18" Keffeler Sword (K18), AKA The KOD Piece

Oh man! What a beauty :) The fact that I could not have "afforded" a custom one if ordered directly from Dr. Dan's workshop combined with these additions, makes the wait all the more worthwhile for me (not speaking for anyone else per se, but I imagine that most of us are like-minded). I had hesitated in the past to order a custom sword because A: I could not have bothered with the 2-3 years wait and B: unwilling to pay a copious $um.

I am still really stoked that Nathan talked himself into this, despite the heartaches and the heartburns which he must have suffered from the consequences of committing to the K18. Honestly I don't think that the poor bugger made much $ on the K18 project but was glad to see that he then made a master maneuver to complement the project by bringing the Boot Dagger pattern to fruition. I guess that the silver lining for Nathan is the gained experience which is the most invaluable part of the whole saga, should he wish to develop more sword patterns someday down the road.

Props to Lorien too, although not a part of this project, for creating the original thread regarding a CPK Knife-or-Death type of sword that got the wheels turning piquing the Boss's attention ;)

Happy and healthy 2021 to every CPK'er, specially the Carothers plus their immediate and extended families.
 
Yeah, it really is the gained experience. We had to push a number of areas beyond the abilities of the existing processes which ultimately makes us a better knife maker. In retrospect I did underpriced these. Generally speaking the price is the price and when I sell something outside of the pre-order in regular sales they usually sell for the same price as the pre-order, but that will not be the case this time. I will be bumping the price at least $100 and probably $200. There is a quarter of a pound of weighted pommel that I hadn't planned on and sharpening these is a real bear. In my effort to minimize hand finishing due to the scrap that would be caused by a lot of hand grinding swords we swapped out carbide very frequently so carbide consumption was brutal. I am scandalously late on this order, but if it is any consolation, those who got in on it are getting one hell of a deal that I will not be repeating.

On the one hand, if I could go back in time and not do this, I would probably pass simply because we're so late. But on the other hand it is a really cool sword and I'm glad we did it.
 
The show this was made for, Knife or death, was canceled. Which sort of makes these swords a little bit moot. But their intent would have been to be competitive on that show and I have demonstrated to myself they would have. They cut extremely well and they're durable which would have significantly outperformed most of the stuff contestants brought on the show. Without the show they're not going to be on TV, obviously, but we did make some very cool swords that can do some cool things and hopefully they will receive some recognition for what they are, which is a culmination of years of cutting experience by the esteemed Dr. Keffeler and years of applied metallurgical development by myself. It really is a cool piece, and I'm proud to be able to offer it to the masses.
 
This sounds like the moonshot of knife making for CPK...

He chose to shoot the moon and future projects will reap the benefits of his added skill/experience/innovations.

Good stuff...glad I got in on this model-- not even worried about any stinkin blown deadline.
 
Outstanding:D

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I chose 304 stainless for the weighted pommels for the corrosion resistance. The machinability is not great. It's taken a little bit of experimentation to dial this process in to get the results I want. We're getting beautiful results now.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
I chose 304 stainless for the weighted pommels for the corrosion resistance. The machinability is not great. It's taken a little bit of experimentation to dial this process in to get the results I want. We're getting beautiful results now.
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Everyone appreciates all the effort it takes to have a properly proportioned, nice, beautiful butt end. :p
 
Ive been through a lot of knives, and this one is going to be a keeper for sure.
Thank you to Nathan, Dan, and everyone at CPK for all the effort put into these masterpieces.
My hands are sweating thinking about hodling this one.
 
azwelke said:
Ive been through a lot of knives, and this one is going to be a keeper for sure.
Thank you to Nathan, Dan, and everyone at CPK for all the effort put into these masterpieces.
My hands are sweating thinking about hodling this one.
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Fortunately, CPK focuses on handles that are ergonomic, comfortable and grippy.

Dropping 2+ lbs of razor sharp steel on your foot because of sweaty hands would suck.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Yeah, it really is the gained experience. We had to push a number of areas beyond the abilities of the existing processes which ultimately makes us a better knife maker. In retrospect I did underpriced these. Generally speaking the price is the price and when I sell something outside of the pre-order in regular sales they usually sell for the same price as the pre-order, but that will not be the case this time. I will be bumping the price at least $100 and probably $200. There is a quarter of a pound of weighted pommel that I hadn't planned on and sharpening these is a real bear. In my effort to minimize hand finishing due to the scrap that would be caused by a lot of hand grinding swords we swapped out carbide very frequently so carbide consumption was brutal. I am scandalously late on this order, but if it is any consolation, those who got in on it are getting one hell of a deal that I will not be repeating.

On the one hand, if I could go back in time and not do this, I would probably pass simply because we're so late. But on the other hand it is a really cool sword and I'm glad we did it.
Click to expand...
I will gladly pay the extra $200 if I'm lucky enough to land one of these in a Friday sale! They look superb.
 
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