Am I allowed to request a custom order?

[Chaim 0]

As the title says, am I allowed to make a request for a custom knife/dagger order on this forum?

If this is in the wrong section, I apologize.

[Geoff Keyes 593]

I'm sure that most of us who make for sale would be happy to talk to you.  If you don't having public, what are you looking for and what is your budget?

 

Geoff

[Chaim 0]

Im not worried about price yet, Id rather get the details ironed out first. As for what Im looking for, Id like a full tang knife with an overall length of 8 to 10 inches and made with a metal that would be able to take a lot of punishment. i.e. it would be highly resistant to rapid temperature changes, stay sharp under extended use between sharpening and be just flexible enough that it would not easily break under heavy strain. Now I know that there are limits to what can be done and there is no such thing as a "perfect blade" but if it has both the design I will be posting in a few days and the qualities listed above, to me that would be perfect.

On a slightly different note, how much would an engraving on a blade effect the quality and overall stability of the blade?

Thank you and stay healthy!

[Geoff Keyes 593]

Engraving does seem like a poor choice for the kind of blade you're describing. 

 

I asked about price because, while many makers here are able to make a knife that would suit you, not everyone is going to be able to meet your price point, what ever that is. 

 

Are you at $100?  You won't find many quality pieces at that price point, you might as well buy a commercial knife.

Are you at $1000?  You can probably get anything you want.

 

" highly resistant to rapid temperature changes", what does that mean.  Are you planning to run into fires, swim between ice floes?   The fact is that you are way more limited and vulnerable to temperature changes than any steel I can think of.  Sharp is a relative quality and  "not easily break under heavy strain" could mean anything.  Are you planning to chop wood with it, or concrete pavers?  Are you going to use it as a pry bar on a door, or on an engine block?

At this point you haven't really told us anything, if you're serious about this project, there is no point in keeping a secret.

Geoff

[Chaim 0]

Apologies, I meant no disrespect. It is not meant to be a secret either. As for the temperature changes, I am talking about things like working in a place where it is below zero and or above 100f and then the knife gets dropped into a large fire or into a river or lake respectively. For example, as my work takes me to many different places, I have volunteered with the fire department in several cold climates (hence the cold to hot) and Ive also been to several tropical climates and gone through ice cold rivers and such (hence the hot to cold).

As for the "not easy to break under heavy strain", Im talking about things such as using the knife as leverage to break something open.

In terms of the price range, that would probably be about $500 to $700 and is a little bit flexible.

As of right now, I am only trying to get an idea of what is available and not neccissarily going to be buying something just yet. I apologize if I was leading you on.

[Gerald Boggs 243]

Sounds like a Randall model 14

[Jaro Petrina 93]

Plenty of people here to make something like that. The temperature itself isnt a problem unless you are somewhere around of Yakutsk, where steel becomes brittle in -50 celsius.  5160 or 52100 steels you can cover with terracote for rust protection, or go for more modern steel.   We dont really know what do you want to use it for, seems like something a soldier would carry. Thicker leuku or mid sized bowie with a thicker tip would do anything you want, I think Gerald nailed it perfectly. I would stay from fancy lines, super hollow grinds, thin tips and such, just go for something plain and durable.

[Geoff Keyes 593]

I have a piece on the bench that was built for a search and rescue outfit that decided to go a different route.  All of the others I have reworked down to more manageable thicknesses, but it might be just what you're after.  It's currently got micarta slabs on it, industrial ugly but tough, and a completely useless (IMHO) glass breaker on the butt.  80crv2, thick spine, pretty much a prybar with an edge.  I could put this into saleable condition without too much work.  I will get a picture for you.

 

Geoff

[Geoff Keyes 593]

[Chaim 0]

On 1/29/2021 at 6:28 PM, Jaro Petrina said:

Plenty of people here to make something like that. The temperature itself isnt a problem unless you are somewhere around of Yakutsk, where steel becomes brittle in -50 celsius.  5160 or 52100 steels you can cover with terracote for rust protection, or go for more modern steel.   We dont really know what do you want to use it for, seems like something a soldier would carry. Thicker leuku or mid sized bowie with a thicker tip would do anything you want, I think Gerald nailed it perfectly. I would stay from fancy lines, super hollow grinds, thin tips and such, just go for something plain and durable.

Thank you for your input, and yes it would be used partly for combat, and as Geoff said, it would also be used for search and rescue since those are both facets of what I do. In terms of temperature, I have been to Yakutsk once, though it was only to meet with someone for a few hours and then I left. That said, I don't know for certain if I will be going someplace as cold as that again, so that shouldn't be an issue anymore. I have shattered one of my knives once and that was after it had been buried in the snow for several hours and I had to use it to break something open, I used a rock as a hammer (not a great idea, but I had to work with what I had) and it shattered when it hit the rock I was using as a hard surface. As for the engraving or embossing and such, that was more of a curiosity than anything and it would not be part of what I am looking for right now.

[Chaim 0]

13 hours ago, Geoff Keyes said:

This knife looks great, but how long is it? I need one that is no longer than 10 inches, but preferably 7 to 8 inches in overall length. Would you be able to make this one that size?

I don't know much about the vagaries of making blades, so please excuse my ignorance on the subject if I ask something crazy or inane. 

[Jaro Petrina 93]

2 hours ago, Chaim said:

This knife looks great, but how long is it? I need one that is no longer than 10 inches, but preferably 7 to 8 inches in overall length. Would you be able to make this one that size?

I don't know much about the vagaries of making blades, so please excuse my ignorance on the subject if I ask something crazy or inane. 

 

 

I would grab this. 

[Jaro Petrina 93]

7-8"  overall isnt much, because a good grip has about 5"  (human hand is usually between 4-6"  wide.  So 8" overall is really really small bushcraft knife.  For a general use knife that isnt too big I would want 8"  blade.  Stabby stabby combat special  7" blade.    Heavy camp knife 10-12" with no probs.  

[Doug Lester 336]

As far as exposure to heat, if it's hot enough to draw the temper it's probably hot enough to kill you.  However, if it falls into a hot fire the temper would be drawn and ruin the blade.  As far as cold goes, Jaro made a good point, it has to get extremely cold to increase the brittleness in blade steels.

 

Doug

[Geoff Keyes 593]

This piece is massive,  I believe that is an 8" (20 cm) caliper for scale (I can never find anything when I need it).  8" overall is a about 3.5 inch blade length.  Is that what you're after?

 

Geoff

[Sean Blum 18]

I would agree with the assessments made here on temperature problems. Cold is something that is a bit more workable as you have to be in some extreme conditions to get steel cold enough to cause problems. The flip side is getting a piece of steel hot enough to ruin the heat treatments is very easy comparatively to cold. Leaving it out in the sun in the sahara for a couple hours and then dropping it in ice water wont be a problem if its properly made. Fire is something else all together as it is hot and not uncommon especially if you work in or around it.

Basically if you are worried that it will inevitably fall into a fire and be there long enough to heat up and ruin it then you have two choices. First is to keep spares not meaning carry 5 on your person but have a backup on person and one or two at camp in reserve so if it falls in and is ruined you might be able to save it later. The second option is to have the knife blade made of a material tough enough naturally that it doesn't need heat treaded to hold an edge and those are rare and expensive. So you are looking at titanium which has its own drawbacks or some experimental oddity like tungsten carbide.

 

So my recommendation would be to get two knives at minimum so you have a backup if it falls into a fire and gets ruined. Someone here might know better materials that can hit higher heat before ruin but with everything there are compromises.

[Chaim 0]

On 1/31/2021 at 2:11 AM, Geoff Keyes said:

This piece is massive,  I believe that is an 8" (20 cm) caliper for scale (I can never find anything when I need it).  8" overall is a about 3.5 inch blade length.  Is that what you're after?

 

Geoff

Apologies for the delay in my reply, but as I have rather small hands, for me it would be about a 4" handle and the blade would be the longer part. As for the blade length, about 5" would probably be best for my purposes. So I guess it would be closer to 9" in overall length.

As for the material, which of the metals that you work with would be best able to maintain a sharp edge when under moderate to heavy general use? (i.e. cutting a variety of materials like wood, plastics, ropes, and some softer metals, being used occasionally in combat, being used to pry things open, etc.)

Edited February 2 by Chaim

[Geoff Keyes 593]

Any properly heat treated steel will do what you want, pretty much.  D2 and A2 are often talked about as holding an edge for a long time.  My experience with them is, while that might be true, they are also difficult to sharpen without good tools and hard to do at all in the field.  I don't work in those steels, so you would have to find someone who does.

Plain carbon steel (1095, 1080) cuts well and sharpens easily with simple tools.   It also rusts in field conditions if it's not cared for.  Some sort of blued or epoxy surface fixes that pretty well.

I don't work in stainless, but some of the modern stainlesses have good properties of edge retention and low maintenance.  I've not had good results with sharpening stainless, but that might be operator error.

 

L6 is my goto steel for edge retention and good field manners.  It forges well, the HT is pretty simple, and it looks good finished.  It's got a bit or rust resistance, more than a 10xx steel, but it will rust given time and conditions.

 

Geoff

[vlegski 12]

Maybe if Chaim provided a concept drawing or picture it might give Geoff a better idea of the design and handle materials you are thinking about.  I'm pretty survival/comabat knife savy and I'm confused as to what Chaim desires.. I'm pretty sure that any knife Geoff made would survive the riggers of day to day combat life and probably even the extreme  cold. As to surviving fire.  Time in the fire and handle materials govern how well it survives.

[Chaim 0]

Hello all,

Apologies again for the delay in my reply, but it looks like I'm going to be putting this on hold for a while. Several things came up all of the sudden, one right after the other. Among them are a family member getting corona, my father needing to go to the ER, amongst other things.

Thank you so much to everyone for all the advice and information you gave me, I really appreciate it. I hope to resume this discussion in the near future, but only time will tell.

Wishing everyone the happiest and the healthiest!

Chaim

[Chaim 0]

On 1/30/2021 at 5:57 AM, Geoff Keyes said:

Hey all, Im not sure how long I'll be on here this time, but I'll try to finish things up.

Anywho Geoff, if you still have this knife, are you able to shorten the blade to about "7, and remove the wood on the handle and make a few small alterations to the metal that is currently covered by the wood? Ive decided to go in a bit of a different direction and try to get a knife with a rather specific design.

One last thing, do you have a laser engraver or something that you can use to etch some letters onto the blade without affecting the blades strength and stability?

Thank you again to everyone for your help and suggestions. Stay happy and healthy!

[Geoff Keyes 593]

For the work involved it would be as simple and quick to forge something to order.  Is the one pictured the shape you're after?  I think it's a good all around shape, but if you want a bit more point, I can do that. 

 

What do you want for handle material?  For hard duty, I suggest micarta, but I can do anything, really.
I can do a simple etch, if you want more, I would have to go out of house.

 

Did we ever settle on a price?

 

Geoff

[Chaim 0]

On 3/11/2021 at 3:34 AM, Geoff Keyes said:

For the work involved it would be as simple and quick to forge something to order.  Is the one pictured the shape you're after?  I think it's a good all around shape, but if you want a bit more point, I can do that. 

 

What do you want for handle material?  For hard duty, I suggest micarta, but I can do anything, really.
I can do a simple etch, if you want more, I would have to go out of house.

 

Did we ever settle on a price?

 

Geoff

Hey Geoff,

We never did settle on a price as I had several back to back family emergencies come up out of the blue. As for the handle, I just want a simple polished metal handle, no wood or micarta, just the bare metal lightly polished. As for the shape, I will try to post a rough drawing of the shape Im looking for and the reason why I asked about redoing this one is because you described is as a "prybar with an edge" and that is one feature I would still like.

Thank you for your patience with me and have a wonderful weekend!

Stay healthy,

Chaim

P.S. Just wondering, about how long does it take to make a knife?

[Geoff Keyes 593]

This piece would actually be workable without a handle, so it might be the best choice, and popping the scales off is not a big job.  The tang will have the pin holes in it and that can't really be fixed without a fair bit of work.  If I welded them up I would then have to redo the heat treat, which would add to the cost.

I get asked the "how long" question quite a bit.  The true answer is "It depends".  I can do a simple, small EDC knife in about 3-4 hours, like these.

 

Or, it can take many hours. I have over 80 hours in this one

 

I'm sorry about your family issues, I hope things are better now.

 

Geoff

[Chaim 0]

On 3/11/2021 at 3:34 AM, Geoff Keyes said:

 

Hey Geoff,

My apologies for the wait, its been crazy here.

As for the design I am looking for, Ive attached a sketch of both the blade and the "hilt" that I am looking for. Its kind of a rough sketch as my phone isnt exactly the best thing to use when drawing, but I hope it is understandable enough.

The handle itself doesnt exactly make much difference to me as long as I am able to hold it in my hand and use it without the metal making a sore on my palm. If you can, maybe wrap it with rayskin if you have any available.

The balance doesnt matter to me either, and if that is a problem for making it, please let me know.

As for the etch, do you use a laser engraver or some other machine or do you do it by hand? Also, are you able to make the spine of the blade thick enough (maybe about half a centimeter) to etch something small on?

I also understand that youd probably have to make a whole new blade to make this work and that it would cost more, and thats fine. My final budget is going to be about $600 USD, but it can be adjusted a little.

Thank you again for everything,

Chaim