It Needs More Input!

[Osprey Knife & Tool]

With your affinity for thin steels and modifying current patterns to (K) patterns, I think kitchen knives would suit you incredible well.

I'm picturing a super thin, super slicey K-tipped Deba with a ~6" blade, and an OD bolstered, curly koa Wa handle. The K-tip would make it a bit different than a traditional Deba. You've been playing with hamons, no? What better way than with Japanese inspired kitchen cutlery!

Yes I have been playing with Hamons for a few years, I plan on keeping it up until I can get what I want it to do most of the time. Thats the hard part!
I have been chewing over some true Kitchen designs lately, I do have a few nice references for Japanese style blades, this is a direction I would like to explore. Thank you for the suggestion.

When I clicked on the link to get to this page I was thinking, “ I’ll probably be the only one dreaming of an OKT Japanese style kitchen knife”. Lo and Behold this makes two in a row for you to ponder. Since I work in a pro kitchen I imagine two in fact, a thin vegetable slicer in the nikiri style but just under 8 inches rather than just under 7 as are many production nikiris. I’d love to see this with either SFT or better yet one of your signature killer tapers, with....well hell, how about some more of that spectacular two tone Amboyna burl or some equivalent? I think including a hamon or forced patina would be especially proper for a kitchen blade. The next would be a Gyuto with similar specs ie thin steel SFT or Taper etc. And of course at least a 9 inch cutting edge. Of course I am going to have to get a Bolad with some beautiful wood for the obvious reasons BTW I use my Nomad and clipped Bolad quite a bit at work.

The Japanese styles intrigues me, I will have to study on this subject more!

a true old school kephart in 1/8" TT, cpm154, small hammered flats, terotuf handle. I'd buy it immediately!!!

I have been reading up on this the last few days! Question for you, what draws you to this style blade? Is it the Nostalgia or the utilitarian aspect? If both, which Is what I suspect. Which would you find at the forefront of your desire for one?

I could jump on Bob’s bandwagon with this idea for a modern take on a classic utilitarian knife.

Phil

I would ask if you could please answer the same questions I presented to @Bmurray above. This will better help me understand what to shoot for.

Scagel style; Hidden tang, guard, stacked leather, antler.

I have some references on this style, I have plans to start diving into hidden tangs around the end of the year I hope. I am sure at some point I will do some stacked leather and antler.

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Classic Bowie in a compact version, 4.5 to 5.5 inch clip point blade, for a soldier, I like how they are referred to as sandbox bowies. I have always liked the version put out by Martin Tactical knives. Just the lines themselves are classic. If not this size, what about 3.5. To 4.5? I like the clip point blades similar to the silverfalcon too. Just my 2 cents.

Or another idea, something like a French trade knife with ball end.

Just saw your Ferox and Shrike models, maybe along those lines.

This is in my wheelhouse. I can definitely design a couple of Sand Box Bowies. I would probably end up coming up with a few variations. I have already been brainstorming the idea. The Shrike and the Ferox models are a nod in that direction but, I would like to get into this area in more depth for sure!

Not even close!!!! I want one (or 2, or 3, or 4...)






Mix these two and you have something along the lines of the old Chris Reeves "Aviator" model. I always wanted one of those. The 3.5 to 4.5" utilitarian w/ a piercing point is very attractive from a functional standpoint. Here's pic of the Aviator:

Yes, yes! I like this!

I would love a nice chopper or bowie....Love BAK....big ass knives

Got some in the works!

A Tracker style knife. One particular knifemaker aside, they usually look pretty goofy to me, but I have always wanted to try one.

Less challenging, maybe boring but popular, would be the OKT take on some classic woods knives: kephart, Puukko, a sloyd/carver, "Woodlore." I would be interested to see how you would draw out a Nessmuk style knife as well.

A full tang Hawk

An OKT whose sole purpose is to open other packages of OKTs... Maybe a 4" Kwaiken

I like these Ideas too! I share the same opinion of the tracker style, I would like to get out and use one so I could get my head around the design, the nessmuk I have already been chewing on for awhile. I have a prototype drawn up, along with some belt knife designs and a little game/skinning knife.

I'm not familiar with the sloyd wood carvers...

 

[Osprey Knife & Tool]

I want to open a discussion about handle thickness preferences. This is a subject I have talked to Chris about several times over the years. I am curious what other OK&T fans think on this topic. Please feel free to weigh in with your opinion and/or preferences at the end.

My thesis in this post is that an occasional offering of thicker handles on thin steel knives like Chris makes so well would be a desirable variation on existing models for people who actually use their knives hard and/or those with larger hands or longer fingers.

What led me to bring up this topic today are a couple of Adventure Sworn knives here on loan from my friend Ryan ( @adequacy ) to check out. In exchange, I sent him a couple of Osprey Knife & Tool knives (i.e. Raptor & Mamushi) he was curious about, plus one from another maker.

With the arrival of his knives, I used that as an excuse to pull out a bunch of my knives for some whittling comparison fun on the back patio.

Here are a couple of photos of most of what I had out. The loaner AS knives are a Mountaineer & Woodcrafter (2nd & 3rd from the left.)





All of the knives were plenty sharp and carved just fine. One distinction I noticed when comparing them all side by side was that ones with thicker handles felt more comfortable and effortless to carve with. This is probably because the greater surface area of a thicker handle better spreads the pressure around your palm which reduces fatigue build-up. I also found that I could use less grip pressure with the thicker handles to get the same amount of torque control while carving.

Both of the AS knives are 3/32” steel. The Mountaineer is tapered convex CPM 154 in Desert Ironwood Burl. The Woodcrafter is Scandi SFT O1 in Karelian Birch. The steel thicknesses on my OK&T “K2” Raptor and “K” Apache are similar to these.



The big difference between the two companies is handle shaping philosophy. The Adventure Sworn knives have thick coke bottle shaped handles versus slimmer contoured handles on the OK&T knives.

Both thick and thin handles have their place depending on the application. I am not saying that either one is always better for every application.









My original Raptor from 2015 lacks many of the refinements that characterize Chris’s current work like a tapered tang, 3D handle contouring, and nicer hammer texturing. Even so, it remains my favorite OK&T to use because the slightly thicker handle compared to current standards feels better in my hand and offers more control for applications that take carving type leverage.



Getting back to my original thesis, I would like to see some existing models offered occasionally with a thicker than normal handle for those of us who appreciate that feature in combination with thin blade steel.

I hope that many of you will share your preference(s) on this subject.

Thanks,

Phil

Phil,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post and of course with depth and nice pictures to boot!
I do remember our discussions on the handle thickness topic, this is a tricky subject to tackle, as I try and shape my handle to fit the intended purpose and the majority of the hand sizes out there.

The first contrast I would like to point out which you touched upon in your discussion is Philosophy, I will start with the most contrasting since those are the ones your highlighted on. Adventure Sworn is a true Bushcrafting knife designed for work out in the bush the emphasis is put mostly on this. Most of the knives I have designed up until this point are what I would call Hybrids. I have never up until recently tried to design an exclusive Bushcrafting. That all change with the Vildmark, the handle is designed to be more open, and to have a thicker handle closer to the Adventure Sworn above, but not quite as thick.

The other contrast would be choice of model and handle material for chosen task, I am in no way criticizing these choices, but when deciding to pair the material with the given profile, I try to imagine to type of customer and intended use for these pairings. Example- Your Raptor with Carbon Fiber would in the past leaned on the side of thinner for more comfort in carrying (Yours being on the extreme side and the probably one of the thinnest I have made) I figured the customer who bought the carbon fiber would be less likely to use the knife strictly in the manner you presented. Also with carbon fibers they are not always offered in the array of thicknesses as other materials and I often need to stack materials to gain the appropriate handle thickness. Carbon fiber being extremely expensive I try not to oversize and remove as little material as possible.

Going into the model, The Raptor I designed this knife to be used in the field as a game knife, I could see how the thin steel and blade profile could be useful in carving, but again way outside the intended purpose of the knife.


Most of my designs are purposefully designed as you and other have become accustomed too, I believe this is one thing that draws you and others to my designs. I have and will continue to design multi/purpose Hybrid knives. But I will also continue to design knives that fill the certain niches that my fans and customers desire.

I do believe you brought up some valid points and have given me something to think about going forward. I appreciate your input as always.

With all of that being said, I would encourage you especially and others to look closer at the current stuff I have been making and showing on my website and Instagram page. I think you will find that most of the handles I shape are within the not to thick not to thin range that would make for a comfortable user knife. I good rule of thumb would be safe to assume Micarta will range on the thickest side, with wood falling somewhere in the middle and the Carbon Fibers on the thinner. Of course this all can be changed I have just noticed that is how the cookie tends to crumble lately.

For those who have the need for a out of the norm Thicker or Thinner handle, I have something in the works that will accommodate that real soon! Lots of things in the works and new and exciting things.

 

[Osprey Knife & Tool]

my other suggestion after using my Hog for a while now is to give the handle 1/2" more length and about 1/8" thicker. It would make it about the perfect EDC design.

I have tried to tackle this once before, and I will be honest I wasn't pleased with the end result, Made me feel like I needed to design an entirely separate knife. I felt like I was bastardizing the original design too much.

I think it's a great Idea. I just want to chew on it a little more and design something fitting, instead of just adding something to an already great design! I will start working on this again this fall! Did you happen to remember handling the Orange handled Warthog I made at Blade Show. It had a longer handle, and that was as far as I was willing to stretch that design.

There is also the Razorback to consider that gives you all you desire in the Warthog handle with an Apache shaped blade, might be what you are looking for. I am still going to design an intermediary model though.

 

[Osprey Knife & Tool]

I’d love to see some knives geared more towards wood carving, a sloyd knife, small whittler, etc. I really enjoy character carving but see little that would fit into that category. Osprey Knife & Tool

I am not familiar with sloyds, and vaguely familiar with carving knives, the subject I find interesting, thank you for the suggestion, you are not the first. I will keep this on my short list.

Ok, to be different, what about a friction folder?

I like this Idea, it will require me to learn some new techniques, but it is something I will like to tackle along with hidden tangs. I think Hidden Tangs are more of a priority for me at the moment.

 

[RobbieB]

I could jump on Bob’s bandwagon with this idea for a modern take on a classic utilitarian knife.

Phil

I'd like to see a true Kephart too. 1/8" CPM154, TT with thumb scallops like on the Vildmark.

 

[Choppaman]

I like your language R RobbieB