Chopper in Bohler K340

H

h3n4

Joined
May 30, 2006
Messages
63
I posted a similar thread at britishblades.com too, but for those of you who don't read it, here you go.

I wanted a big chopper for heavier bushcraft duties and took some ideas I liked in other choppers and put them together in a knife I liked best. The handle (clearly ;)) is Extrema Ratio-esque, the blade is somewhat a combination of a Busse and a BK-7, and so on. The blade has a 10 degree primary grind and a convex secondary bevel. Handle is 'orange' micarta I made, left to 240 grit, and it gives a nice grip. Hardened and tempered to 59-60 Rc (measured), tempered in 570 C.

OAL is 305mm, blade length 190mm, spine thickness 6,7mm, and blade width is 42mm.

It's great for whittling tinder for firemaking, as I didn't leave any choil. Also the edge seems to be thin enough to allow efficient whittling while still being shock-resistant enough to withstand heavier chopping.

Pics:
http://www.danpat.fi/~lauri/veitsi/veitsi1.jpg
http://www.danpat.fi/~lauri/veitsi/veitsi2.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25836056@N02/2432150510/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25836056@N02/2431334807/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25836056@N02/2431334699/
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/25836056@N02/2431334751/

And a link to the "other" forum:
http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55870

Thanks for looking, hope you liked!
-Henri
 
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See folks, this is what I'm talking about when I say you can "set your bevels" on a mill. Hell, the coarsest belts I own are 120...

If you're set up for it, it is (IMHO) better to mill the steel than to grind for bulk material removal, it's just a matter of learning how. Cheaper, faster, safer, more accurate, less dusty, less heat. And because the final dimensions and finish are not from the machining operation, you can use off spec, used and reground cutters from ebay that sell cheap (like $5 a pound etc). If you have a mill, I'd suggest experimenting with this. If you have a CNC mill (I know of at least three here that do), you really ought to be doing this. IMO...
 
The steel I used is a remelted cold work tool steel. Very similar to AISI D2, but with less chrome, and a cleaner microstucture. It takes a very fine polish, and a great edge for a chopper ;). It is supplied unhardened, about 20RC, but is a real pain to machine! I used a small mill and it really had a tough time cutting the bevels. Had to take very thin passes. Filing and sanding weren't so difficult, but much tougher than on plain carbon steels. I would highly recommend people experimenting with this steel, as it looks very promising so far. Availability in the US isn't maybe so good though...

Here's a link to the pdf: http://www.bucanada.ca/k340.pdf
 
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