Nick Wheeler Prototype Fighter. "Oh YEA "......

Joe/Nick This project makes a whole lot of sense to me and my interest is definitely piqued!

I have a few classic 9.5" and up Bowies and a few smaller fighters in the 6.5 and up range.

I see where this is going. all the major components are in place. I can hardly wait for the outcome!
 
Man, you get all the good stuff, Joe. :)
Great design, built by one of the very best.
Can't wait to see the finished piece.

Doug
 
Who the hell is Nick Wheeler? ; )


Nice looking blade, my friend. I gotta ask though... with that kind of thermal cycling, quench temp and ricasso thickness did anything show up for hamon? I know, I know... we're not supposed to ask. But I gotta.
 
Matthew Gregory said:
Who the hell is Nick Wheeler? ; )


Nice looking blade, my friend. I gotta ask though... with that kind of thermal cycling, quench temp and ricasso thickness did anything show up for hamon? I know, I know... we're not supposed to ask. But I gotta.
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Gotta be something there...:cool:


Nice lookin design!
 
Thanks guys


Matt and Don no no no don't mention hamon then Nick will endlessly rub on it and it will never get done :)
 
JParanee said:
Thanks guys


Matt and Don no no no don't mention hamon then Nick will endlessly rub on it and it will never get done :)
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I seem to know someone else that ended up in this trap, my friend! Next one will be out of deep hardening steel - then maybe it'll be finished!!! ; )

How I love and hate hamon!
 
Nice project. Looks great and I just love Nick's attention to detail in the thermocycling and HT'ing. Going to be excellent performers.
 
hey, um, looks to me like there's eight of them knives in the works...
I..., uh...
 
JParanee said:
So I am a huge fan of some horsepower something that if used correctly and quickly can try and end an altercation quickly That would tend to leave small knives out and make the larger blades Bowie size 9 1/2 and up rule the day. Right ? Absolutely but here in lies the problem it is very difficult to carry a Bowie sized knife in all situations

So there was only one solution to make a fighter sized blade that could pack a wallop. One thing we proved with the wonderful Jason Knight Founders Bowie's was we could make a 10 inch Bowie out perform a larger blade. An esteemed member of this forum Mr York tested this and was blown away.

The way to do this is by using extreme distal taper in a blade. The king of fighting Bowie's Bill Bagwell has been screaming this for years in books and articles and his work.

A blade built this way will feel light in the hand move quickly but still have the ever so important and ignored by many magic thing called momentum which equates to power something I hold near and dear in a combat blade
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Horsepower and momentum! This race car fighter should be worth the wait. Great project again, Joe!

- Joe
 
I am a man of extremes Roger. Sometimes I'm extremely obtuse, and I wish I could say that it's balanced out handily by extreme genius but unfortunately this is not the case:eek::D
 
Cool project! I'll definitely be watching. By the way... Joe, I am curious as to what kind of sheath you are going to get seeing as how you are leaning towards carry/use?
 
So can we put our name on a list for any of those other blades?? I should have a work bonus soon... :)
 
Allen Newberry said:
Cool project! I'll definitely be watching. By the way... Joe, I am curious as to what kind of sheath you are going to get seeing as how you are leaning towards carry/use?
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Hi Allen

This is gonna be a tough decision for me it will have to be concealable under a suit jacket

I love sash carry with an oversized stud but I have found with blades under say 9 1/2 inches not enough of the blade goes thru the belt to really be secure IWB is better but still the larger blades for me are more suited to this mode of carry


Design of this sheath for me is going to be paramount a great knife in a bad sheath is just that

That is why it is best to have everyone do there own thing for sheath work

For me I am lucky I will send it to Pappy Long we will then decide on the best course of action he never let's me down

Pro bale something along the lines of a very high rise pancake or a behind the back scout or. Maybe both it will definitely has some time of blade retention strap in the form of a Sam brown stud Not a snap I don't like snaps

Either way a sheath is everything on a project like this




BTW thanks everyone Nick and I show appreciate your enthusiasm
 
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Mr. Gregory-

Nick Wheeler? Who knows? Who cares?!?!? Burt Foster!.... Burt FOSTER!!!... BURT FOSTER!!!!!!!! ;) :D

I don't have to Matt, but I'll tattle on myself and say that I actually lowered the hardenability a tad too much... with consideration of the monster cross section on these. So yea, the first 3 I hardened had some issues with differential hardening that I did NOT want. It's nice to have a digitally controlled salt bath for these times. ;)

Guess I could have made them all out of 3V and then not had to worry about it! :foot: ;) :)

I am really excited about all of this... Working with Joe on this has definitely been an eye opener toward new ideas and different possibilities.

THANK YOU EVERYONE :)
 
Very cool project. The normal finish in Nick's knives cause you to hold your breath and cover your mouth and nose when you get near the table so as not to fog the blade. This should be interesting.
 
NickWheeler said:
Burt Foster!.... Burt FOSTER!!!... BURT FOSTER!!!!!!!! ;) :D
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Good times...

NickWheeler said:
I don't have to Matt, but I'll tattle on myself and say that I actually lowered the hardenability a tad too much... with consideration of the monster cross section on these. So yea, the first 3 I hardened had some issues with differential hardening that I did NOT want. It's nice to have a digitally controlled salt bath for these times. ;)
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That's not tattling - enough of us had enough sense to ask about it, didn't we? You did manage to avoid answering the question, though... was there anything to see?

NickWheeler said:
Guess I could have made them all out of 3V and then not had to worry about it! :foot: ;) :)
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The thought has crossed my mind. Gotta look into getting some thick stock of the stuff...
 
Well to follow up with Matt, and anyone else that may be interested... Perhaps I spent too many years trying to get wild and crazy hamon in my blades.... because even doing everything by the book on the heat-treat for these blades (with a digitally controlled salt bath, digitally controlled Paragon kiln, and commercial quench oils) I am getting crazy activity in these blades.

NORMALLY, I'd be completely stoked... because it is just CRAZY activity... But when the project called for full hardened blades with drawn back tang/guard shoulders, it's been very, VERY, VERY frustrating.

I soaked one blade at 1475 for 20 minutes and quenched point down into Park #50 oil (a 3 gallon vertical tank) and moved the blade up and down while hung from a wire and got a crazy hamon. Tried 1500 with a 15 minute soak on another, same quench.... another crazy hamon. FWIW- Typically I have to austenitize my blades on the low end of things, like 1450F with a short 5 minute cook time in the kiln, in order to get a wild hamon.

I'm worried about complaining too much though, because if I do, the next time I go to clay harden a blade, I'll through harden it. :rolleyes: :grumpy: ;) :)
 
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