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I picked up a Leatherman Wave in packaging at a flea market fo $20. I ran away like I stole it.
Opinel #8 with carbon steel blade and beechwood handle. Classic French utility folding knife...at home in the kitchen, your pocket or in the woods.
Beautiful handle docI'll leaving in the morning for the BOL, so I'll post a few days worth of knives tonight. It's a series of knives that are connected.
Friday's Knife:
A small chef's/utility knife I made for my daughter. It started off life as a Chicago Cutlery knife MANY years ago. My wife bought it at a Salvation Army store, and the handle was dry rotted plastic. It had annoying serrations on it so it sat in the knife drawer a few years until I decided to do something with it.
I reshaped the blade and ground off the serrations, then replaced the handle with red oak, impregnated with virgin coconut oil.
Saturday's Knife:
I liked that knife so much, I decided to make something like it for myself, only longer. Taking an outline of the knife I elongated the shape, but in the process, I got some dimensions out of whack.
I didn't realize how awkward the knife was as a chef's knife until I had already profiled the blade, and then there was no going back. So instead of making a chef's knife I made a "camp knife" suitable for kitchen use at camp, but also suitable for butchering deer.
I left a good bit of steel in the blade since I envisioned doing things like splitting rib cages.
It's also good for those hard to reach spots when skinning a deer. And also suitable for whacking off squirrel legs and such, and even clearing small limbs around a deer stand. Jack of all trades but master of none kind of thing....
Blade is D2, handle is walnut.
Sunday's Knife
Having failed on the last attempt, I had to go back to the drawing board for my "ideal chef's knife."
After having done a few knives out of D2, I decided I needed to use some kind of steel that was easier to work with and truly stainless (D2 is a bear to machine and sharpen and is not quite stainless) I settled on AEB-L which was designed for making stainless steel razor blades. A helluvalot easier to work with than D2, but it doesn't have the edge retention of D2. However it is easy to put a really fine razor edge on AEB-L.
Instead of just jumping right in and shaping the blade from AEB-L, I decided to make some test blades out of mild steel from Lowes. Good thing I did because I went through several iterations before I was happy with the shape.
Here is the results. The handle is spalted oak like the usuba, but I had it professionally stabilized. The blade is flat ground with a full distal taper - which works for AEB-L but would be too fragile for D2. AEB-L is extremely tough for a stainless steel, in fact it is tougher than most carbon knife steels, so you can safely make thinner blades with it. It's not heavy enough for chopping anything other than vegetables. But it is a superb slicer.
Now c'mon Arctic, you know you can't tease us like that and then leave us hanging...LOL.This little knife saved my life once.
View attachment 15826
Ok. In about '95 I had a big mule, mammoth jackĂ—Tennessee walker. I didn't have any fencing up at the time so I let my horses and mule run loose. One evening I was leading the mule up to the barn when she spooked. I dropped a couple loops of the rope as I was trying to get her under control. I stepped through one of the loops and it tightened up around my ankle. I went down and she took off running, dragging me behind. At first I thought it was kind of fun, until she went up and over an old log deck and kept going. She went out on the gravel road with me still behind. Then she turned up a ranch road, that they graveled just the day before. I got my pocket knife out, but it takes 2 hands to open it. Everytime I'd get both hands on the knife I'd start rolling and beat my face up on the road. By then my finger tips were worn off and I was about to pass out. Had one last chance left. Finally got it opened after about a mile and cut the rope, and she stopped running. I managed to get the halter off and headed home. It took probably 2 hours to find my way home between passing out and getting lost in the woods. Ruined a perfectly good pair of pants and shirt too.Now c'mon Arctic, you know you can't tease us like that and then leave us hanging...LOL.
They come in handy when you work in an encapsulated hazmat suit when you run out of air too!!!!!!Ouch!
Yeah, that why I carry a flipper. One flaw in that though, I have to have my right hand free. Maybe I should get one for the left pocket too.
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