Small Custom Fighter and Camp Knife, both in 5160

[BRad704]

8" OAL
4.5" blade
5160 steel
Hollow ground on 10" wheel
Hand rubbed 320 scratch finish
Green Canvas Micarta and lovelace bolts from USA Knifemakers Supply

I will be making the sheath tonite (black kydex), and this one is going to my dad. It is the second knife I have made specifically for him, but he wants to pay me for this one.

I am always open to opinions and critiques. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
-Brad-






I finished the sheath last night... I am getting more comfortable with each one that I make, and I like this one a lot.



I know I need to clean up the holes in the belt-loop, that is on today's agenda..


Fighter and an all around camp knife I finished last week.

 

[memphisjim]

Wow great design I really like those!!

 

[BRad704]

Thanks Jim!

 

[JShirley]

Very nice. I really like 5160, too.

I prefer the "countenance of his friends" translation...

 

[BRad704]

I started out using 5160 because I had a free supply of it, but after making several knives from it... its a great steel to work with. It might not be surgical, but it makes a great heavy use knife and really does seem to hold an edge well.

I am going to experiment with some finishes/coatings soon to see if I can make less prone to rust.

 

[hso]

I wouldn't call either a "fighter", but they're good looking knives.

Suggest you use some respiratory protection when grinding, even micarta.

 

[BRad704]

Its not a Loveless style fighter, but I think the long sweeping belly of the blade coming to a very slightly dropped point would make is SOME type of "fighter"... Plus I didnt know what else to call it...


I wear a North half-face with PM/OV cartridges... ALWAYs...

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Great work!

 

[Yo Mama]

BRad704, that's a beatiful set. I love them, and while not long enough to be a true fighter, I sure wouldn't want to be on the other end of your Dad waving it at me.

I am going to experiment with some finishes/coatings soon to see if I can make less prone to rust.

I would imagine Duracoat would be easy and cheap?

 

[BRad704]

Thanks...

My brother and I have actually been talking about Duracoat this morning already.

He is a pro autobody painter and does side work quite often. Right now, he is ready to do a frame and slide from a Mak in gloss black.

I think I may order some small bottles of several colors and offer the coating as an extra cost (really just to cover materials).

Flat black, desert tan, od green, anything else?

 

[Yo Mama]

Camo?

 

[BRad704]

yeah, I was thinking about the camo kydex and doing od green with woodland kydex, or dark grey with urban kydex, and desert tan with the sand camo kydex...

 

[JShirley]

Hard to go wrong with tan or battleship gray.

 

[hso]

Leave the cosmetics simple and focus on the quality of the knife.

If you don't know what to call it, don't call it the wrong thing. A fighter is longer. A skinner has a nice sweeping belly.

Why call it anything?

 

[JerryM]

I don't know much about a fighting knife, but I would not call it a "fighter." However, it is a great design for a heavy duty big game hunting knife.
I like it.

If I recall correctly, Elmer Keith wrote about using is knife when cleaning an elk and said to use it to cut bone by taking a stick or leg bone and hammering it through whatever you needed to cut. That knife looks as if it might do that. I suspect it dulls the edge, however.

Regards,,
Jerry

 

[BRad704]

Ok, so its not a traditional 14" fighter... If someone with the ability wants to change the thread title to something else, that's fine with me...

I really just wanted to show what I had been working on and that I have made tons of progress from the first 3 blades I made to now (#9).

 

[Yo Mama]

BRad, I hope you keep showing us your work. I really like what you're doing.

 

[BRad704]

Thanks... speaking of that...

I redid the sheath for the black-handled knife last night and did a sheath for the little shiny one with all the holes in it.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Nice very nice work!!!!

 

[BRad704]

Thanks! The black handled camp knife is with a friend in FL for some "consumer research/testing"... So far he is very impressed with edge retention and chopping, but he said the grip is too narrow. Now his wife is trying to take it from him as her own...

 

[hso]

Did you go over the edges and corners with a little abrasive and a scotchbrite to knock the sharp edges off?

 

[BRad704]

Yeah, I have about a 20" slack section above my platen that I use to start rounding, so I'll push the blade flat into that, then work back and forth lightly as I roll up onto the spine... It doesn't radius the corner, but softens it enough to be comfortable...