Good thing Mikeeman is judging this round because he stated that forging was not a requirement. So with that I started with 0.07" thick 1095 bar stock.
I clay the blade and HT at the forge (all pictures lost). The blade was brought to magnetic, then soaked for 5 minutes, then quenched in low viscosity ATF (about 100F). Hardness files show that the tang and spine is <40 RC and the blade edge is in the 50-55 RC. Second blade from the top.
The scales used is Guycarta made by 'Guy Noble'. This color pattern is called Deadpool. 1/8" aluminum pins.
The scales are epoxied on. On all knives I hollow out a little of the scales and tang so that the epoxy has somewhere to accumulate and hold.
A small amount of epoxy was allowed to seep out to seal any gaps between the scales and the blade.
This Guycarta is very easy to sand. I only sanded to 120 grit.
Then I submerged the handle into epoxy to seal the entire handle. No one wants fish juice to penetrate into or under your scales.
I love this Deadpool custom paper micarta
Grooves on the scales for a pinch type grip
Thumb ramp and finger choil
All completed in 4 hours.
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four hours! for that! i hate you, lol, beautiful piece as always and loving the micarta,
any word on the results from the other rounds been an inordinately long time since i sent off my blades to be judged
critical temperature is proof god loves blacksmiths!
I sat down the other day and wrote up a little bit on what little I've been able to do as far as the EDC knives, but I'm not happy with it so I may not post it.
As it stands, I'm gonna wind up packing then I'll and sending them off to Mike if for nothing other than a second opinion.
All four Round 3 knives are in. I'll write up an "initial impressions" post after work or, if I have time, might actually go fishing and put these bad boys through their paces since it's so nice outside today.
From left to right you have SanMarc's (Marc), Jeffery's (no clue what his forum name is), Dig's-Rocks-N'-Stuff (Henry) and L.Drigger's/Fallen's (Lyndle).
"Though we strike at you from the shadows, do not think that we lack the courage to stand in the light."-- Dark Templar Prelate Zeratul
After receiving everyone's knives I thought I'd do a bit of a teaser post before I get the chance to go fishing. So I'll do a basic run-down of what I know so far just to give y'all hooligans something to read. Haven't taken any measurements or anything, but I'll get all that in the main post. I'm going to post this and edit it as I go because my internet has a tendency to go out and and I lose my whole post. So if you only see a couple names, that's why. Anyway, I'll start with Jeffery's first, since it has the most to nit-pick.
Jeffery's Knife
Jeffery was pretty sick for most of the time before the deadline. And has a lot to do with why his knife is the way it is, I think. You gotta give hims some serious cool points for pushing through being sick just to turn something in. Mad respect, bro.
He put a neat little maker's mark on it. Nothing fancy, but still neat.
As you can see in this next picture, the knife is QUITE thick. And heavy. All of the weight to his knife is in the hand. Not that weight distribution is all that important in a fillet knife, but it's worth mentioning, I think.
The blade is also torqued. Looking down the edge, you can see that it isn't quite straight.
The handle actually looks and feels really nice. I don't know what kind of wood he used, but I really like it. It's almost got some sort of 3D effect going on. The edges could be a bit more rounded for comfort, but I still really like it.
Another BIG problem with his knife is how dull it is. It's, like, a LOT dull. I asked him what happened there, but he said since he was sick, he had just did his best to complete a knife to turn in. Again, mad respect.
Marc's Knife
Marc's is certainly the most quirky of the bunch. Has a pretty funky shape and finish, but it certainly seems able to cut fish. While the "rustic" look (or whatever it's called) isn't particularly my thing, he does it well for the people that are in to that. "Viking style" if you will. To me, the blade is still kinda thick and doesn't have much flex. Like Jeffery, he also put his mark on his blade.
I'm not entirely sure what he used for the scales, but it's really weird. It looks like something that maybe used to be a cabinet with a different texture finish on the outside. Whatever it is, I don't think it's ever coming off. With 6 pins peening them on, I don't think it's going anywhere.
Although, it staying put doesn't seem to have to do much with the epoxy. It appears to be trying to let go. Even so, there is no movement in the scales and I doubt they will be coming off any time soon.
Marc's isn't perfectly straight, either, but better than Jeffery's.
Marc's is the shortest of them all, and even shorter with the... Uh... What would you call that part? A ricasso? Anyway, the part past the handle but before it gets sharp. The blade length still appears to be over the 6" minimum limit.
Dig's Knife
While it certainly isn't your typical fillet knife in the classical sense, it certainly appears to be able to perform. It's laser sharp, and has a lot of "bells and whistles" so to speak. From the Deadpool themed handle scales (if you haven't watched that movie yet, you're wrong) to all of the different recessions to hold it any way you can come up with. Personally, I think it could serve as a lot more than just a fillet knife, but since this is a fillet knife round, It won't get any bonus points for being able to be a multi-tool. It's also the only knife without a maker's mark.
It's a nifty little knife, but not without it's faults. while the handle was sealed with epoxy to keep fish goo/slime from getting in there, it did get partly up the blade. although it's only on one side. There here are a couple spots that have a couple bubbles and runs and the handle does feel considerably thicker than it needs to be. Other than that, there's really not much to pick at.
The blade on this one is straight, although still thick for a fillet knife. While there is flex, I would call it "only just."
The edge bevel has a mirror finish and it is SUPER sharp. I think I remember him saying it's DH, so I'd bet if I etched it, there would be a hamon. There are a couple spots on the blade that still have a small amount of pitting from HT, but it's not enough to complain about. It also feels very well balanced and easy to maneuver without feeling cumbersome.
Fallen's Knife
Fallen's knife is the very definition of a classic fillet knife. It's thin, it's light, and it's plenty flexible. The wood scales look great, are sealed well, and have a hole drilled if you want to add a lanyard or something. Like Marc and Jeffery, he included a maker's mark. Really, the only thing I can even find to be picky about is that the grind is a little uneven in a spot or two. Although understandably so, since grinding on something this this is very difficult. It's also a little less sharp than I was expecting. After receiving his chopper knife in the give aways, I thought this one would be as sharp as that one was. Although, he did pack it in a box with some pretty hard paper-type stuff. So I'm guessing it may have dulled it somewhat during shipping. It's still sharper than Marc or Jeffery's and will certainly cut some fish no problem, but it just wasn't as sharp as the last knife I had from him.
I don't really have anything else to say about it because it's exactly what it's supposed to be. A fillet knife. So I'll just shut up and let you look at the pics.
So, there ya go. There's my thoughts so far. Due to some knives coming less sharp than expected, I'll test all the knives both before and after honing. Should have actual results by the end of next week at the latest.
Heads-up on the other rounds, while we're talking about this again, I'd written up a little bit on the prelim knives but haven't posted anything because I don't like it. All the prelim knives are boxed up again and I'll be shipping them to Mike on Monday so he can have a go and do a better job. I'm still planning to get Round 2, the thrusting round, and hope to have that started in the next few days.
GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE FISH HAVE THEIR SIDES PEELED OFF, DO NOT READ THIS POST
Ok, so I went fishing, today. For anyone in the general area, you know it wasn't exactly the best day for fishing. It was ULTRA windy. I only caught two little bass. Big enough to be worth cleaning, but only just. That kind of worked out since I was mostly curious about two of the knives. Jeffery's is too dull to do anything with until I put a proper edge on it, and Fallen's is exactly like a standard fillet knife. So that left the two most unorthodox in the group. Dig's and Marc's.
As you can see, the two fish are nearly the exact same size. So one didn't have an advantage over the other.
Dig's Knife
Dig's knife is straight. Which isn't typical of a standard fillet knife. I was curious how it would end up affecting the performance. It's also a bit wide. Not leaving much room for changing directions. So the first cut in and the turn was a little tricky, but after I managed that and got through the ribs, it zipped straight through to the tail leaving relatively little meat behind, but still some. While it wasn't a lot, it was notable.
After getting the side off, I done flopped it over and started peeling the meet from the skin. It did a fairly decent job, taking most of the meat, but I think because it's so straight and stiff, it still left a little meat on the skin. It's kinda hard to see, because I didn't have very good lighting, but it's there.
Now on the second side, instead of just going at it like I do with regular fillet knives, I actually tried to work with the properties of the knife to get the best results. While yes, it did much better, I actually had to adjust my habits to get the knife to perform. It did manage to take all the meat from the side this time, and also leave no meat on the skin. It performed much better, but because I made it perform better. I think it has a lot to do with it being thicker with steeper bevels than your standard fillet knife causing me to have to make such adjustments.
Marc's Knife Marc's knife didn't fare as well as Dig's did. It took more effort to get it to cut through the meat. I think it had to do with it being less sharp than Dig's knife. I got it to cut in and make the turn ok, but after that, it took a lot of force to get it to peel the meat from the side. And after flopping the side over and starting to cut the meat from the skin, it ended up pulling the skin off from the tail (for seasoned fish cleaners, you know this is annoying and a pain) I DID manage to get it to cut the rest of the meat from the skin, but it left a notable amount of meat still on the skin. And I think it's from the knife not being perfectly straight and not flexible at all.
Just like on Dig's knife, I worked with the properties of the knife on the second side. This blade is even thicker than Dig's, and has even steeper bevels. So I had to use an angle that was over 45 degrees to get it to cut the meat from both the side and the skin properly. While I did manage to get all the meat from both just like I did with Dig's, it took quite a bit of effort and habit-adjusting to do so.
Afterwards, both knives were washed thoroughly. I have to say, I'm a little concerned about Marc's knife. Since the scales aren't completely sealed and there are gaps between the blade and the scales, there's plenty of room for fish slime or meat to get lodged in there. Could cause problems over time. Dig's is completely sealed, so there were no worries, there.
So, while one fish per knife is clearly not a big enough sample size to gauge how decent the knives are, it's all I could pull out for the night. I did feel like it gave me some insight to how they are going to do when I get enough fish to do the actual judging, though.
"Though we strike at you from the shadows, do not think that we lack the courage to stand in the light."-- Dark Templar Prelate Zeratul
nerdthenord: Hi, I'm still alive. Doing well again all things considered
Apr 15, 2024 3:10:36 GMT
samsthe1: Uhlan, thank you for the information.Derek.
Apr 9, 2024 15:25:37 GMT
samsthe1: Uhlan, thank you for the information,
Apr 9, 2024 15:24:56 GMT
mrstabby: Mine gets pressed to the top as well, but that way the tip gets ground of, don't like that either. Unfortunately I'm an edge-perfectionist. Also one wrong move when unsheathing and the throat nicks the edge on either side.
Mar 31, 2024 19:02:10 GMT
AndiTheBarvarian: Perhaps I've got one from the batch for Matt Easton ?!?
Mar 31, 2024 18:22:59 GMT
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AndiTheBarvarian: When I draw the saber it's automatically pressed with the spine to the scabbard so there's space for the edge to not touch the scabbard. When the false edge starts it's released but can be carefully draw completely without touching the scabbard.
Mar 31, 2024 8:10:26 GMT
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AndiTheBarvarian: Too little gap for a needle, so also I see no way to get the glue in.
Mar 31, 2024 8:02:34 GMT
mrstabby: I was easily able to poke through the glue on all of my Windlass swords/daggers, then it just seems to wick in forever, it never was thick. I can't imagine how there isn't any dulling though, unless yours is less wide or the scabbard is bigger.
Mar 31, 2024 7:04:12 GMT
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AndiTheBarvarian: There's not really an opening on mine, very good fit of guard and blade and some glue or epoxy in it. Since my scabbard doesn't dull the edge too I seem to be on the lucky side with Windlass this time.
Mar 31, 2024 1:25:54 GMT
mrstabby: Maybe it screams in pain now, but I like it..
Mar 30, 2024 20:35:26 GMT
mrstabby: PSA: Give your Windlass swords some superglue, they appreciate it. My 1796 drank 4g through the opening between guard and blade, now it rings much louder and vibrates much less.
Mar 30, 2024 20:34:25 GMT
AndiTheBarvarian: Not easy to smell without a nose...
Mar 30, 2024 3:17:59 GMT
mrstabby: "Sorry Mr. Johnson, I need to store my sword for a few hundread years until someone worthy comes and gets it, mind if I stick it here?"
Mar 29, 2024 18:54:11 GMT
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AndiTheBarvarian: First you have to try getting it into!
Mar 29, 2024 14:52:50 GMT
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mrstabby: What now, pulling a sword out of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson? Intriguing!
Mar 29, 2024 12:49:08 GMT
AndiTheBarvarian: Dwayne Johnson disagrees!
Mar 28, 2024 19:38:14 GMT
rschuch: As anyone who's seen Excalibur knows, getting the sword INTO the rock isn't the problem, it's getting it back out again.
Mar 28, 2024 19:13:13 GMT
durinnmcfurren: Movie turned out better than it had any right to be considering how many times a blade was shoved into rock. Yes, even once would be too much, but it was way more than once.
Mar 16, 2024 22:36:55 GMT
Ramses1079: Yeah me too, which is a shame because he’s a good author. I guess that’s like when your favorite band releases a new album, and there’s always one or two tracks that you’re like “what were they thinking?”
Mar 16, 2024 19:12:10 GMT
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