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Marchone, read Sarge's post below. He has a stack of blades and a plethora of belts. Sounds to me like he's getting ready to grind some out.
Speaking of Mike's Kephart, I came REAL close to using mine today. The dang thing is so nice I just don't wanna mess it up. I realize...
Use = patina and love
Non-Use = pristine condition
Maybe next time I'll take the plunge and show it some love.
I have never, ever, had a knife I wouldn't use before this one. It's just too dang beautiful.
Been away for a while, have been catching up on this thread just now. Damn! Those are some fine looking kepharts.
Although I haven't been able to use it nearly as much as I would have liked, I still really like my BK62. However, one downside is that it doesn't seem to keep an edge for very long. It's also not stainless. I wish I could just have the design of the BK62 or @Mike McCarter 's Kephart but in a more modern stainless steel. Alas, I probably can't afford such a thing right now, but I am curious if it's possible.
Can you get Big Chris or one of the other makers to maybe make one for you in modern steel?
I think LT Wright has a Genesis in AEBL or 3V.
Anybody ought to be proud to own any of those blades. VERY nice.I was going to mention the Genesis but decided it was different enough that maybe it's not quite the same. Mostly, the handle is much more round vs. the flat handle on the BK62.
L Lodd I'm surprised that the BK62 doesn't hold an edge well for you. I know it's pretty thin but that usually means it holds an edge longer for slicing task. Are you losing the edge processing wood or standard cutting stuff like food prep?
The genesis is a great knife. I'm partial to the bushcrafters myself. LT did just come out with a genesis 5, which adds an inch to the blade length of the genesis. The bushcrafter Mark II is one of my favorite blades to use.
I probably already showed this pic, but it's a nice shot of the BK62, genesis, and Mark II. Mine are A2 as I enjoy it and I don't feel the price for 3V is worth it. The bushbaby was 3V, but it didn't fit me well so I traded it off. I would love some 52100 in LT's line, truth be told. Favorite non-stainless user steel.
Both, but obviously faster when I use it for wood carving when compared to food prep. It's an allround knife, after all. It's probably just because modern steels have spoiled me. If you've been using CPM 3V or hardened customs for a while, the transition to softer 1095 probably takes some getting used to. Although I do feel it's a missed opportunity to just make this in 1095.
Ka-Bar Becker has chosen not to make the BK62 very hard, at 56-58 HRC. I've been reading Kephart's book lately (the knife inspired me to get it, still working through it). Kephart mentions the knife shouldn't be too hard, because it would break when subjected to hard obstacles, like a hard bone for instance, and you would be in the middle of nowhere with a broken knife. One should consider that 100 years aago, metallurgy waasn't at the same level it was now, so it was probably good advice for the time. Perhaps Becker set out to remain faithful to this particular aspect of the historical knife, which I can respect.
Still, with todays technology and innovations, it should be very possible to create a knife with harder steel (longer edge retention), that is still tough enough to withstand the possible mishaps of being out and about. Mr. Kepharts reservation of 100 years ago was good advice at the time, but I think we've progressed beyond this particular issue. Obviously, a lot of his advice still stands, but in reading the book, you can also see a lot of things that have been left behind in the times. It's what makes it so interesting to me.
I'm rambling, but I'll ramble a little more before ending this post. We've had a few faithful reproductions of the Kephart (colclesser bros) pattern. They were very cool and interesting as case studies: what happens if we try to make this knife a century later? Especially the BK62 is interesting in this regards, having to operate in the confines of modern production and market environments. Now, as another case study, wouldn't it be cool to try and apply all our innovations and best practices on this same pattern? To see how far we've come in the past century.
Hello. New to this journey. Just got a Condor Kephart blade. Any suggestions as to wood type? I have seasoned Dogwood, Mahogany, Bokote, Eucalyptus etc. River Birch.
Ethan Becker did want to remain faithful to the original Colclesser knife designed by Horace Kephart. Frankly, Kabar did one heck of a job overall. The aspect of time and technology is primarily what draws me to the Kephart books. A secondary appeal is the fact that Colclesser was located in the area I grew up in and in fact worked at a factory in El Dorado PA (Altoona) when I was in college. Kephart resided in the Smoky Mts and was instrumental to the development of this wonderful park. What a monumental effort to create Smoky Mountain National Park in the early 1900's by citizens, businesses, and government!....Ka-Bar Becker has chosen not to make the BK62 very hard, at 56-58 HRC. I've been reading Kephart's book lately (the knife inspired me to get it, still working through it). Kephart mentions the knife shouldn't be too hard, because it would break when subjected to hard obstacles, like a hard bone for instance, and you would be in the middle of nowhere with a broken knife. One should consider that 100 years ago, metallurgy wasn't at the same level it was now, so it was probably good advice for the time. Perhaps Becker set out to remain faithful to this particular aspect of the historical knife, which I can respect.
Still, with todays technology and innovations, it should be very possible to create a knife with harder steel (longer edge retention), that is still tough enough to withstand the possible mishaps of being out and about. Mr. Kepharts reservation of 100 years ago was good advice at the time, but I think we've progressed beyond this particular issue. Obviously, a lot of his advice still stands, but in reading the book, you can also see a lot of things that have been left behind in the times. It's what makes it so interesting to me.
I'm rambling, but I'll ramble a little more before ending this post. We've had a few faithful reproductions of the Kephart (colclesser bros) pattern. They were very cool and interesting as case studies: what happens if we try to make this knife a century later? Especially the BK62 is interesting in this regards, having to operate in the confines of modern production and market environments. Now, as another case study, wouldn't it be cool to try and apply all our innovations and best practices on this same pattern? To see how far we've come in the past century.
Hello. New to this journey. Just got a Condor Kephart blade. Any suggestions as to wood type? I have seasoned Dogwood, Mahogany, Bokote, Eucalyptus etc. River Birch.
Hi Bikerector and Henry. Thanks for your response. I have a beautiful piece of Bokote. That settles it! I just epoxied the handle onto a Tennessee Bowie. Used Brazilian Cherry. Seems as though it will do the blade justice. Planning on a left side cross body draw 45 degree angled sheath for it. Cant zero in on stain shade. Impulse is dark Bison. Thoughts?I think I’d go with the bocote, too. I have a Condor blade and a piece of maple, but I’m not wild about it for this knife, in part because I do not have the tools to cut it into slabs that I can shape into a handle. If you use walnut, your knife will just look like an off-the-shelf Condor (not that there’s anything wrong with that). My bocote knives look very good, sometimes spectacular.
Nice pointed response. Depending on the knife I might contrast the sheath. For this gorgeous Bowie with a somewhat lighter handle i'm looking at dark and wet forming the top to curl around the lower part of the handle. Might sound wacky but I feel the sheath is part of the knife and its mission is to protect. Good even dark Bison Brown with a small embellishment laid in. I really like your suggestion of Sage. Never thought of that. Cool.Henry Beige good point on the walnut, I forgot that condor uses that extensively.
Frank Perricone do you want the colors to match the knife or do you want it to contrast? That's usually my first question and it at least gets you to light or dark shades. I feel like a nice deep brown, light tan/natural, or black are kind of the standards that go with anything. I do love a nice burgandy or sage color, given a good handle to match.