing...non-surface-ground 3V (read: cheaper this way) does come with mill scale on it...but it won't be black on the flats...probably some straw-gray-brown color after heat-treat. Finishing it out, though, would definitely add some significant labor. So...for now...I'm just going to see what happens...and we'll go from there.
 
Dan,
The design is looking great, The empty box is a cool idea, but too keep it simple I say forget the removable handle.
 
"From the mill" flats sound fine to me.
What do you need for the pre-orders?
Are we within original price targets?
 
I'm waiting for the steel to make a prototype and see what's involved. I don't want to under or over-price it unnecessarily.


The goal is to get it in under and hour's worth of my labor per knife, and under $100.

Which means having certain things done "out of house" like:

waterjet cutting (or laser) of steel and handle materials
heat-treat by Paul Bos
Leather sheath by Wilma (or other TBD)


And other processes simplified:

Scandi grind (fast/easy)
simple handle (no contouring...but edges will be rounded - as usual)
sandblasted finish (no fine-sanding)





I think I'm going to offer these two handle materials:

Natural canvas micarta
Red linen micarta

I'll be starting with 3/16" thick handle material, but will probably go down to about 5/32" by the time I'm done sanding/blasting. Overall thickness will be around 7/16"...a little less than 1/2".

Any comments?
 
And yes, the handles will now be fixed....not removable...and there will be no "box" or drilling of the tang. The 1/8" thickness of the steel will keep the knife light enough...no need to drill the tang.


As soon as I can get a prototype done...I will post it here and we will discuss pre-order and so on. For now, if you want a top spot, you can pre-order at my Order Tracker here:

www.kosterknives.com/orders.htm

Details are still not completely hammered out, so the price is not correct at this time. But when it is...I'll update the order.

Thanks for all the great suggestions!


Ideas still welcome...just trying to finalize this best I can.

Dan
 
Daniel Koster said:
The goal is to get it in under and hour's worth of my labor per knife, and under $100.

Scandi grind (fast/easy)
simple handle (no contouring...but edges will be rounded - as usual)
sandblasted finish (no fine-sanding)

I think I'm going to offer these two handle materials:

Natural canvas micarta
Red linen micarta

I'll be starting with 3/16" thick handle material, but will probably go down to about 5/32" by the time I'm done sanding/blasting. Overall thickness will be around 7/16"...a little less than 1/2".
Click to expand...

Dan, Sounds perfect to me. Very cool project. I hope you got my pre-order. If I'm luck enough to win the contest knife I will give it to my 13-year old son.

Thanks - Ron
 
Sounds good Dan !

I love the Natural Micarta on the Nessie you made me but the Red sounds pretty cool !!!!!
 
Dan,
It sounds like you definitely have this one nailed down about as close to perfect as you can get.

I for one am extremely glad I have my pre-order in, and have for a few days now. :thumbup::cool:
 
I'm concerned about the red linen micarta now....just saw an example...when sandblasted...goes a little pink-ish.

How would you guys feel about Red G10 instead? Also tough, and even more grippy when blasted.
 
I like Red G10. and your right my Skookum Bush Tool is looking alittle pinkish after several cleanings.
 
Ok...doing the cost analysis with the materials and features above...I'm getting a price of $95...and I think I can get the sheaths for $25-35 (leather)


About what you were expecting? Hopefully....3V and G-10 for under $100? sounds like a good deal to me. :D



Let's hear some ideas on the sheath.

Drop loop?

Dangler?

Canted?

Horizontal?

Pocket sheath?
 
I'd like to see something simple along the lines of the second one in so that it could be worn in the traditional scandinavian way around the neck.....
sheath.jpg
 
A deep pouch would seem to be ideal for this knife...since there is a little bit of bird's head at the butt to make drawing the knife easy. A wide loop on the back would allow for a necklace to be added by those that want it.

Sound right?
 
I got the steel in today....and I've got enough for 1 prototype and a run of 23.


So, I'm going to go ahead and start a pre-order thread.

We'll consider the knife design completed at this point. From here forward...only sheath details.



I'm going to go ahead and pick a winner (using random.org) from this point backward.


Best of luck to everybody!

:thumbup:


Dan
 
I'd say a simple drop loop would work very well. And boy o' boy for 95 dollars this is gonna be one helluva knife!:thumbup:
 
I'm going to catch a lot of flak from other makers...and collectors...



But, I don't care.



I'm in search of the $100 bushcraft knife....and this should be it. Why can't you have a custom knife for $100?

Now, that doesn't mean I'm going to make all my knives for that price....:foot:....just means that I reserve the right to offer at least one at the price...as long as I can still make a profit and stay in the black.

And I think the way we've designed this one...it's going to do just that. :thumbup:
 
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