Finished a few more, 5160 this time

[redneck]

I was about out of blade steel and decided I should try 5160 out for once. I've made these 3 so far and have been using 2 of them. So far I'm impressed with the edge it will take and it seems very tough. It also will stain or rust if you look at it funny. I used to use a lot of O1 and its really not much different on that note, most of them I've kept ended up getting cold blued just to even out the finish.

First one is a camp knife. Forged to rough shape from 1/4 inch stock. Has black linen micarta scales with brass pins. The sheath is a heavily built horizontal carry with some tooling on it. Its about 10 inches OAL, with a 5 inch blade, 4 inches of cutting edge.




I've used this knife on my last couple trail rides and camping trips. I have batoned with it to make kindling, cut feather sticks and done some whittling. It will strike sparks on a ferro rod but not great. I really don't like sharp spines, so I normally just use a striker. So far I'm really happy with it but I wish I would have left the choil off of it. There would be no need to choke your grip up if the cutting edge came all the way to the handle.






2nd in line a small utility knife, with a horizontal belt sheath. This one is stock removal. Very simple, no scales but the stock is thick enough you can get a good grip on it. The sheath can be carried left or right handed, in a cross draw manner. I like it alot. I carry it on trail rides and usually leave the bigger knife in the saddle bags where its not in my way. Really don't notice you have it when you're in the saddle and its plenty of knife unless you're trying to make kindling or build a shelter. 7 inches OAL, 3 inch blade








Most recent is a midsized hunter/bushcraft style knife. More black linen micarta, I'm going to have to shop for some handle material. This has a very beefy vertical belt sheath with some tooling. Forged it from 1/4 inch stock, it has a lot of distal taper. I think 3/16 would have been better for a knife this size but it cuts like a much thinner blade. 3.5" blade and a little over 8 inches OAL.









Thanks for looking

 

[hso]

Neat!

Where's the balance point on each?

 

[Valkman]

These are flat ground, correct? I think they are great! I am especially looking at your sheaths since I think I will be making them soon. I hope.

 

[redneck]

Thanks, I like knives to balance right about at my index finger and don't always get it but I try.

The camp knife balances pretty close to the first pin towards the front edge of the scales. The small one's balance point is in between the 2 holes closest to the blade, the medium hunter a little handle heavy but feels good in the hand to me. I could do a lot of carving/whittling with it and not get fatigued.

I normally make my handles on the big side, but do a lot of contouring on them and avoid finger grooves and shapes that dictate a specific size hand. I wear an extra large glove, and find alot of knives are short in the handle. Busse knives look cool in pictures to me, but I've never felt like a I could get a good grip on one in person.

 

[redneck]

Thanks Valkman
They are flat ground. My plunges were a lot better when I was hollow grinding but I'll get that figured out. I used to hollow grind everything on a 10 inch wheel but have found myself preferring flat grinds lately. I have some older knives I've had for years that I hollow ground and I feel like I almost need to re-grind them and thin the blades back out after all the sharpening.
On a flat grind, the primary edge gets wider as the blade gets thicker but it doesn't seem like the geometry changes as dramatically over time. Maybe its just in my head though. For a hollow grind, I do think the bigger the wheel the better, I used an 8 inch wheel for awhile and definitely prefer the 10.

I think my sheaths are improving but I make a lot of mistakes still. Really need to plan it out from start to finish and figure out what order to do your stitching in etc.

 

[Valkman]

I wear an extra large glove, and find alot of knives are short in the handle.

Same here. I like a lot of handle (wear a 2X glove) and always put 5" of handle on a knife even if the blade is 2". Finger grooves and fancy grinding on the handles always seemed to me like it would be uncomfortable if actually used.

I like hollow grinding but have made some flat grind knives. I agree on the 10" wheel. It's when you get the middle so thin it blows out it's a problem.

 

[JShirley]

Thanks for sharing those with us.

I'm surprised you're finding rust to be such an issue. In my experience, 52100 will rust if you look at it, but 5160 is surprisingly rust resistant.

 

[redneck]

Well it isn't really rust, I can't complain, but they do stain. The camp knife I made for myself to put through its paces and it has unintentionally been treated like a beater. I've probably only wiped it down once in the last couple months, despite it riding about 50 miles in the saddle bag of a sweaty horse, getting covered in sap from various trees, and usually ending up behind the seat of my truck when its all said and done.
The blade itself is still nice and clean and I guess that's because its protected by the sheath. You can see some staining around the tang though. I keep it sharp (which really hasn't required any more than stropping) but haven't made any effort to keep it pretty. I guess I should say that 5160 requires maintenance, and not say that it rusts easily.

 

[hso]

Glad you cleared that up since I was puzzled as well. Have you tried tapering you tangs to move the balance points more towards your index finger? That way you could keep the thickness where it matters and tune the balance with a hole or two.

 

[rcmodel]

Very nice!!!!

How did you cut the U shaped hole in the tang on that last one???

rc

 

[JShirley]

A bottle of mineral oil is silly cheap, and a few drops on your knife, then wiped off after you've gotten gunk on it will keep you happy and your knife functional.

 

[redneck]

HSO
So far tapered tangs haven't interested me, but I am probably bound to try it in the long run. The camp knife and utility knife both balance pretty well with just holes in the tang, and the medium hunter is only a little off, balancing between my index and middle finger.

RC
That is supposed to be a horse shoe. I drilled a series of holes and then connected them with needle files. I should have spent some more time on it but this one was for me, for fun.

JShirley
Its just laziness on my part. Its almost guaranteed that I have silicone spray in my truck box, and I have every type of gun oil at home. I won't let them get trashed but I'm not the best about wiping them down and keeping them pretty.

On the flip side, I have an older knife in O1 I used to use for the same role, and I rust browned the blade similar to a muzzle loader barrel. It didn't take a nice deep finish like a gun barrel,but it has required almost no maintenance since then.

 

[JShirley]

Well, normal use of a 5160 blade, with just a bit of rust prevention lube, will develop a nice patina over time. I've had some 5160 blades I did lots of brush work with. I never spent more than a minute cleaning them up, and I never had problems unless they got left in a damp place.

 

[MyGreenGuns]

Awesome. I like the lettering on the spine, nice touch.

Ive started making a couple knives. Im absolute rookie though.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Great work and Craftsmanship.

 

[redneck]

Thanks guys, I have more in progress