Oh Golly.... What A Weekend...!!

Originally posted by Josh Feltman
Bruise-- How do you sharpen your erasers? I can never get mine to take a decent edge.
--Josh
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I'd expect Bruise to tell us that they come from the factory sharper than his knives. :rolleyes:

Josh: How does your monster AK stack up to Dan's? My memory says it's chunkier, but that may just be from viewing in person.
 
Originally posted by Yvsa
This is what caused the beautiful YCS to be canceled as
well.:( :( :( :(

Now y'all know why I've been bitchin' about it for so long, hunh?:rolleyes: :p
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If they come back with an edge that doesn't do that, I still want a YCS.
 
Maybe we need to start ordering them blunted, like the cheap Indian khuks (not to confuse which Indians I refer to)

Anyway, after reading this thread and the Monster Khuk thread, I'm beginning to actually believe I need a 5 pounder that's longer than my arm, and that I'd use it for something besides calisthenics! :D
 
Dan, Nice looking knife man! I love the blade shape and the handle. Hell, I like everything about it. Must make some hidden tangs someday. BTW, I epoxied the 2nd handle slab on my cantina khuk tonight. Slowly but surely.

Sorry about the GRS. I think it was more than edge geometry, don't you? Either it was just a little too hard, or the steel was a simple high carbon instead of the 5160. The fact that there are so few failures like that always amazes me. The kamis don't have the technology, but they have steel in their genes. Hard to beat 30-50 years experience.

Again nice work.

Steve
 
I sharpen my erasers with a piece of paper on a mouse pad.

So far I've only seen the large blades fail this way. Is this because the smaller ones don't cut as deep? If they twist when they hit the wood a deeper cut puts more stress on the blade. A shallower cut perhaps just twists out of the wood, while a deeper cut twists and snaps the blade. :confused:
 
Good stuff! The woods movies have a "Blair Witch" feel to them. The sound of the blades cutting paper is like kung-fu theater sound FX!

>Schwash!<

I have that same fear about the YCS thinnly gound and my HI Falcata. That thing has no business cuttin hard targets. Course, it was never intended to cut wood.

Sher, he's the man now when it comes to convex grinds.

Keith
 
Dan, Really fun thread. Enjoyed the woods videos alot. Thanks for showing off the cleaver. It is shaving sharp. You should lop a leg of lamb in half next test.
 
This is a terrific thread Pen!
And I haven't even seen your clips yet.
Have to fix(re-install?) my media player, but will be gone all day. So hope you can keep this up for couple days more.
Tests? Comparisons? Very:cool:

Moose antler knife is amazing!

GRS:eek: :eek: :(

Can't wait to see rest of your week-end.
Shirley
 
Originally posted by Ferrous Wheel
The woods movies have a "Blair Witch" feel to them.
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Good eye, Keith...
The "Blair Which?" projects were indeed filmed right here.


Bruce - glad you enjoyed the thread. I've tried large pieces of meat with it, but I can't strike at anything with a lot of force because it will surely destroy the cabinets beneath it!! (cheapos) The cleaver is quite heavy and cuts nicely on the roll cut.


Shirley - looks like my bandwidth is doing ok, so I'll leave it up probably over the weekend.


Bruise - I agree with Yvsa: the blade only snapped where it was "thinning" due to the hollow grind. In other words, none of the chips came out of the thicker part of the blade. The GRS is a bit thinner anyway (thinner than the AK Bowie). If it had had a convex edge - I think it might not have failed. The blade was never used to pry. The branches were lopped off with one or two swipes.
 
Wow....I just went back and re-read everything. There's a lot to digest here!

Maybe that's why y'all missed so many of my "one-liners"...



Here's the conclusion:


The King of Choppers

The 25" AK is hailed by Bill as the King of choppers - which it no doubt is. This one is a monster indeed ~ 5 lbs. I realized after watching the videos again that it doesn't look as heavy (in the video) as it felt in my hand. When I unsheathed it for the first time, I was concerned I would not be able to one-hand it very much, if any at all. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was only tempted once or twice to use 2 hands - and those were because of laziness, not because of fatigue. Indeed, it is heavy and you wouldn't want it as your only khuk out in the bush. But let it be said that it's not as heavy/clumsy/awkward as it might seem. It became very easy to swing with only a few minutes of adjustment.



The "Swipe"

I used this to keep the blade clean as I worked. By the time I got home - there was no residue left on the blade. Since then, there has been no discoloration either. Sometimes sap and tree fluids can tarnish a khuk and this proved to be an excellent way to prevent that. Also, leaving them on the table for a few hours to acclimate to the room temperature/humidity before resheathing them helps.



The Convex Edge

Basically, if you have a large chopping instrument - a convex edge will bring it to its fullest potential. For those that don't keep their khuks razor sharp - that's ok. A convex edge will still outperform a flat grind in chopping. (Hmmm....sounds like a good idea for a new round of tests now...:eek: )



The Moose knife

I spent some time last night putting on a hand-rubbed finish and some Briwax. I think I'll call it finished. I have a love/hate relationship with this thing - something I'm sure Bruce understands. I may sell it just so I don't have to worry about it. (make sense?) *groan*



The AK Bowie

Got the same treatment as the moose knife - rub and wax. I also cleaned up the sheath - inside and out. It's finally something I'm proud of (vs. embarassed to see). It came to me in poor condition.




The "Big Picture"

I didn't do this thread as a "Look what I do" write-up (hope it didn't come across that way). I am not a knifemaker. Just an enthusiastic guy with a good camera and a persuadable spouse. There isn't anything here that most of you would not be able to do already. Just wanted to show the potential...contribute to the "Big Picture" of khukuri-ownership - to the user side.




(wonder what Sarge thinks...:D )
 
Originally posted by pendentive
I didn't do this thread as a "Look what I do" write-up (hope it didn't come across that way).
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Naw, I think I learned a few things from the pics and vids. When I get a camera I'll probably start doing the "look what I can do" pics. :D You keep posting the informative stuff, and I'll post the self serving drivel.
 
I don't really count this next bit as part of my test or my projects, but......I couldn't hold it any longer...!! :eek:

They're just 2 blade blanks that showed up Friday morning courtesy of Clint Chisan of Strathmore, Canada. I was just so floored by the 2 blades I thought I'd include them here.

The first one is a Recurve Design that I drew up and sent to Clint (which he executed to perfection) - anybody recognize the overall "feel"...?!??

recurve05.jpg


:eek:

:D


This blade is amazing. In making this blade, Clint went way beyond the laundry list of requests I sent him. The distal taper of the tang is just incredible.

recurve01.jpg



It goes from 3/16" down to 1/16" on both ends. Just spectacular. Just for fun, I placed it spine down on the toolchest - it's perfectly balanced. (I must admit to wasting a few minutes rocking it back and forth while drooling....*slurp* !! :D )

recurve04.jpg



Close-up of the pointy end:

recurve02.jpg



Close-up of the ricasso/choil area:

recurve03.jpg
 
Next is a Bowie.

Clint told me it would just be one of his "standard-issue" designs. He even sent pics of the finished product. It wasn't until I got this thing that I realized just how big it is. Outstanding!

bowie05.jpg


bowie01.jpg


bowie02.jpg


bowie03.jpg


bowie04.jpg



Here are the 2 blanks next to the moose knife for comparison:

all3.jpg



Again, this is best damascus I have ever had in my possession. I am so excited to finish these projects up. Admittedly, it was a strange request on my part (something that most knifemakers might not agree to). But in the end, Clint proved to be an outstanding maker with a heckuvalotta trust, integrity and just plain-ole "eye for details".




Thanks to all for letting me go off on my pic-n-video-postin'-tirade.

Hope you enjoyed it!!

Dan

(too excited to rest...)
 
Hope you enjoyed it!!
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DID enjoy it. Half the fun was thinking about the fun you 'guys' were having making the film clips.

What are your plans for the new blades, if you don't mind some nosiness?
 
I can't say just yet. I have too many floating around in my head to decide just yet. I'd like to get some stone or coral pieces to work into it, but those haven't panned out yet.

Seein how the last one took 11 months, don't expect to see this one again for a while...!! :D

That said, does anybody have any suggestions?

Dan
 
Originally posted by Tohatchi NM

Josh: How does your monster AK stack up to Dan's? My memory says it's chunkier, but that may just be from viewing in person.
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I think they are about the same, though it's kinda hard to tell from the picture. The wood handle might make it look a bit smaller too. I dunno...
--Josh
 
Originally posted by pendentive
I'd like to get some stone or coral pieces to work into it, but those haven't panned out yet.

That said, does anybody have any suggestions?

Dan
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Dan that little kurved knife looks an awful lot like the kardas that go with the original YCS.:D :rolleyes: ;)
Thanks for the sincerest form of flattery.;)

I love that raindrop pattern on the Bowie, but the other damascus ain't no slouch either!!!! I've always loved nice damascus!!!!:D

On the other hand Dan good coral is getting harder and harder to find at reasonable prices.
I have some old porous stuff that I use occasionally, but none of that lustful beautiful dark red coral that takes such a beautiful polish.:(
Turquoise can still be had for pretty cheap in nugget form and some really good stuff too!!!!
I haven't been in the market for any for quite a while so all of my old sources I had locally have dried up.
But there are some Western Rock Shops that still sell reasonable and ship to anywhere all over the world.
I'm betting a search on Google for turquoise nuggets would yield a multitude of places to check out.
Some places also have nice cabs of agate, bloodstone, etc, as well that are pretty reasonable considering the work already involved in them.:D
 
When I had the Bar/Lounge/Pkg Store, I had a problem with #3 and #8 Ball, IIRC the #2 Ball from the pool tables missing, occasionally.

I asked the Vendor why those particular balls. He had been having trouble all over Albuquerque. It seems they were very popular for cutting, polishing and making into jewelry items.
 
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