Production in December

I spent a lot of time grinding in December.  I had several things I wanted to try to make and wanted to throw together some of my everyday carry models for Christmas presents.  I used up a couple of old saw blades.  Much to my surprise, some original Curtis & Co. Saw stamps appeared in the metal after it was cleaned up.  In my mind, it made repurposing the old steel that much more special!

A small non-folding straight razor and a necker.  The radius behind the blade is the original hole in the center of the antique sawmill blade.  

Kitchen knife from Saw blade and birds eye maple handle.

Ulu from saw blade.  The original manufacturer stamping is visible even after grinding and heat treat.  Curtis Saw Co. Saint Luis, Mo.   Curtin is partially covered by handle.

A kitchen knife from a different saw mill blade.  This steel was deeply pitted on one side, probably from laying outside you years.  This caused the deeper spotting on one side.  I matched it up with walnut handles.

 This ULU cracked during heat treat.  You can see the hairline fracture just to the right of center on the bevel.  It will still find years of productive use around the shop.  Amazing petina.

EDC model with green liners.  From flat stock 1095.

EDC model with orange liners.  Flat stock 1095.

EDC model with sheepsfoot blade and orange liners.  Steel repurposed from a sawmill blade.  Great petina from day one on this blade!

Thin EDC with blue liners.  From a saw mill blade.

These were done by request. More handle than I usually build but really glad that I stepped out because I really enjoyed the feel in my hand after it was finished.

Kitchen knife from saw blade.  Mesquite handles.

My favorite of the month.  8" cleaver/chopper from a saw blade.  This thing turned out scary sharp!  The angular scores are a result of its years of use cutting lumber.

Kitchen Knives from vintage Saw Blade

Spent a couple of weeks making kitchen knives.  Most were cut out of an antique saw mill blade.  You can see the angular scores in the steel from its previous life as a circular blade.  I really enjoy using steel from many generations ago.  All of these knives are between 11.5" and 12.5"  The dark handle is walnut, the light one is birds eye maple and the others are mesquite.  Enjoy!

 

The deep pitting from years of the sawmill blade rusting resulted in a very interesting patina.



 

Production is back online after taking most of the summer off.  I have a few things that I promised to make, a few ideas in my head, and the 2nd annual Oktoberfest knife/bottle openers.  I will post projects as they are completed. 

                                                          KITCHEN KNIFE

 

Custom kitchen knife from a Rasp.  Black canvas Micarta with blue liners held with 3/16 mosaic pins.  Acid stain finish with polished bevel.  This knife is being sent down to R Bar leatherworks for a custom leather sheath.  This is the second knife I have made like this, it is my rendition of an Ol' hickory kitchen knife, which probably actually based off of an I.Wilson design from Sheffield England

 

The  kitchen knife was sent for a custom leather sheath at R Bar Leather, in the Woodlands Tx.  Russ did it up right!

 

 

 

 

TRACKER CAMPING KNIFE. 

 

12" Tracker camping/hiking knife commissioned by a friend.  I did not design this profile, it is something that he found and wanted to have made custom.  It is made from 1/4" 1075 carbon steel and has a lot of backbone.  The rear bevel is closer in geometry to an axe grind and the forward bevel is a hollow grind knife bevel.  The whole blade received an acid stain.   Brown Micarta and orange liners.  1/4" corby bolts and 1/4" flared tube.

 

 

Kitchen Knives

 The 11" is from a flat bar of 1095 carbon steel.  The 10" is from a farrier rasp.  Both have mesquite handles and acid stained finish.

 

 

Face Cleaver

 

It is a mini cleaver/straight razor.   Why, It just seemed like it should be a thing!   The smaller one on the bottom, is by far, the sharpest thing to have ever left the CottarKnives shop.

 

 

 

Hatchet/Hawk Prototype

 

Hatchet/Hawk forged from a single farrier rasp with a hand carved oak handle. I folded over a flap of the rasp on the front of the blade so the bevel would not have a seam. I need to hard test it to see how it holds together, but it has a good feel to it.  If it works well, I can see wanting to make more!

 

 

Antique Knives refurbished

I polished, refinished and sharpened my grandmothers kitchen knives for my mother.  It was an honor to restore them and give them another 100 years of useful life.

2 new Parangs.

Finished 2 new Parangs.  One from 3/16" bar 1095 and the other from the thickest rasp I've ever found, 5/16" thick.  These will be unstoppable!  Went with an all black acid finish on the bar stock version.  I have another idea for a Parang, these will probably be the last of this version that I make.

3 new EDC with different color liners

Finished up 3 new little Tactical carry knives, gave each a different color liner.

Zombie green liner:  Farrier rasp, Corby bolts, flared tube, 7" OAL, 3.25" edge.  

Blue liner: 3 flared tubes, from a farrier rasp 3.25" edge and 7"OAL.  

Orange Liner:  Mosaic pics, from a farrier rasp, 7" OAL and 3.25" edge.  

Ol' Hickory style Kitchen knife

We have used an ol' hickory style kitchen knife at the fire station for years.  I  wanted to make my own rendition of it.  I kept with some of the traditional lines and wanted to modernize some of the features.  It will be placed in service alongside its inspiration and I can only hope that it is as useful.  The brown Micarta is a new color to me.  Not Available

Folders

My first two attempts at making folding knives were a straight razor and a friction folder.  I felt like non-locking knives would more practical given the fact that it would such a big leap for me.  As I had imagined, laying out and fitting a folder turned out to be much more tedious than making a fixed blade.  First I made the straight razor and used several lessons learned to improve the way I joined the friction folder.  With the friction folder, I found higher success by making each piece on cardstock, cut them out, and then made them work together.

Straight Razor

I have had a razor build in mind for a while. I thought it would be good opportunity to attempt a simple folder. I enjoyed the build, and look forward to applying what I have learned. Hopefully the next one will take less time.
3/16" 1095, 3.25" edge, hollow grind, acid stained. I wanted to keep it clean so I did not use a liner, not sure if that was a mistake. Time will tell.  I altered my tempering process from what I use for knives, in an attempt to have a harder steel that would hold a lower angle edge.  It in fact was ultra-hard, unfortunately a few days later I found two cracks in the edge that could only been seen under magnification.    Live and learn...

 

 

 

Friction Folder

3/16" High Carbon 1095. 3 1/2" Blade and 7 7/8" OAL. Full credit for the idea to Jeff over at BM, I saw that he made some friction folders about a year ago and have wanted to try it myself. I have carried this in my pocket quite a bit.  I think I will want to make more in the future, and maybe transition in to a liner lock at some point, but not anytime soon.  I still have a lot of fixed blades to build...

 

 

New EDC design

I took some design input from a friend and we came up with a new EDC design.  It is intended to be a discrete every day belt knife.  His biggest request was that it be a thin slicer.  I saved a template and plan to downsize it some as well as make a few stretched out versions. 

 

This is the original prototyle.  Red  spacer, torx screws and black canvas micarta handle.  1095 carbon 

 

7.25" EDC, Green micarta handle with blaze orange spacer.  Acid etched finish.  1095 Carbon