Looking forward to it.
I’ve either missed it or never asked but, what Steel(s) do you use? Same for the Santoku?
That's actually a very good question Chris, and that is part of the experimental portion of this batch of knives. The steel used in all of these knives this time around is AEB-L, ( heat treat with cryogenic quench to HRc-62 ), for a few different reasons. First is the Randall tribute knife, the largest in the group of six knives was made back in 1937, knife making was quite a bit different back then. A lot of knives made in this country at that time were forged from carbon steel files and rasps, and were either flat or saber ground, which lends it self to being able to make a stronger blade out of thinner material. I have studied many photos of the original first made Randall knife, and had come to the conclusion this blade was a little thinner than traditional hollow ground blades of the same length. The inherent nature of the first Randall knife, with it's long slender blade shape, needs to be made of a tough steel. AEB-L is as tough as a lot of carbon steels, which is about twice as tough as cpm154, and cpm154 is a pretty tough steel. AEB-L is probably going to be my go to steel for all my shop knives from now on as well due to being reasonably priced, tougher than nails, and easy to sharpen and maintaining a decent edge. A lot of top end chef knives are now being made of AEB-L, which is an area of knife making I am going to start exploring, and a good Santoku is one that I've wanted to try for quite some time now. The other Scagel style knives are made from AEB-L as well as I had come up with the idea of offering a standard field grade knife in the sub $300 price range. By using a a steel that is easier to work, creating attractive handle patterns without using expensive spacer materials like mammoth ivory or musk ox boss in addition to making an attractive but less labor intensive sheath, I can pass substantial saving on to my customers. These knives will have a starting price of about $200 for a 3" blade pocket style knife, a 3 1/2" dropped hunter will be around $225 and a 4" hunter as seen in this thread will be about $250 a piece. The standard grade knives will most likely be offered for sale in this forum only. I will continue to make premium field grade and presentation grade knives also, and the go to steel for them will still be cpm154, s35vn , and may the new s45vn steel, but they will be offered here in my sub-forum as well as elsewhere.
I apologize a head of time for the wall of text, but I think an accurate description of my work is important to everyone.
Thanks for asking Chris, Scott