CLOSED, PRE-ORDER, 10" Choppers

Nathan the Machinist

Nathan the Machinist

KnifeMaker / Machinist / Evil Genius
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Feb 13, 2007
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This pre-order will open at 5:00 eastern time.

This is the new Light Chopper. It's basically a thinned down, narrower version of the old Medium Chopper, which is one of the best knives we've ever produced. Wildly under rated.



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The LC and SC are an exercise in geometry, weight distribution and ergonomics to make choppers that hit well above their weight. We make the knives that win almost every cutting competition that we attend. We have our process dialed in and we make some of the best knives of their kind in the world. Our 10" choppers are what set us on this path. They are legendary.

The LC is a large woods knife, with a 10" blade that weighs 18.7 oz that is somewhere between a machete and a camp knife. It's light enough to be carried on a long hike without weighing you down and it's engineered for performance when you go to use it. This is a very practical choice.

It's light enough and long enough to develop tip speed to cut thinner vegetation that heavy choppers struggle with. But when you put it to work in the big stuff you'll find that it hits hard and bites deep and it won't wear you out.

It will come with our final version of the chopper handle design that has proven itself to be among the best handles for a chopper in the industry.

The hand grip works great as a camp knife when held towards the front with good balance and dexterity. When held towards the back it fully fills the hand and offers control and reduced hand and forearm fatigue for extended hard chopping. It has been designed and refined and evolved by people who really know their stuff.


While we're setup for it, we'll go ahead and do some of the Medium Choppers as well. Well... "Standard Choppers" now....

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The MC needs no introduction here.

Going forward the MC is going to be our standard 10" chopper pattern, so I'm calling this build the "10" Standard Chopper" rather than MC. They're the same thing, but going forward, I'm changing the nomenclature to reflect our line of light, standard, and heavy 10" choppers.

The LC is the more refined tool here because it is less laborious to use as a camp knife and you can generate more flick speed with it and cut lighter targets. But it doesn't have the power or durability of the SC, which is a very good compromise. We're not producing the HC at this time.

These have a forward lanyard hole as used in competition cuts. They come with a high quality kydex sheath. They are all field grade, milled and tumbled with visible tool and grind marks.

Specs:
The LC is taken down to only .020" before sharpening and is somewhat fragile when used by inexperienced cutters. The SC is a more moderate .030". Neither will break on you, but you can catch a bent primary if you whack something crooked enough.
Delta 3V, 60-61 HRC, .188 - .220" thick at ricasso
Total length 16"
Blade length 10"
Weight 18.7-21.1 oz
Edge angle 20 DPS
Grippy 3D machined scales in micarta or TeroTuf
18-8 stainless steel fasteners


Basic vanilla configuration, includes a very nice kydex sheath, does not include shipping:
$690 in canvas micarta, black or natural


Optional add ons available in addition to plain vanilla:
Make my 10" LC a 10" SC $60
Shiny machined 6-4 (high strength grade 5) Titanium fasteners $20
Shiny machined 6-4 (high strength grade 5) Titanium fasteners that are pretty and blue $30


Scales, substitute for basic micarta:
Black Linen micarta $10
OD green canvas micarta $10
Double Black Canvas micarta $10
Burlap micarta $20
Blue canvas micarta (looks like denim) $20
Double red canvas (maroon, limited quantities) micarta $20
Double Black Linen micarta $20
Terotuf (grey, OD green, Bright Green or Orange) $20
Tri-color Canvas micarta $30
Scarlet linen micarta $30
Double Red and Black linen micarta $30
International Paper Brand Vintage Micarta $30 <---- this would be my choice
Edge cut antique Micarta $125



Shipping in the USA is $15. Multiples do not accrue additional shipping.


Here is the order process:

I'm going to take full payment non-refundable in advance. Once your order is confirmed there are no refunds, changes or cancellations other than accommodations for change of address.

These will ship as they're finished in mostly the order that they are ordered in this thread. As I'm building them, half of them will go to this pre-order and the other half will be sold in regular sales. This means you will see knives being sold while you're waiting for yours.

If you're ordering a knife in this pre-order: post in this thread first and then send an email to Jo at jocarothers (at) gmail (dot) com with this subject line: "10" Chopper preorder" and include your post# in that subject line.

Please include the following information in your email:

1: Your post number on this pre-order thread.

2: Bladeforums name. (for example "Jo the Machinist")

3: Real Name.

4: PayPal email address so we can send a paypal invoice (or ask about other payment options)

5: Shipping address.

6: Any special instructions.

Once we receive this information, if everything is there, Jo will send you a PayPal invoice. If information is missing or you have additional questions, Jo will reply to your email. When your email is read and processed we will send you a reply letting you know we've received your information.

Please pay your paypal invoice within one month, otherwise we will need to cancel your order.

Jo, Bo, Mark, Ben, Tanto, Trevor Abby and Freck and I appreciate all of your continued interest in our work and your support.

Thanks for looking.
 
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Massive disclaimer:

I'm going to try to start shipping these by the end of this year, but it may be the end of next year before they're all shipped out. I'll do my best, but if you need a tight deadline guarantee, this sale may not be for you.

Sometimes we will run into unexpected problems like a material shortage or an issue with some material that can make us late or even give refunds if a problem is bad enough. We might have a handle scale material not work out or run short and need to offer you an alternative etc.

If you are overseas and your order gets lost or stolen, please understand that this is out of our control and there really isn't anything we can do about it. You won't get a refund or a replacement. Once your package leaves our shop, there is nothing more we can do. If this risk of total and uncompensated loss doesn't work for you, please do not place an order here. There is an increased risk with shipping knives overseas and we are not able to assume that risk.

I apologize, in advance, to any new international customers but we are unable to take new international orders at this time. This does not apply to folks that we know or we have shipped to in the past, only new international customers. We will try to create some foreign dealers for international distribution, but we are no longer able to accommodate new international customers. There have been too many problems with foreign orders involving lost or late shipment, hurt feelings and subsequent harm to our reputation. We're a small shop. We care about our customers but we're running out of capacity to accommodate new customers at this time and new foreign customers require disproportionately more special attention. Rather than risk additional problems with foreign orders, we feel it is best for everyone involved to stop taking new foreign customers, in order to insure we're able to provide the best customer satisfaction we're known for. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.

Other things of note:
The antique micarta appears to be Westinghouse, although the material we're working with has already been converted into a machined shape and there are no labels left on it. Some of it is streaky, most of it is dark brown. If you have a preference (streaky or solid dark brown) please let Jo know in your order and we will try to accommodate. But ultimately, it's an unpredictable naturally occurring color variation and you get what you get.

The vintage micarta is labeled International Paper. Westinghouse sold out to them before they eventually sold the micarta name to Norplex who has it today. I don't like Norplex micarta, I usually use Accurate Acculam because I have found it to be more consistent and dimensionally stable and it is made here in America (not all Norplex micarta is US material). However, the best micarta ever made was the original Westinghouse. This old International Paper is pretty similar to the original Westinghouse, but without the huge price tag. You can tell by looking at the load meter on the machine while milling it and also looking at how hard and translucent the phenolic is and how well the fibers are saturated, which becomes obvious when polishing it. This old IP Micarta is very good stuff and it's finally an affordable option to get you the best material available in your hands without the insane price tag of Westinghouse. This material isn't as old and the colors aren't as deep. We are sawing up thick monoliths of it and, while some of the material has some interesting color streaks that have developed in it, most of the material is still a natural micarta color. If you want a piece that came from the outside you can pay extra for "crusty" and get the piece that came from the outside edge for a little extra visual interest.

Our titanium hardware serves no purpose other than it looks cool. The weight savings is inconsequential. You should probably stick to regular stainless, it's fine.




Note on the antique micarta

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This is very old surplus that I bought up from a ship builder who was using it before I was even born. I don't know who made it (labels were gone, it was already machined into a shape), though Westinghouse was the big name in the business back when this would have been made. It has been compared to known samples of Westinghouse micarta and it appears that this is almost certainly what it is.

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It is quality material that machines well, polishes evenly and is more thoroughly resin impregnated and harder than material I can find available today. It is proven to be "good stuff". The material is natural color but has aged into a deep brown throughout most of the thickness from oxygen, but there are some areas that are lighter in color, so it is streaky and multi color. It's actually a really cool look IMO. I will book match the pieces as I saw it up and make sure the two sides of the knife are a good match, but you get what you get. If you want light color, multi color or solid dark you can request it and if we have it I'll try to match up people's request with available scales, but understand this color is naturally occurring and varies and you get what you get, probably mostly solid dark brown.
 
2 Light choppers

First one ...buffed VIP , purple screws , extra set of orange Terotuf scales with shiny torx screws

Second one ... buffed VIP , blue screws


Thank you CPK!

1/15 invoiced

1/29 Paid
 
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In
One SC (medium) chopper, please.
Edit: 01/15/25
Buffed Burlap micarta with shiny Ti fasteners and an extra set of Grey Teroruf with Shiny Ti fasteners.
Invoice received and paid 01/15
Thank you!

1/29 Paid
 
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THANK YOU to the team at Carothers for making this pre-order possible during an especially difficult and trying time. I and everyone else here appreciates you!

Can't believe I made it on the first page, that's a first. IN for a quantity of 1x Standard (medium) Chopper. Email to be sent within a few days. Have a great weekend everyone!

Standard (medium) Chopper
- upgrade to Standard size (0.220" thick)
- Shiny Titanium fasteners, raw silver
- Double Red (Maroon) Canvas Micarta, NOT buffed

User edit Jan 11/2025, 1:16 PST - email sent to Jo as per the instructions, thank you!
User edit Jan 15/2025, 12:15 PST - invoice received and paid
 
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