Does anyone like this knife?

[JCKelly]

D2 has great wear resistance. That is, it willl hold an edge well for applications such as cuttng a lot of rope or skinning large/many animals. Very good choice if that is the sort of thing you do with your knife.
(metallurgist since '63)

 

[Captain O]

Thank you, sir. I understand the wear resistance of the metal. This is why I didn't hesitate to select this steel for a Bowie-style knife. It should slice well, have reasonable resistance to wear (greater than most other carbon and stainless steels). This coupled with its "semi-stainless" properties it is a good choice for "blood work". If you clean it and coat it with oil or Renaissance Wax, It should outlive me!

 

[Captain O]

I just ordered this one. The blade is a full 12" long and it is "vacuum-quenched" just like the first one. These are useful knives. They can serve in the field without concern of chipping because the steel has been permitted to "toughen" by cooling at the proper atmospheric conditions. The final hardness is between 58 and 60 Rockwell hardness.


https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81ZniL4-YbL._SL1500_.jpg

What say you?

 

[JCKelly]

P.I.T.A. metallurgist again. Files and Rasps are (or were, when Nicholson made them in the USA) made of somewhat different carbon steels. A file needs the maximum wear resistance, which means the highest carbon steel you can actually buy, and is used right out of the quench. No tempering (reheat), not even to 300 - 400F or so. Nicholson USA files (if there still are any) are made of 1095. That is, a plain carbon steel with a nominal 0.95% carbon.

Farriers have different needs. Edge holding is nice but that farrier's rasp needs a little toughness for when one needs get Horse's attention by gently tapping him on the hoof. So Farriers, at least, rasps are a lower carbon steel, such as 1035. Which is a plain carbon steel with a nominal 0.35% carbon content. Gets pretty hard, not quite so hard nor wear resistant as does 1095. Tougher doesn't snap so easily. Good for knives you intend to beat up, such as throwing knives. Bowie knives for serious work need to take an edge, but it is most important they do not break during an up-close & personal encounter. Rare these days, I believe.

Our Gov't has Helped us with the heat treatment of both files and rasps. Used to be they were coated with "cyanide loaf" just before heating to harden. That prevented any loss of carbon from the surface at red heat = no soft layer on surface. "Cyanide loaf" was made with a little bit of potassium ferrocyanide. "ferrocyanide" sounded deadly to someone in Washington, D.C. so they forbade its use in heat treat, and took Kasenit off the market. We should all be glad Our Gov't so protected us. Of course, most of the Sea Salt you see at grocery has "yellow prussiate of soda added" Huh? They use this Old-fashioned name for sodium cyanide, so as not to scare the customers. Perhaps Our Gov't Heat Treat guys forgot to talk to the Food Guys.

 

[FireArm]

Bought a cool looking knife off eBay, got it the other day, said it was local made, from a railroad tie, by a knifecrafter in CA. Got the knife its not a RR tie and made in pakistan.
I guess local means local to where the knife was made, and maybe a knife crafter in CA touched it at some point? Either way it will end up scrap or given away.

Those colors make me think that knife is Paky made also.

 

[Captain O]

I have another of their knives and it isn't made in Pakistan. This is a fine piece of cutlery

 

[Captain O]

My second (A45) Bowie Knife came in this morning. 17" long with a clip-point 12" blade. The stacked leather handle is easy to grasp and the knife moves quickly. (I love the craftsmanship and beauty of these knives).

If anyone is interested in their work they can be seen on both Amazon and eBay. I love these knives and won't give them up for anything. (Believe me when I tell you that you'll like them too).

 

[Siglvr]

I looked up "gorgeous" in the old dictionary and your knife was pictured.

I suspect if I looked up "Dirt Cheap", $82 would pop up. Amazing price, congrats.

 

[Captain O]

Thanks. So many people take the "if it isn't made in the US of A it isn't any good" attitude. They don't know what goodies they are passing up.

I just want more people to get in on these deals so that they can enjoy these "working knives" at reasonable prices. (By the way, this knife arrived in a very sharp condition). I won't be taking it to the ceramic sticks anytime soon.

 

[NW Backpacker]

Both of those knives are beauties!

Saw this in Harbor Freight the other day - it looked OK for $8.99 and it gets pretty good reviews.

8 in. Survival/Hunting Knife

 

[Captain O]

Both of those knives are beauties!

Saw this in Harbor Freight the other day - it looked OK for $8.99 and it gets pretty good reviews.

8 in. Survival/Hunting Knife

If that's all you can afford, okay. If it breaks, you aren't out much. However, were I in your shoes I would save up and spend $35.00-$40.00 on a good Ontario Survival Knife made from 1075 Carbon Steel. You can put one through Hell and with a few passes on a pair of ceramic crockery sharpening rods at a 20-degree angle, it will dive into cleaning/gutting three deer carcasses before requiring a touch-up.

You can take that to the bank!

 

[NW Backpacker]

If that's all you can afford, okay. If it breaks, you aren't out much. However, were I in your shoes I would save up and spend $35.00-$40.00 on a good Ontario Survival Knife made from 1075 Carbon Steel. You can put one through Hell and with a few passes on a pair of ceramic crockery sharpening rods at a 20-degree angle, it will dive into cleaning/gutting three deer carcasses before requiring a touch-up.

You can take that to the bank!

Thank you for the expert advice! Glad I didn't buy the HF one!

This one has great reviews - I like it best out of these 3:
Ontario 499 Air Force Survival Knife Black - $43
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CZDQPI/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza

Ontario SP-2 Survival Knife Nylon Sth - $31
https://www.amazon.com/Ontario-SP-2...075S58XDM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Ontario SP-6 Fighting Knife Nylon Shth - $41
https://www.amazon.com/Ontario-Knif...on+Shth&qid=1555650514&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spell

 

[Mistman]

I bought one of those Harbor Freight knives to cut plugs of dirt out of the ground while metal detecting. It works.

 

[Captain O]

The SP-2 and SP-6 are wonderful knives that will, in the immortal word of the late John Cameron Swayze, "take a lickin' and keep on tickin'." I watched a full field-test review on the original Ontario 499 Air Force Survival Knife. While it didn't "excel" in survival applications, it was more than up to the task. (The test was being performed by an old Air Force Officer using a modern Ontario Model 499 "fresh from the box"). The Government made certain that our men/women have a tool that is still capable.

Since the Ontario Knife Company is still making the USAF Survival Knife under Government contract I'd be willing to bet that the Ontario AFKS #499 is manufactured from 1095 High Carbon Steel. This is just speculation, but it would be a pretty safe bet.

 

[DunRanull]

Yes I like that smaller bowie, looks really sharp... styled in such a way as to be near useless for anything but fighting and sticking pretty much. As an edc, not so much at this time. Is this a Paki blade, or maybe Russian?

 

[41mag]

I too am taken by the design of the larger blade but find them impractical for my own edc as well. The smaller ones often lose the proportion & implied balance/etc by simply 'sizing down' a certain percent.

The old "M17" by various names, Case Western Bowie of similar large scale, occupies a standard & much needed use in our own garden, for Dahlia & other bulb clusters, and for large squash & melon wrangling.

Mine is with dark wood grip and slightly different guard, in periodic service these past 40 years.

 

[DunRanull]

The Case bowies are really nice, too... even better when they're hangin on MY wall. Probably a good idea to keep a few of these and similar bowies around cuz it's only a matter of time before they won't or can't make/sell them by the laws.
My own CW is of 1970's vintage and has some experience in the field. They were highly thought of during VN war.

 

[Heywood]

Interesting look. Sure is purdy. I'm more into the 4-5" blade knives unless I thought I was going to war.
I love the D2 steel. I have a few knives with that steel. In my not so humble opinion I would put a convex edge on that first thing. D2 in my experience seems to really like a convex edge. As it makes them much less prone to chip but much easier to keep honed with a strop so you really never need to sharpen if you keep up on it.

 

[Pandaz3]

I do not like your choice, it looks sharp and I have been known to cut myself,

Well grudgingly I like it, prettier than mine.

I have a old Case Western W49, like the M17 but with a 'S' guard, anyway it and the sheath still suffer from Vietnam Rice paddies. I don't know the steel, but it works.

 

[revjen45]

"The handle is a work of art."
That's funny, I thought it was as ugly as a basket of smashed anuses.
De gustibus non desputandum est. I guess.