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09-30-2012, 11:31 AM | #13 | ||||||
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I've always had great luck with sheathes made by Jim Layton in Ohio. I see him once a year at the OGCA show. He's getting up in years, but I believe he's still working leather.
James P Layton 2710 Gilbert Avenue Portsmouth, OH 45662-2619 (740) 353-6179 |
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09-30-2012, 11:56 AM | #14 | ||||||
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Thanks for the info.
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09-30-2012, 12:02 PM | #15 | ||||||
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Sadly many of our traditional knife companies are out of biz or have taken their work to China. All that nation is good for is making noodles and I usually buy Italian.
Schrade blades are now Chinese. Old Time is out of biz, I think. I don't know about Camulus. Where are Case knives made today? I enjoy custom made knives, but my goodness, they have become expensive. It is easy to pay $500 for a knife! Jeeze Louise! |
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10-01-2012, 10:58 AM | #16 | ||||||
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Smokey Mountain Knives advertise any of their knives made in the USA with a little sign. Not many compinies left. Case makes them in the USA. Remington makes some here, some in China. Carbon steel knives seem to hold an edge better than stainless. Any knife worth a damn will have a Rockwell hardness on the C scale between 58 and 60. Too low, say 54 or less and they will sharpen real easy but won't hold an edge. Too high, say 63, and they will chip if something like bone is hit. If a knife company doesn't have a good heat treat department you could get a bad or good knife. Years ago I went to the American Bladesmith Societys bladesmithing school. We learned to " differential harden" a knife - just the bottom half of the knife was hard - or the edge half - the spline half was soft. One of their test was to put the knife in a vise and bend it 90 degrees without it breaking more than 1/2 way through. To check the edge you could put a 1/4" piece of round brass rod in a vise and put the edge on it, on it's side. With enough hand pressure the edge will bend and when you let up should go back to where it was. This first test showed you knew how to harden and temper a blade, the second test showed the blade was hard enough, but not so hard that it would chip. Most of the damascus blades you see today are made in China. Five years ago a damascus knife made in the US by a bladesmith would cost $100 a inch or higher. At least .6 % carbon content in the steel is needed for a knife to hold a edge. If the combination of both steels in a damascus knife isn't above that you'll have a pretty knive that doesn't hold an edge. Most makers use something higher, around .8 to 1%. A file made in the US has about 1.25% and that's why if heat treated properly after being made into a knife they really hold a great edge. If it's easy to sharpen a knife, the quicker it'll dull. Harder to sharpen, the longer it'll hold it's edge. Steve, I could make a sheath for your knife, but it would probably cost you more than you paid for the knife.
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Paul Harm |
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10-01-2012, 11:46 AM | #17 | ||||||
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Paul; Thanks for the info. You sure know bout blades!
I too have noticed that an easy to sharpen knife loses it's edge and a hard to sharpen knife stays sharp. Some of the hardest knives for me to sharpen are Buck Knives. I've got half a dozen I guess. I carried a plastic handle Buck folder when I was in the army. It's light. Holds an edge pretty well. Thanks for the offer to build me a sheath, but I'll find one eventually. It gives me something to hunt for at gun shows besides guns. I paid $60 for the knife. The blade wasn't touched from what it looked like in the kit. I probably paid too much, but seems like I usually do. When I was in SERE school in the Philippines during the VN War they sold us, at $5 a pop, the Negreto style survival knive. It's about a foot long and thick. It is shaped kind of like a Napalise Kurki, made from the leaf spring off of an old Ford. Has a crude bone handle and wood sheath, but that thing is SHARP. I have used it to prise up tiles. It's also a pretty good axe. During WWII the Negreto's used to decapitate Japanese soldiers with them. They told me that Japanese owned the roads and villages, but if one stepped into the bush it was curtains. |
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10-01-2012, 04:53 PM | #18 | ||||||
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I thought it would be neat to have a Parker D2 barrel made into a knife blade. Is this logical ? Dave
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10-05-2012, 09:41 AM | #19 | ||||||
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Not unless it was forge welded to each side of a piece of high carbon steel. Gun barrel damascus is low carbon and wouldn't hold an edge. With a piece of 1084, 1095, or 01 in between the damascus you'd then have a nice knife.
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Paul Harm |
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10-05-2012, 03:41 PM | #20 | ||||||
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