Special Knifemaking Project
- SpyderNut
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Special Knifemaking Project
Just wanted to share a few pictures of a knifemaking project I recently finished. This is my newest fixed blade design. I’ve decided to call it the JTR. Blade steel is CPM-MagnaCut with a dark acid-washed and stonewashed finish. Handle scales are OD canvas Micarta, 3D-contoured, with a custom mill-textured diamond pattern. Etched and gray-anodized titanium screws. Overall length is 8.5 in. Blade length is 4 in. Really pleased with how this one turned out.
The back story on this knife is pretty special. This design was based on a collaborative effort between myself and my younger brother—who just recently earned his stripes in becoming a U.S. Navy SEAL. To commemorate his hard work and achievement, I offered to make him any knife of his choosing—something he could use in the field. He readily accepted the offer, so we began to put our heads together. I came up with a design and together we began to add in features that he needed, such as an elongated lanyard hole, jimping on the thumb ramp and index finger groove, and a grippy mill-textured finish on the handle scales. The steel would obviously need to be very corrosion-resistant, so we decided to use MagnaCut. We also decided to go with a sabre grind to help maintain more of the blade’s thickness out towards the tip for added strength—especially at times when the tip will be used as a screwdriver/pry bar. I made a secondary set of scales out of red “Chili-Pepper” canvas Micarta as a surprise because my brother really liked the red set I made for the test handle.
I am incredibly proud of my brother’s accomplishment and I hope the knife serves him well.
Thanks for reading,
Michael
:spyder: -Michael
"...as I said before, 'the edge is a wondrous thing', [but] in all of it's qualities, it is still a ghost." - sal
"...as I said before, 'the edge is a wondrous thing', [but] in all of it's qualities, it is still a ghost." - sal
Re: Special Knifemaking Project
Congratulations to your brother.
Nice looking knife.
Thanks to you both.
Nice looking knife.
Thanks to you both.
Re: Special Knifemaking Project
That is incredible! Beautiful Blade! Congrats to your Brother. That is a lot of dedication and work.
- Jeff
May your feet be warm and dry and your throat warm with whiskey. A knife in hand or in the sock band.
MNOSD Member #0005
May your feet be warm and dry and your throat warm with whiskey. A knife in hand or in the sock band.
MNOSD Member #0005
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Re: Special Knifemaking Project
Wow, good work by your brother. May he stay safe through all his deployments!
If you decide to make similar knives available to low speed, high drag folks such as myself, please add me to the list. I really want one!
If you decide to make similar knives available to low speed, high drag folks such as myself, please add me to the list. I really want one!
"...it costs nothing to be polite." - Winston Churchill
“Maybe the cheese in the mousetrap is an artificially created cheaper price?” -Sal
Friends call me Jim. As do my foes.
M.N.O.S.D. 0001
Re: Special Knifemaking Project
Very cool story and knife, that looks extremely well done! I'd have no problem giving that knife a whirl.
15 's in 10 different steels
1 - Bradford Guardian 3 / Vanadis 4E Wharnie
1 - Monterey Bay Knives Slayback Flipper / ZDP 189
1 - CRK Small Sebenza 31/Macassar Ebony Inlays
1 - CRK Large Inkosi Insingo/ Black Micarta Inlays
1 - CRK Small Sebenza 31 Insingo/Magnacut
-Rick
1 - Bradford Guardian 3 / Vanadis 4E Wharnie
1 - Monterey Bay Knives Slayback Flipper / ZDP 189
1 - CRK Small Sebenza 31/Macassar Ebony Inlays
1 - CRK Large Inkosi Insingo/ Black Micarta Inlays
1 - CRK Small Sebenza 31 Insingo/Magnacut
-Rick
Re: Special Knifemaking Project
Congratulations to your brother, and to you for another very well done knife design.
- SpyderNut
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Re: Special Knifemaking Project
Thank you, Sir! I will pass along the congrats to him.
Thank you, Jeff! I am so incredibly proud of him. Prior to joining the Navy, he spent nearly two years out in Maryland getting conditioned for SEAL training. He did the training on his own time and worked construction on the side to make ends meet during that time. It is so cool to see his dream come true!
Thank you JR! I really appreciate that. I pray for his safety every day. Although he has yet to see combat, he's already had his fair share of injuries. Granted, he's a lot tougher than I am.
Thanks, man! I greatly appreciate the kind words. It was a certainly a labor of love. I tried several new concepts on this knife, including the radius jimping and the mill-textured finish on the scales. I spent about three months and six handles of trial and error in trying to get the handle pattern just right on my manual mill. The contour of the scales made it very difficult to mill because I constantly had to adjust the depth on each pass. (Even then, I was only removing about 5 thou of material on each pass). Just happy everything turned out pretty decent!
Thank you, my friend! I appreciate that very much. I am hoping he will like it too. (He hasn't seen the finished knife yet).
Thank you, Mikey! It's kind of neat in a way, because exactly one year ago today (Nov. 11th), I drew the original design for this knife. I made three revisions and eventually wound up with the design above. It was a challenging project, but one that I enjoyed very much.
:spyder: -Michael
"...as I said before, 'the edge is a wondrous thing', [but] in all of it's qualities, it is still a ghost." - sal
"...as I said before, 'the edge is a wondrous thing', [but] in all of it's qualities, it is still a ghost." - sal
Re: Special Knifemaking Project
Um, if you do decide to sell a couple of these I would be very interested in purchasing one from you. It looks very functional and we all know the steel is good.
Re: Special Knifemaking Project
A very special momento for a very special achievement. Congrats to your brother!
- Ranger_Ike
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Re: Special Knifemaking Project
Congratulations to your brother. That is quite an accomplishment! Outstanding job on the knife. It looks flawless.
- SpyderNut
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Re: Special Knifemaking Project
Thank you, rgc. This was my first experience using MagnaCut, but I can say this steel has quickly become a favorite. I've found MagnaCut to be easier to mill, sand, and grind than a lot of the other steels I use (like M4, S90V, CPM-154, etc.). Some of these other steels can become a bit obstinate to work with--especially after heat-treat. This piece of MagnaCut did have a bit of a warp issue post heat-treat, but I was able to get most of it out fairly easily.
:spyder: -Michael
"...as I said before, 'the edge is a wondrous thing', [but] in all of it's qualities, it is still a ghost." - sal
"...as I said before, 'the edge is a wondrous thing', [but] in all of it's qualities, it is still a ghost." - sal
- SpyderNut
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Re: Special Knifemaking Project
Thank you, sir!
:spyder: -Michael
"...as I said before, 'the edge is a wondrous thing', [but] in all of it's qualities, it is still a ghost." - sal
"...as I said before, 'the edge is a wondrous thing', [but] in all of it's qualities, it is still a ghost." - sal
- SpyderNut
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Re: Special Knifemaking Project
Thank you, Ranger! He's pretty humble about it and doesn't like to talk about it much. I really admire his dedication and commitment. A fine young man to be sure.Ranger_Ike wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 5:00 amCongratulations to your brother. That is quite an accomplishment! Outstanding job on the knife. It looks flawless.
:spyder: -Michael
"...as I said before, 'the edge is a wondrous thing', [but] in all of it's qualities, it is still a ghost." - sal
"...as I said before, 'the edge is a wondrous thing', [but] in all of it's qualities, it is still a ghost." - sal
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Re: Special Knifemaking Project
That is an outstanding knife Michael - well-designed and flawlessly executed!
Congratulations to your brother as well. Becoming a SEAL is a tremendous accomplishment.
Curious, what's the hardness on that blade?
Congratulations to your brother as well. Becoming a SEAL is a tremendous accomplishment.
Curious, what's the hardness on that blade?
- Connor
"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
- SpyderNut
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Re: Special Knifemaking Project
Thank you, Conner! I had a lot of fun with this one. Thanks also for the kind words—I’ll be sure to pass them along to my brother.The Meat man wrote: ↑Sun Nov 13, 2022 7:10 pmThat is an outstanding knife Michael - well-designed and flawlessly executed!
Congratulations to your brother as well. Becoming a SEAL is a tremendous accomplishment.
Curious, what's the hardness on that blade?
Blade hardness is 62 Rc (with cryo) and BTE thickness is .011”. I’m pretty impressed at how easily this Magnacut sharpens, especially compared to stuff like M4, S90V, etc. It might just be me, but I found it easier than even LC200N, which was a little surprising.
:spyder: -Michael
"...as I said before, 'the edge is a wondrous thing', [but] in all of it's qualities, it is still a ghost." - sal
"...as I said before, 'the edge is a wondrous thing', [but] in all of it's qualities, it is still a ghost." - sal
Re: Special Knifemaking Project
very cool! congrats to your brother and great work on that blade. that's a wonderful gift that should serve him well. please thank him for his service for us.
keep your knife sharp and your focus sharper.
current collection:
C36MCW2, C258YL, C253GBBK, C258GFBL, C101GBBK2, C11GYW, C11FWNB20CV, C101GBN15V2, C101GODFDE2, C60GGY, C149G, C189, C101GBN2, MT35, C211TI, C242CF, C217GSSF, C101BN2, C85G2, C91BBK, C142G, C122GBBK, LBK, LYL3HB, C193, C28YL2, C11ZPGYD, C41YL5, C252G, C130G, PLKIT1
spyderco steels:
H2, CPM 20CV, CPM 15V, CTS 204P, CPM CRUWEAR, CPM S30V, N690Co, M390, CPM MagnaCut, LC200N, CTS XHP, H1, 8Cr13MoV, GIN-1, CTS BD1, VG-10, VG-10/Damascus, 440C
current collection:
C36MCW2, C258YL, C253GBBK, C258GFBL, C101GBBK2, C11GYW, C11FWNB20CV, C101GBN15V2, C101GODFDE2, C60GGY, C149G, C189, C101GBN2, MT35, C211TI, C242CF, C217GSSF, C101BN2, C85G2, C91BBK, C142G, C122GBBK, LBK, LYL3HB, C193, C28YL2, C11ZPGYD, C41YL5, C252G, C130G, PLKIT1
spyderco steels:
H2, CPM 20CV, CPM 15V, CTS 204P, CPM CRUWEAR, CPM S30V, N690Co, M390, CPM MagnaCut, LC200N, CTS XHP, H1, 8Cr13MoV, GIN-1, CTS BD1, VG-10, VG-10/Damascus, 440C
- ChrisinHove
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Re: Special Knifemaking Project
That is a fantastic knife! Congratulations to both you & your brother!
- standy99
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Re: Special Knifemaking Project
Congrats to brother and also to you on a nice knife….Several things to like on your design.
Love the offset of the handle to blade at thumb ramp. Also the fact that you left the back of the knife full, where many would have left the tang sticking out for the lanyard gap.
Love the offset of the handle to blade at thumb ramp. Also the fact that you left the back of the knife full, where many would have left the tang sticking out for the lanyard gap.
Im a vegetarian as technically cows are made of grass and water.
- SpyderNut
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Re: Special Knifemaking Project
Thanks, ladybug! Really appreciate the kind words. I’ll be sure to pass this along to him.
Thank you, Sir! I appreciate that. The cool thing is that I will be able to give it to him in person when he comes home for Christmas.ChrisinHove wrote: ↑Wed Nov 16, 2022 12:45 amThat is a fantastic knife! Congratulations to both you & your brother!
Thanks, Standy! It was a fun project. You bring up a good point regarding the lanyard hole. My first draft actually included an exposed tang, typically seen on this style of knife. My brother confided that he didn’t intend to use the tang for hammering—or for “skull-crushing” as they say, so it was decided to cover the lanyard area with the handle. Additionally, this knife will be attached in a cross-draw to the MOLLE on his flak vest in an almost vertical orientation, located under his arm. He said that a “pokey” tang could otherwise cause him injury.standy99 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 16, 2022 6:36 amCongrats to brother and also to you on a nice knife….Several things to like on your design.
Love the offset of the handle to blade at thumb ramp. Also the fact that you left the back of the knife full, where many would have left the tang sticking out for the lanyard gap.
:spyder: -Michael
"...as I said before, 'the edge is a wondrous thing', [but] in all of it's qualities, it is still a ghost." - sal
"...as I said before, 'the edge is a wondrous thing', [but] in all of it's qualities, it is still a ghost." - sal