Elegant bird and trout knife - forged
This is not a knife for novices
I forged this knife from M35 cobalt drill steel. It’s very difficult to work with and has a hardness beyond what I can measure with my Rockwell hardness tester. As such, it’s likely to chip if misused and could break if used for any prying. However, it is extremely hard and boasts a sharpness and edge retention beyond anything I have used before. This is a knife for someone experienced with knives that takes care of their tools.
Working with this steel is difficult. It dissipates heat quickly due to it’s cobalt content and never gets as soft as the steels I normally use. Effectively, it has a shorter working time and has to be hit much harder to be shaped. During grinding it eats up belts despite the fact I only run zirconium belts for stock removal. Then during sharpening it unduly wears my honing stones and requires a diamond rouge for stropping.
The trade off is excellent edge retention. The blade was tested by hacking up some white oak and iron wood scraps, then checking if it was still shaving sharp. Wood chopping had no discernable effect on sharpness, and I’m excited to further test this material. The blade has steep bevels and a honed cutting edge with a delicate point for fine cutting work.
The knife sports a partial tang key fit and silver brazed into a brass tang that runs the length of the handle. It has Micarta in the front and Lacewood in the rear, secured by 1/8’’ brass pins. I kept the handle slim to match the blade, though it still fits very comfortably in the hand.
The chrome-tanned black leather sheath is made from leather sourced from a local tannery and then hand stitched and formed to fit the knife snugly. It sports light tooling and a button clasp for retention.
Measurements:
9 7/8’’ overall length sheathed
9 11/16’’ total knife length
4 5/8’’ total blade length
4 1/4’’ effective blade length
65+ Rockwell hardness
This is not a knife for novices
I forged this knife from M35 cobalt drill steel. It’s very difficult to work with and has a hardness beyond what I can measure with my Rockwell hardness tester. As such, it’s likely to chip if misused and could break if used for any prying. However, it is extremely hard and boasts a sharpness and edge retention beyond anything I have used before. This is a knife for someone experienced with knives that takes care of their tools.
Working with this steel is difficult. It dissipates heat quickly due to it’s cobalt content and never gets as soft as the steels I normally use. Effectively, it has a shorter working time and has to be hit much harder to be shaped. During grinding it eats up belts despite the fact I only run zirconium belts for stock removal. Then during sharpening it unduly wears my honing stones and requires a diamond rouge for stropping.
The trade off is excellent edge retention. The blade was tested by hacking up some white oak and iron wood scraps, then checking if it was still shaving sharp. Wood chopping had no discernable effect on sharpness, and I’m excited to further test this material. The blade has steep bevels and a honed cutting edge with a delicate point for fine cutting work.
The knife sports a partial tang key fit and silver brazed into a brass tang that runs the length of the handle. It has Micarta in the front and Lacewood in the rear, secured by 1/8’’ brass pins. I kept the handle slim to match the blade, though it still fits very comfortably in the hand.
The chrome-tanned black leather sheath is made from leather sourced from a local tannery and then hand stitched and formed to fit the knife snugly. It sports light tooling and a button clasp for retention.
Measurements:
9 7/8’’ overall length sheathed
9 11/16’’ total knife length
4 5/8’’ total blade length
4 1/4’’ effective blade length
65+ Rockwell hardness
This is not a knife for novices
I forged this knife from M35 cobalt drill steel. It’s very difficult to work with and has a hardness beyond what I can measure with my Rockwell hardness tester. As such, it’s likely to chip if misused and could break if used for any prying. However, it is extremely hard and boasts a sharpness and edge retention beyond anything I have used before. This is a knife for someone experienced with knives that takes care of their tools.
Working with this steel is difficult. It dissipates heat quickly due to it’s cobalt content and never gets as soft as the steels I normally use. Effectively, it has a shorter working time and has to be hit much harder to be shaped. During grinding it eats up belts despite the fact I only run zirconium belts for stock removal. Then during sharpening it unduly wears my honing stones and requires a diamond rouge for stropping.
The trade off is excellent edge retention. The blade was tested by hacking up some white oak and iron wood scraps, then checking if it was still shaving sharp. Wood chopping had no discernable effect on sharpness, and I’m excited to further test this material. The blade has steep bevels and a honed cutting edge with a delicate point for fine cutting work.
The knife sports a partial tang key fit and silver brazed into a brass tang that runs the length of the handle. It has Micarta in the front and Lacewood in the rear, secured by 1/8’’ brass pins. I kept the handle slim to match the blade, though it still fits very comfortably in the hand.
The chrome-tanned black leather sheath is made from leather sourced from a local tannery and then hand stitched and formed to fit the knife snugly. It sports light tooling and a button clasp for retention.
Measurements:
9 7/8’’ overall length sheathed
9 11/16’’ total knife length
4 5/8’’ total blade length
4 1/4’’ effective blade length
65+ Rockwell hardness