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As you dont have a paid membership, you cant PM anybody.
You can VM though - go to the members profile page and write a message.
THE Hollow Handle Knife Thread
- Thread starter Sam Wilson
- Start date
You can VM though - go to the members profile page and write a message.
Thanks! I am not used to forums restricting that feature. Much appreciated.
Mark Knapp
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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In an earlier thread I talked about an extensive batoning test I did with my knives. At issue is the question of weather or not hollow handle knives and knives in general can be built strong enough to hold up to rigorous batoning. My plan was to baton a full cord of fire wood into kindling size pieces. The knife suffered a catastrophic failure somewhere near the 1/4 of a cord mark, the blade broke off at the ricasso . It looked like there had been a stress riser at the notch where the tang fits into the guard. All of my knives have a no-questions-asked life time warranty and I have not received any 1911s back for any reason, but people need to be confident in their equipment. That's why I test them as extensively as I do.
I began a search for solutions.
On this batch I left small radii at the inside corners where the tang enters the guard. I have differentially heat treated the blades and annealed the joint after welding the blades in. I am expecting/hoping for really good results.
14 of these knives are going to customers for testing by them, one of them is going to the Brooks Range with me for my 350 mile survival test, then it will be baton tested in a cord of wood. On the right are four of my new survival ulus. Two of them have new homes but one will go with me to the Brooks Range and the other will be tested here.
The Survival Ulu can be used as an ulu or it can be fitted with a handle to make it a quite formidable hatchet. It accepts the gear compartment like the knives do.
We use 1911 magazines for the survival gear compartment. All that stuff fits in there, the door is a diamond hone, inside goes the magnesium ferric rod, needles, fish hooks, synthetic sinew, Leatherman Micra, and the Readyman Card with spinners, snare locks, arrow heads, fish gigs, hooks and more. On the thong is a LED flashlight.
For those that don't know, the knife was modeled after the 1911 Colt Auto so that we can use the magazine for the gear compartment or carry an extra fully loaded magazine for the Colt Auto. These grip frames are casted for us in 304 stainless.
My CNC milling machine makes the grip frames ready to accept a blade, the scales and the catch release.
I will keep you posted on the testing, and the trip.
Thanks for looking, Mark
I began a search for solutions.
On this batch I left small radii at the inside corners where the tang enters the guard. I have differentially heat treated the blades and annealed the joint after welding the blades in. I am expecting/hoping for really good results.
14 of these knives are going to customers for testing by them, one of them is going to the Brooks Range with me for my 350 mile survival test, then it will be baton tested in a cord of wood. On the right are four of my new survival ulus. Two of them have new homes but one will go with me to the Brooks Range and the other will be tested here.
The Survival Ulu can be used as an ulu or it can be fitted with a handle to make it a quite formidable hatchet. It accepts the gear compartment like the knives do.
We use 1911 magazines for the survival gear compartment. All that stuff fits in there, the door is a diamond hone, inside goes the magnesium ferric rod, needles, fish hooks, synthetic sinew, Leatherman Micra, and the Readyman Card with spinners, snare locks, arrow heads, fish gigs, hooks and more. On the thong is a LED flashlight.
For those that don't know, the knife was modeled after the 1911 Colt Auto so that we can use the magazine for the gear compartment or carry an extra fully loaded magazine for the Colt Auto. These grip frames are casted for us in 304 stainless.
My CNC milling machine makes the grip frames ready to accept a blade, the scales and the catch release.
I will keep you posted on the testing, and the trip.
Thanks for looking, Mark
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Nice work with the Survival Ulu. Are you going to put that up on your website as a regular offering?
Mark Knapp
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Thank you. Yes, I plan to.
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It's not easy to know. I don't did that knife; This was made in Brazil in 1.987 as a commemorative knife of 2 years of existence of a guns Brazilian magazine (Magnum) in a limited serie of only 100 knives with this design, by the Brazilian knifemaker Eduardo Navarrete. Navarrete did this when he commanded an handmade sub division within a production cutlery company named Paz & Pazini (which traditionally made another style of cutlery).
Eduardo Navarrete died in 1991, he was a former aeronautical engineer who became a knifemaker on the 80's and he made some very well made hollow handles survival knives in the 80's until the early 90's. Most of this hollow handled knives with different designs between one knife and another, with the exception of this mentioned limited serie made for Magnum magazine. Unfortunately these knives are really very rare to see today in Brazil. Information about these knives is practically impossible to get since that time, before internet.
In another hollow handle survival knife I knew of Eduardo Navarete (inside Paz&Pazini) made, it had 3 different litle holes (one hole of each size) in certain portion of the blade and in this other particular knife, a brazilian magazine reported in 1.985 that the three holes of different sizes on that knife were designed to deal with nails, wires, and metal spores. I do not know if the hole in that knife in the above photo above is the same instance.
Eduardo Navarrete died in 1991, he was a former aeronautical engineer who became a knifemaker on the 80's and he made some very well made hollow handles survival knives in the 80's until the early 90's. Most of this hollow handled knives with different designs between one knife and another, with the exception of this mentioned limited serie made for Magnum magazine. Unfortunately these knives are really very rare to see today in Brazil. Information about these knives is practically impossible to get since that time, before internet.
In another hollow handle survival knife I knew of Eduardo Navarete (inside Paz&Pazini) made, it had 3 different litle holes (one hole of each size) in certain portion of the blade and in this other particular knife, a brazilian magazine reported in 1.985 that the three holes of different sizes on that knife were designed to deal with nails, wires, and metal spores. I do not know if the hole in that knife in the above photo above is the same instance.
Mark Knapp
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Ken Jantz of Jantz Knife Supply has several automatic knife grinding machines that require a hole in the blank to orient the knife in the grinder vice. Most times that hole is in the tang somewhere where it isn't seen. It's possible that this hole is for clamping in machinery for production. Just a thought.
TAH
Gold Member
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If that's the reason, that's kind of shoddy on this knife.
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Mark knapp, first of all, congratulations for your work. I'm a fan of your hollow handle knives since years ago. Eduardo Navarrete was the knifemaker who did this knife in Brazil in 1.987, he used to do all kinds of knives and with all kinds of grindings and blade silhouettes (straight, recurved blade edges, compound...) by hand. I just saw he putting holles in his survival hollow handle knives. On his other survival knives the holles was in other various different areas of the blades and he used to put three holles with different sizes on each holle.
On the bellow photo, you can se one ot this other survival knives and in this particular knife, a 1.985 magazine informed that three holes were made for the owner of the knife use the holles to deal to nails, metal wires and spores. The first photo I shared above are a knife made 2 years after the knives on this new photo. I think Eduardo just reduced the three holles to only one holle over the years. Im not sure about the function of the holle on this above one hole particular knife , but what I know (from what I read) is that Navarrete used to put holles to add extra functions on that survival knives.
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TAH, Just need to look at the pic of that knife, and is immediately evident the opposite of shoddy in every small detail of achievement on that.
This another one Eduardo Navarrete's knife in the below photos is a knife from my personal collection. I can said that the inner tang within the handle has the width of the inner hollow space of the handle, and the length of this tang goes up until to the half of the Length of the whole handle lenght. This bellow knife is older than the knives on the above photos because it is a early Navarrete survival knife, but in this bellow pics is possible to see better the details and check the kind of quality of this other Navarrete knife was made:
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TAH
Gold Member
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Oh, I agree. I don't think the hole is there for the reason Mark suggested. BTW, that sheath is awesome!
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TAH, Just need to look at the pic of that knife, and is immediately evident the opposite of shoddy in every small detail of achievement on that.
This another one Eduardo Navarrete's knife in the below photos is a knife from my personal collection. I can said that the inner tang within the handle has the width of the inner hollow space of the handle, and the length of this tang goes up until to the half of the Length of the whole handle lenght. This bellow knife is older than the knives on the above photos because it is a early Navarrete survival knife, but in this bellow pics is possible to see better the details and check the kind of quality of this other Navarrete knife was made:
Wow. For your own knife, except for the saw design, which would be limited to notches, the quality here is just outstanding... The guard has an aesthetic sense (enhanced by the brass) and is very sensibly proportioned. Just first rate in every respect.
The last time I saw similar blade holes as a survival feature (in a similar quality custom whose origin I forget) they were advertised as bullet-pulling holes (to use the powder as fire-starter of course). Here the smallest of the holes seems too small for bullet pulling...
Could we know blade length and weight on yours?
Gaston
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I completely agree with you about the saw. Definitely (though it seems like it) it is not a saw that works to cut wood.
I see many knifemakers and manufacturers doing the same kind of saw (with teeth design like sawthoth for wood, but grinded on the theth sides) such as Jack Crain, brands like Tops knives and several other famous knifemakers or brands and inform this same toth laterally grinded design are made for cut few different materials, but his information is conflicting and I've personally never taked a definite conclusion about the function.
On the Paz&Pazini/Eduarno Navarrete knives, I saw some survival knives with saws really made to cut wood (like that one of the first photo) and some of his knives with the same saw design of the mine. I would love to quench my doubts about the purpose of that second saw type.
About the measurements of the Paz & Pazini knife I have, this have 21 centimeters blade length and about 33.5 centimeters total knife length. About the exact weight, unfortunately I really don't know. I'm sorry. I would like to have a simple machine to measure the weight of my knives, but I also have those doubts. What I can say is that it is not a very heavy knife for this size seeing the blade, inner tang and buttcap.
About the bullet-pulling holes you told me, This is a interesting information. I've seen a simillar feature on few knives and it was not in hole format, but in a cutted of detail in the back of the blades, designed to remove cartridge caps from a particular size pattern (I will post a photo of a knife like that and this one was made by the brazilian knifemaker Milton Padilha), but I've never seen this bullet pulling function on a knife in hole format. I believe this holles you told me can work to remove bullets caps of different sizes. Without doubt, this info you told me me is very rare and what you described about use the powder to make fire is something that I had never thought, newsworthy and it's amazing to me to know that. Thanks.
Silvano.
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I would be cautious to go and use any info that Gaston444 provides. He has a habit of creating these facts out of thin air. I'm sure that some of what he says is true, but often when pressed for any sort of proof, it never seems to be available.
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As someone who once needed a fire badly and pulled bullets to start it I can tell you that it didn't work. At all. It was a cold wet freaking night.