Brusletto Knife.

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May 16, 2010
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Not in the same league as the knives in the Custom and Handmade sub hence a thread here in GKD.

I wanted a small fixed blade knife to either work as a back-up for a larger knife when in the woods and/or as a stand-alone knife on walks and short trips.

This to be an inexpensive fixed blade to be dropped in a pocket. A simple no-nonsense knife in a no-nonsense sheath.
I looked at the Brusletto 'Fjord.' Its a nifty looking knife from the Norwegian company but it must have won some design award or something (it looks it) because it cost more than I wanted to pay for it. Even the Fällkniven WM1 was cheaper. Its about the same size and shape of the knife I had in mind. The WM1 was at one time being marketed as a ladies knife. Its a very nice size knife for what I had in mind.

I then stumbled over a humble Brusletto Fjord blank. It has a three inch/7.5cm blade.
It doesnt say anything else than Brusletto and country of origin on the blade. No steel type is stated but if its anything like the 'designer' Fjord knife, its Sandvik 12C27 at RC 56-58.
Id have preferred 1095 or something like that but I have a larger fixed blade Brusletto, which have rendered excellent service for many years, so I went ahead and bought the blank.

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I then made a rough outline of how I wanted the knife to look .....

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....... and used my Leatherman Raptor to cut a bunch of burlap strips (app 60 in number).

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Then epoxy was poured over the burlap stack was with the knife blank poking out from the middle and the burlap placed between two lengths of steel and pressure applied with clamps.

Some days later:
Even though no vacuum chamber was used this time around, there doesnt look to many voids in the burlap micarta.

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Ivory micarta epoxyed to the burlap micarta and tang a couple of days ago. Time to cut the ivory micarta at an angle.

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Handle shaped and sanded.
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Pooch sauntered over and sniffed the knife. I thought I heard her say 'mediocre!' But that part might have been my imagination.

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Still a bit of work to go.

Next step was for my buddy to change the grind. I wanted less of a scandi grind.
Thanks to my buddy for doing much of the work on the knife.
Handle has gotten some varnish and I wet sanded the handle. It was then polished.
I also wet sanded the blade to get tid of a few scratches. The 'Brusletto' lettering and logo faded a tad in the process but I can live with that. Im not one for a lot of writing on blades anyways.
As a last step I did the final sharpening. The edge angle is now 25 degrees and that thing is sharp. I wanted the grind changed, as this will be a knife good for a multitude of tasks.

Im pleased with the result. I quite like the look of the scales and Ill have more burlap micarta scale material made for other knives.

Done.
This will do nicely for a knife to put in a simple sheath and dump in a pocket to bring along when in the woods.

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Nice looking knife. I have a few Brusletto; good knives. I like the Helle laminated stainless blades even better. Have used some of their blades to craft knives - excellent steel.
Rich
 
Maybe a dumb question, but how do you press together the burlap and epoxy in a vice? Does the plastic wrap also get epoxied to the burlap/micarta and have to be sanded off after?
 
It looks like a "Haugtussa" blade. If so, the steel is 1.4116N. They sell for about 16 USD i Norway.
 
Nice looking knife. I have a few Brusletto; good knives. I like the Helle laminated stainless blades even better. Have used some of their blades to craft knives - excellent steel.
Rich
I like several of the Helle knives; Temagami, Trofe, Taiga and Utvaer.

Maybe a dumb question, but how do you press together the burlap and epoxy in a vice?
Not a dumb question at all.
The burlap gets drenched in epoxy. The stack of burlap is then placed between two boards held together by clamps
Does the plastic wrap also get epoxied to the burlap/micarta and have to be sanded off after?
Which 'plastic wrap?'
 
"could of did better and I don't have thumbs" your dog :p :D:D

My opinion on the other hand is that is a hell of job. That burlap turned out awesome. That is on par with knives I've seen for sale on here. Keep it up, I couldn't pull that off.
 
It looks like a "Haugtussa" blade. If so, the steel is 1.4116N. They sell for about 16 USD i Norway.
Nope.
As I mentioned in the OP, its a Brusletto 'Fjord' blank.

The blister pack it came in was labelled 'Fjord,' it has the measurements of the Fjord (the Haugtussa is smaller), it looks like a Fjord (and nothing like the different blade shape of the Haugtussa).

Its a Fjord.
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As mentioned in the OP, there was no mention of steel type on neither the blank nor the blister pack it came in.
I wrote in the OP, that if it was anything like the complete factory finished Fjord, then it would share the same steel.
I only know that its 'stainless' steel.
The factory Fjord knife cost money. I got the blank for very little money compared to the finished Fjord.
 
"could of did better and I don't have thumbs" your dog :p :D:D

My opinion on the other hand is that is a hell of job. That burlap turned out awesome. That is on par with knives I've seen for sale on here. Keep it up, I couldn't pull that off.
Thx:D
My buddy did the heavy lifting on this one.
I 'supervised' i.e. drank beer and checked out the progress on the knife;)
I did do some burlap work, sanded the handle and I did the final sharpening after the grind was changed from the scandi-like factory grind.
Also removed some marks from a rotary disc by way of wet sanding the blade.
 
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Thx:D
My buddy did the heavy lifting on this one.
I 'supervised' i.e. drank beer and checked out the progress on the knife;)
I did do some burlap work, sanded the handle and I did the final sharpening after the grind was changed from the scandi-like factory grind.
Also rrmoved some marks from a rotary disc by way of wet sanding the blade.

Hey anybody that can do the finish work like that and that's the end result is a Craftsman in my book. I can do some nifty stuff with Paracord but if I tried that it would look like someone ducttaped a potato sack to a knife handle.:confused::D:D...... and id have 6 band-aids from the belt sander.......


And a splinter:oops:
 
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I spent last night in the woods and brought the Fjord for a test run.
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Ive made a simple sheath. I mostly intend to carry the small Fjord in a pocket without securing it to anything but the knife carries nicely suspended on a length of paracord.
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I cut some pegs for the tarp and also experimented with some feathersticks.
The Fjord slices and cuts well with the changed grind but of course doesnt do as well in wood as the original factory scandi grind.
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The spine is rough and i considered rounding it but as the 90 degree angle sparks fine with a fire steel, Ive just left it as is.
It was surprising, how well the cheap stainless knife threw sparks. I honestly didnt think it would do well with the fire steel.
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The Fjord got to slice some bacon strips in half and also performs well for vegetables etc.
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I on the other hand managed to burn the bacon, as the gas nozzle conked out and I had to use the back-up Triad spirits burner for the bacon. As its impossible to properly regulate the heat, this was the result.
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I brought two knives because two is one and one is none and all that.
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All in all, Im happy with the cheap humble little workhorse. Sometimes less is more.
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Nope.
As I mentioned in the OP, its a Brusletto 'Fjord' blank.

The blister pack it came in was labelled 'Fjord,' it has the measurements of the Fjord (the Haugtussa is smaller), it looks like a Fjord (and nothing like the different blade shape of the Haugtussa).

Its a Fjord.


As mentioned in the OP, there was no mention of steel type on neither the blank nor the blister pack it came in.
I wrote in the OP, that if it was anything like the complete factory finished Fjord, then it would share the same steel.
I only know that its 'stainless' steel.
The factory Fjord knife cost money. I got the blank for very little money compared to the finished Fjord.

I just have a problem with reading sometimes. But when it is a Fjord, the steel is 1.4116N
 
I just have a problem with reading sometimes. But when it is a Fjord, the steel is 1.4116N
Okay.
The big river, Lamnia (where I first stumbled over the Fjord) and a host of others has the steel for the fancy complete factory Fjord as Sandvik 12C27 but I just now checked the Brusletto site and they have it down as 1.4116 (Brusletto also makes knives in Sandvik 12C27).
I tend to believe Brusletto over the others:D
Whether the blank is the same steel as the factory complete Fjord, I have no idea but would assume so.
 
I like several of the Helle knives; Temagami, Trofe, Taiga and Utvaer.


Not a dumb question at all.
The burlap gets drenched in epoxy. The stack of burlap is then placed between two boards held together by clamps

Which 'plastic wrap?'

I saw the block of burlap micarta laying on some plastic on one of the pics, I just thought you used it to avoid the epoxydrenched burlap getting stucked to the vice.

Does the two boards also get glued to the burlap, and if it does, is it easy to remove?

To me, this looks like a much easier method of making a good handle than trying to fit a wood or bone handle to a tang! And without the need of much tools. Thank you for the idea!
 
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