[NitroV Hunter]

Thanks mate

[NitroV Hunter]

This one is 3mm NitroV steel, with a full flat grind and a tapered tang. Handles are Spotted Gum, with red G10 liners, brass Loveless bolts & brass lanyard tube. The pattern of this knife draws very heavily from the Bark River Gunny Hunter.

I had some Auctioneers Promise red oil and gun stock oil sitting here and have been thinking about trying it on a knife handle for a while. I had been a bit nervous about the red oil in particular as I didnt want it to dominate the colour of the handle timber by darkening it too much. I was initially a bit underwhelmed with the spotted gum after I hand sanded it, as it just looked like a very plain piece of light wood. I hit it with one coat of red oil and it was amazing how it brought the figure out in the wood. I stopped after a second coat of red oil, then gave it 14 coats of the gun stock oil and think it came up great.

 

 

 

 

[Hi Vis knife Mark II]

1 hour ago, Gibbo 30.06 said:

That’s awesome 

Thanks mate 👍

[Hi Vis knife Mark II]

2 hours ago, Duncs said:

Very, very nice work 👍

Thanks mate 👍

[Hi Vis knife Mark II]

1 minute ago, advpat said:

Awesome knife, you are doing a great job. I like the high viz, there's less chance of leaving them behind

Thanks. That is definitely what I was going for. I like wood handles a lot, but its hard to beat the practicality of a brightly coloured synthetic handle.

[Hi Vis knife Mark II]

So after making my last attempt at a night visible knife, I was asked by someone to make the same knife for them. I wasn't entirely happy with the last handle material, so did some some more searching online and found what seemed like a good alternative and ordered a set to try.

This new handle material has decent luminosity - the best I have found so far. I would rate it similar to good luminosity on a watch. The material is a little softer than I would like. Its fine for use on a knife, but I have to watch it when I grind the shape on the handle as the belt rips material off quicker than I am used to.

The blade is 3mm NitroV with a tapered tang and a distal taper to a pretty sharp point. The handle is luminous Chinesium with an orange G10 liner and Loveless bolts. I was also asked to make a Kydex belt sheath, so did it in orange in keeping with the high viz theme. It was only at the last minute while I was taking photos that I realised I got a bit ahead of myself at glue-up of the handles and forgot to engrave my logo on the blade. I will get a friend to laser etch my mark because I dont like to electro etch the blade once the handles are on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Same same, but different]

7 hours ago, 17dave said:

Another great looking knife RT.

We'll all be signing up for your knife making school when you open it.

Thanks mate 👍

[Same same, but different]

14 hours ago, Dave9.3x62 said:

Nice work.

How do etching?

Most high carbon Damascus is etched in a ferric chloride mixture, then often given a finish etch in coffee. The first time I tried making a knife with stainless Damascus, I tried Ferric, but it didnt touch it. Despite trying for increasingly longer periods, Ferric brought out virtually no pattern at all. 

The last two knives I have actually successfully made from this stainless Damascus, I have used hydrochloric acid for the etch. It does much better, with some pattern emerging within the first minute. Now I am just trying to work out how long to leave it in the etch, so thats still an ongoing process.

 

[Same same, but different]

Another variation on a knife I have made a few times now. I am going to have to come up with a name because I think I will be making a few more soon.

Second time working with Chinesium VG10 Damascus steel. This was a 3mm billet, and the layers are slightly off centre which is a bit of a pain. Guess I cant really expect quality control from Chinese production. Luckily it has enough core steel to sharpen up with a good edge.

Last time I etched Damascus, I left it a bit too long and it etched pretty deep. This time I etched it for much shorter periods. Its probably a little under done this time. I will maybe split the difference next time. The blade is a full flat grind with a tapered tang. Handle is African ebony with thin red G10 liners, mosaic pins and a hand rubbed oil finish.

 

 

 

 

[Experiment with knife handles]

23 hours ago, Foxdog said:

Rifletuner, you say you were a bit disappointed with the luminosity of the handle on that knife.

Is it supposed to be luminous all the time, or is it only as luminous as the "charge" that is applied to it?

 

Its Chinesium and I dont really know what its supposed to do. I just bought it off the photo which made it look pretty bright in the dark, but it didnt turn out that way. For all I know its radioactive waste from a Chinese nuclear submarine encased in resin - but probably not since I expect that would glow better. 🤣🤣🤣

[Experiment with knife handles]

12 hours ago, gryphon said:

RT below is an excerpt from a tale of a stag I took many years ago. Geez I wished I had one like your handle as even a glimmer would have helped me find it. In bold below. I found my GR on a return trip the next morning.

 

Quote: Knowing dark was imminent I took the obligatory photos although with the aid of a flash unit and then making up my mind to head skin and cape him out there and then under my "battery questionable " head lamp I got stuck into him. Then disaster! Placing my Green River skinning knife on the leafy carpet after an initial cut and prior to rolling the stag I simply couldn't find it after the roll over,frig it! EQ:

Hey, thats it. Exactly the sort of thing I had in mind when I went looking for luminous handles  👍

[Experiment with knife handles]

Thanks guys. Appreciate all the comments 👍

[Experiment with knife handles]

So this is another version of the knife I made last year. I wanted to see what I could do with the profile. I bought a set of Chinesium handle scale material that is supposed to glow in the dark, so thought it might make a a handy knife for breaking down animals if you are taking a shot on twilight, or spotlighting, thermalling, whatever. It turned out okay, but its not nearly as visible in the dark as I had expected. The photo below is deceiving as it makes the handles look very visible, but to the naked eye it doesnt look anywhere near as visible..

Anyhow, the blade is NitroV with a full flat grind and tapered tang. The handles have a .5mm black G10 liner and Loveless bolts.

 

 

 

 

[Lion killer knife]

On 27/01/2024 at 1:01 PM, Timb0 said:

That is a very beautiful Knife!  I especially like the handle.

What is SF-100 like? Possibly similar to AEB-L?

Thanks mate. Yes, SF100 is similar to AEBL. I haven't used that particular knife, but other knives Ive made from SF100 have performed pretty well.

[Lion killer knife]

1 hour ago, advpat said:

Beautiful knife

Thanks mate 👍

 

1 hour ago, gryphon said:

I`ve been a fan of HW for 20 odd years ever since reading of the saga `tween him and the  lion.

The black fellas refused to believe that he killed a lion with a knife until they followed the blood trail and found it dead...from gone to hero in minutes and they worshipped him from then on.

The knife looks bloody great RT.

Thanks mate 👍 Its definitely an interesting story. I wonder how many people today would fight back with a knife under those circumstances?

[Made a couple of Christmas presents]

1 hour ago, gryphon said:

Geez mate they look pharking awesome,too good to give to rello`s lol.

Thanks mate 👍

[Lion killer knife]

If you dont know the story of Harry Wolhuter and his "lion killer" knife, its definitely worth a read: https://southafrica.co.za/legend-of-harry-wolhuter.html

The knife itself was made by Thomas Williams Butchers Cutler in London and was from a pattern commonly used for slaughtering sheep in the 1800s. I used the template produced by Pops Knife Supply: https://popsknife.supplies/pages/lion-killer to make my knife.

The blade is 3mm SF100 stainless, with a full flat grind and a tapered tang. The handle is gidgee scales with thin red G10 liners, brass pins & a brass mosaic lanyard tube. Handle finish is hand rubbed Aussie oil.

 

[Made a couple of Christmas presents]

Thanks guys. My brothers were pretty happy with them, so all went well.

[Made a couple of Christmas presents]

9 minutes ago, Duncs said:

They’re fantastic!!  Well done!

I’m amazed at how well the wood took the die. Did you just sit the wood in a bath of it for a time or did you have to force it in under pressure somehow? 

Thanks mate. If you google "stabilised wood" you will see more of the process, but essentially the wood is in a vacuum chamber submerged in the resin mixture. This process pushes air out of the wood and forces the resin in. It can take over a month under vacuum for the wood to fully absorb the resin.

[Made a couple of Christmas presents]

5 minutes ago, grunf said:

Great work. Is it just me seeing things or the top end on the blue handle looks slightly more curved up and taller?

They are almost entirely identical, but getting a good photo without any reflection on the blades is difficult with my bodged up light box, especially with the two knives in frame. So I think what you are seeing is just angles rather than actual differences. In some photos they dont look the same size for the same reason, but in real life they are the same.

[Made a couple of Christmas presents]

Late last year I made my first chefs knife & gave it to my step mother for Christmas. This year I decided to make chefs knives for my two brothers and sisters in law. I asked each of them for their favourite colours, so ended up with blue and pink for one couple, and orange and green for the other couple.

I like making these knives, but phuk is there some grinding to get them done. I start by getting the the profiled blade in 4mm AEB-L heat treated. To get a nice lively & functional blade, I start off grinding a full flat bevel which also gives the blade a distal taper, then grind in a hollow for the "S" grind which lightens up the blade some more and helps with food release, then taper the tang to balance out the blade. I probably grind away 50% of the steel, though I keep forgetting to weigh one before and after grinding.

Then with their colour preferences I had to work out the best way to incorporate the colours into the handles. I had a piece of stabilised maple with blue and pink die through it that I used for one, though unfortunately a lot of the pink in the wood ended up getting ground out of it during the shaping of the handle. I added pink liners, and really wanted to use pink pins as well, but no one in Australia sells them. I could have got them overseas, but left my run too late form them to arrive in time. For the other handle, I made a segmented handle by cutting & joining orange and green G10 on a fine black liner, then glued them up with contrasting orange & green G10 pins.

The whole process took me a lot longer than I expected and I was a bit worried I wouldnt get them done in time. But I finished them yesterday, and will give them out at a family dinner tonight.

 

[Bowie knife]

Just to give some idea of grinding knife bevels, this is a time lapse of me grinding another knife on the weekend. 

 

[Bowie knife]

2 hours ago, Foxdog said:

Looks to be well made with a very nice finish. 

You have posted the dimensions, that puts it into perspective, did you weigh it also?

No I havent. I will try to put it on a scale & see what it weighs

[Bowie knife]

3 hours ago, gryphon said:

Howzabout some dimension specs RT? IE blade length, handle length.

Steel is 5.5 mm, so that is the thickest part on the spine. Overall length is 10.5". Handle is 4.75". Blade is 5.75" long and 1.5" deep at the bevel. The edge is ground to 0.3mm which is where I try to take most user knives to as its a good balance between keeping the edge fairly strong and keeping the edge slicy. If its a bushcrafter knife that might be doing chopping work, I will grind to around 0.4mm or even .5mm, and for a kitchen knife I go for close to a "zero grind" on the edge, so around 0.1mm.

[Bowie knife]

23 minutes ago, gryphon said:

Big strong knife and it looks like its strong enough to cut that cracker in half too.

Thanks mate.