Gyuri Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 This is an ongoing project that I and two of my friends work on and intend to finish by next march. Since it is currently in the design phase, I post the topic here. The concept of the whole project arouse in a pub where we decided to make our version of war knives. However, instead of making a single design together through endless debates and bitter compromises, we agreed that everyone should materialize his own thoughts and see what happens. To be honest, we are not sure what we will use these blades for when we are done, but the way is what really matters for us here. Once again, the aim was to create an interesting fighting/survival chopper. And the results are: My humble design: https://cerberuscutlery.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/knife_1.jpg Peter's (one friend) concept: https://cerberuscutlery.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/kes_2.jpg Matt's (other friend) solution: https://cerberuscutlery.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/10486863_10201970616378965_1732100062_n2.jpg I cannot resize the pics properly, that's why I'm providing links. Anyway, if anyone is interested in the process, more can be read on our blog: http://cerberuscutlery.wordpress.com/ We already have a lot of work in this, so I'm eager to read any feedback. Also, feel free to ask any questions, I'll do my best to make everything clear. Thanks for reading! My blog: http://cerberuscutlery.wordpress.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Are you planning to test these pieces? I think it will be interesting to see how your designs translate into actual tools. I suspect the more complex designs may not work as well in actual real world situations as the 3rd one. Historical shapes exist for real reasons. Geoff "The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else." I said that. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - - -G. K. Chesterton So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy. Grant Sarver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Lester Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 To be honest rather than brutal, as Geoff said, that third one that has a kopis or kukri shape is probably the only one I would not classify as a fantasy weapon. After about 4000 years it's doubtful that you will come across a design that is new and functional. Doug HELP...I'm a twenty year old trapped in the body of an old man!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collin Miller Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 I have to agree with Geoff.Why fix what isn't broken? These designs all seem very front heavy, and to be honest, pretty unwieldy.I expect Matt's kukri design to work best, because it is essentially a kukri with a slight handle job. Thinking about it, these seem to be knives that are trying to be small axes, and I can't see any of these being more functional than historical designs.Knives, arguably, pretty much go back as far as humans do. So other than folding knives, there's not really any designs new that could improve upon existing (historical) ones apart from a new material, such as the transition from bronze to iron in ancient Britain, when swords, knives, and axes changed quite dramatically in design, because bronze and iron had different qualities, and so they improved the designs to better suit their superior material. “If you trust in yourself. . . believe in your dreams. . . and follow your star. . . you will still get beaten by the people who have spent their time working hard and learning things, the people who weren't so lazy.” ~ Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudolf Harmse Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 I actually quite like knife 1's design, it is a modern take on a traditional shape (Kukri), I like the recessed grip almost like a fighting knife will be more secure when chopping. And the compound chisel grind with the flat on the front blade part. I am by no means as knowledgeable as the gentlemen who has given their opinion before, however don't stop designing and trying to push boundaries if we always took what we had as gospel human progress would not have happened as it has. The fact that knives has such a long history, means that it will be hard to find a functional and practical permutation that has not already been tried before, it will be improbable but not impossible. Less haste, more speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerrod Miller Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Unrelated to the design functionality, but your drawing skills are pretty good. I quite like how you detailed out your design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyuri Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 Thank you all for the feedback. I can't really argue with the critics, Peter and I took the plunge with the design without the aim to improve any traditional design. We respect traditional knives but wanted to make it our way anyway. My experience is when I cut myself a stick, it is hard to fashion the ends with the same chopper. That's why I put a concave chisel ground section at the base. The protrusion at the point is supposed to enable a firm grip to use the knife like a draw knife. All of these however are just assumptions that I'll have to try out on the finished piece. Jerrod, thanks for the kind words. I make blueprints on a daily basis as an engineer, but I still have a long way to go with hand drawing. This kind of feedback makes me feel that it is worth the effort. Anyway, I don't have any experience with chisel edges. Is it good or bad? Why can't they be seen more on knives? My blog: http://cerberuscutlery.wordpress.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Lester Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 One problem with a chisel grind is that it's directional, that is left or right handed. It will cut fine in one hand but poorly if you switch it to the other depending on the side the bevel is ground on. Doug HELP...I'm a twenty year old trapped in the body of an old man!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyuri Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 Doug, thanks for the reply, I decided to go with the chisel grind.It’s been a while since the last post, so I think it’s high time to shake things up. From now on, this thread is going to be more show and tell, so feel free to move it to the appropriate section.Two of the three blade blanks arrived a couple days ago. It was a wild ride (more about that on the blog), but at last we made our supplier send a decent cut. In the meantime, I finished my mini belt grinder, so nothing held us back from a well spent weekend.Since Peter didn’t get his blade blank in time, only Matt and I travelled to my shop to deal with the rough grinding and abuse my new custom mini grinder for three days non-stop. I still have some issues with belt tracking, but I’m satisfied with its overall performance, not to mention that it’s a 60 years old 1kW (~1.5hp) motor working there. The thing could still be touched with bare hand after two hours of constant heavy duty work. I only got to rough out the profile and drill the holes on the tang of the big blade besides running a couple blades on the 36 grit belt. Still, the results were close to a marvel after several years of hand filing. I can’t wait until next weekend! I also narrowed the big blade towards its point. It’s still a bit tip heavy to my taste, but now it’s much better. So much for careful prototyping… Anyway, Matt dispossessed the grinder most of the time, so he made it to 120 grit with his kukri-ish blade. Since I still don’t have a large enough contact wheel, he ran the concave section of the blade on the table. This proved to be a bad idea – the surface was full of grooves by the time he finished. By then, it was time to clean the shop and head back to Budapest. It was hard work, but we had a good time. To all the kukri experts out there, how do you grind the concave section? My blog: http://cerberuscutlery.wordpress.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyuri Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 Although this topic is doesn't see much updates lately, we are actually making progress. If you're curious about how business to business purchases are made the hungarian way, check it out on our blog: https://cerberuscutlery.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/mp-never-trust-your-suppliers/ My blog: http://cerberuscutlery.wordpress.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyuri Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 Our progress is slow, but steady. After all, I managed to fix most of the bugs of my grinder and we're through a busy weekend with Peter, the other guy from the crew. The original tip of my blade became too thin, so I had to chop it off. Now it's a tanto tip... On the other hand, I had a hard time grinding the recursive edge, especially the plunges. Any tips on that? Anyway, I wrote a new blog post about the latest updates, if anyone is interested: https://cerberuscutlery.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/mp-monkey-on-the-grindstone/ My blog: http://cerberuscutlery.wordpress.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now