Custom hollow handle survival knife

B

B Finnigan

Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Messages
1,246
I have had a couple cheapo survival knives that were two piece and they both broke with a little use. A couple months ago I go an idea for a one piece integral that would be a forged/machined hybrid. It was made from a 1 1/8" chunk of wrecking bar (1080). The guard is titanium and the pommel is 2011 aircraft aluminum with a compass inbedded. The hollow handle is kevlar thread sealed with epoxy. On the spine are 1/4" saw teeth that are similar to chainsaw teeth and cut very aggresively.

The pommel is also hollow and holds a couple teaspoons of magnesium thermite. The mixture can be flint ignited and burns much hotter then just magnesium shavings.

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The sharpening stone is a 1/4" boride EDM stone that will also work on the saw teeth. The handle is magnesium so I can shave some off as an alternative fire starter. Att eh bottom of the handle is a small chamber that holds a mag-thermite charge when ignited it will also ignite the magnesium handle to function as a signal flare (on a stick).

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I just found this forum and thought you guys might be interested in this knife/system. In a couple days it will be going with me up onto the glaciers of Mt Rainier. Hopefully I will not need it for anything more then a knife.
 
That looks pretty cool, almost looks like a Roman short sword. Take some pics of her in action if you can. Who made it by the way?

Edit: Duh, just saw that you made it ;) Nice work.
 
Awesome work that is a neat looking blade ya made. Could you get some pics of it chopping, sawing and doing any other work to see how she performs.
 
Thanks, this was a test cut on some seasoned maple I did while I was testing out what rake and pitch to cut the teeth. It cut real well before I heat treated the blade and teeth. Afte the test I increased the rake on the teeth by 2 deg.

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On this knife I was not concerned with the visual flow or artistic impression. The entire design was based on what will work the best and not add to the weight. It is very forward balanced just for chopping. The teeth are stout enough I can hit them with a chunk of wood if needed to use the knife as a wedge or splitting maul.

It seems like the knife forums are overrun with pretty knives but I am always more interested in function. I enjoy forging and building art knives but sometimes all you really need is function. When mother nature is trying to kill you slowly with hypothermia it won't matter if the handle is burl or curly maple.

The mag-thermite mixture has 10% titanium cuttings mixed in. They give a good long hot ember after the initial combustion of the magesium.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pMXlTggWU4
 
I'm loving that blade, man. I must admit, at first sight my first thought was that was one ugly knife, but then I looked closer and read your description. And then, just as always happens when I see a knife that puts function ahead of form, it became a thing of beauty.


I applaud you, my good man.
 
Thanks. On my first attempt I forged a bowie clip on it but it interferred with the saw teeth tracking right. With a regular spear tip all the teeth get utilized. My intentions were to base the concept on Jimmy Lyle's survival bowie that Stallone used in First Blood.

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It is a very cool looking knife but the teeth on the clip point are un-usable.
 
I have to say that is a very well thought out knife or actualy a peice of equipment . A knife and fire what else could you want.
 
Not to be a pain...can you post some pics of the spine and teeth...I am a hobbyist knife maker and love to reverse engineer stuff in my head;)
EDIT: I forgot to ask the overall dimensions as well. Thanks, Gene
 
Don't worry about being a pain. The forums are for the exchange of info and concepts.
The blade is 10 1/2" and 16" O/A. Here are two pics of the jig I used to cut the teeth. It's 1/4" 1095 that was hardened but not tempered. I wanted the file teeth to slide on it and not cut in. The same jig was used for the tooth pitch and the rake angle.

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Cool! I was wondering about the teeth..I am planning a WSK build, I like the style of your blade..I think the spearpoint makes alot of sense in the woods. Did you find that the saw cuts well because of the flat grind...I have this crazy idea that when I do my WSK build, I want to flat grind the stock out of 5/16 stock, and then put secondary bevels for the standard look, I came up with this plan so that the blade would be the widest at the tooth, and then it would have less drag. I figure the knife won't be much heavier, with the amount of stock removal that I would have to do to finish the grinds. I don't think the WSK is the "best" knife for the woods..but it sure is tempting to make one...alot of work and a big payoff in pride at the end.
I like your knife, looks like a brute of a blade. Let us know how it works in the wild, and don't forget your camera! Gene
 
giant ramboknife

was my first thought, and then i read the specifics

very interesting eye for detail
 
Gene, The blade is a convex grind so the widest point is the teeth. A flat grind would also work. I put a very small offset or pitch on the teeth but it turns out it is not needed. They cut just "dirty" enough that no offset is needed. I sharpen them just like chainsaw teeth with the round EDM stone.

Good luck on the build! I screwed up three blades before I got one to turn out. It was a new concept or idea for me that I have not tried. Cutting the teeth by hand took an entire day and I burned up three files.
 
I've never heard of magnesium thermite. It's 45% magnesium, 45% red iron oxide, 10% titanium? Or 90% magnesium, 10% titanium oxide?
 
It's my own mix but I am sure it's been done before. I use a 50/50 mix of black iron oxide and magnesium powder and then add 10% of that weight with titanium cuttings. Other metals would also work to hold the ember I just had alot of Ti cuttings from another project handy. Metals with a lower burning temp would not work as well like aluminum, lead, tin etc.
 
B Finnigan said:
It's my own mix but I am sure it's been done before. I use a 50/50 mix of black iron oxide and magnesium powder and then add 10% of that weight with titanium cuttings. Other metals would also work to hold the ember I just had alot of Ti cuttings from another project handy. Metals with a lower burning temp would not work as well like aluminum, lead, tin etc.
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I watched your video on youtube and that is an amazing firestarter. Where would one go about getting the magnesium powder and the black iron oxide, inorder to add this to to my personal survival kit ?

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
The Ti acts as a moderator or choke to the reaction. Otherwise you would get a very hot but fast reaction. The iron oxide is an oxygen donor to the magnesium as it burns. The burn process is just to heat the Ti up to a molten state.

I had to grind the magnesium powder with a die grinder stone chucked into the mill/drill. I have a chunk of magnesium that i used and had a plastic container underneath to catch the cuttings/powder. You can get black and red iron oxide from united nuclear.
http://www.unitednuclear.com/chem.htm They also carry uranium if your supplies are geting low or the nuclear reactor in your basement is just not putting out the power it was after you built it.

If you look around some scientific supply websites you should be able to find magnesium powder. It is restricted to ground shipment only.

There is also a formula that uses water to start a fire. I will very soon get some to play with. United nuclear carries the chemicals needed and the formula.

http://www.unitednuclear.com/negx.htm

Neg x can be ignited with spit, sweat or urine if needed. It loks like if you keep the zinc seperate it is a stable mixture but once you add the zinc dust the smallest amount of water will torch it off. I am not sure i would want that chemical combo inside my knife handle. If the chemical somehow got mixed and there was any moisture present it could become a grenade.

Here is a video of the reaction. Obviousely it should be slowed down to be a good emergency firestarter but it has some potential.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUiTxv5GwCs
 
That is so ugly it is beautiful- does she has a single twin sister willing to wed. :) Amazing job.

You should get a patent on the sharpener, if you can. I've never seen it before, but I like it a lot! If you sell it for commercial production, let us know- I want one.
 
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