[Marathonman]

I'm curious to know how the blades from Jantz compare in quality to some of the big name manufacturer's blades. For example, a $20 blade blank steel is roughly equivalent to a $60 kabar in terms of steel quality.

Certainly there are many many models, so I'm just looking for a rule of thumb or an example or two.

Thanks

[Black Toe Knives]

I have made up a few of blades from Jantz. They are much higher quality.
You don't put $30.00 blades on $70.00 knives. Jantz blades you would find on 150.00 plus knives.

[hso]

Jim is correct. Jantz (and the other knife supply/kit companies) provide blades of a very high quality.

A $60 kabar is a $30 knife to the guy you bought it from. He paid $25 for it, the distributor he bought it from paid $20, and Kabar's cost was perhaps $15. Of that $15 the labor involved was probably half the cost. The handle, guard, fasteners, butt cap AND the blade was the other half.

Be sure to use blades from reputable sources like Jantz to be sure you get a good quality blade.

[Old Fuff]

Interesting, but would someone please post a link for those of us on the somewhat ignorent side??

Thanks. :)

[JTW Jr.]

I had a friend who bought a lot of blades from Jantz , they are good quality. Seems they use different steels for certain blanks , some they tell you what the steel is , some is doesn't say. AUS-8 and 440C seems to ring a bell for most of those.

You will be make a nicely finished blade from those at Jantz. Unlike the folder kits sold thru knifekits.com , the Jantz fixed blades have nice grinds and hold a decent edge.

[Dirty Bob]

Old Fuff:
I'm happy to help. The link is: http://www.jantzsupply.com/.

+1 on Jantz blades. I've bought a number of them over the years. For low cost and good quality, I like the "Green River" blade line (http://www.jantzsupply.com/cartease/search-products.cfm?field=categories.primary&string=Green%20River&string2=Blades). I've made some very nice gift knives with the GR "Ripper" blade. It's thin, light and very useful. What they're calling the "Drop Point Belt Blade" (http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/item-detail.cfm?ID=RH050) is a very good choice for general outdoors use.

Another inexpensive source of very good blades is the extensive line of Mora (Frost and Eriksson) knives. I take the handles off and have a very good blade for a project knife. For some reason, the finished knives are less expensive than many of the Scandinavian blades for sale. Perhaps the blades made for knife makers are of better quality, but I've been very happy with the quality of the Moras. For "utility" knives, and for first projects, though, the blades from Mora knives are hard to beat. I get all mine from Ragnar (http://www.ragweedforge.com/).

Enjoy! Knife making is addictive, and you can get a great knife with very little money but a lot of satisfaction.

Regards,
Dirty Bob

[Old Fuff]

Thanks, I'll look into it. :)