13.5" blade forged from 80CrV2, marine epoxy-impregnated black-over-tan paracord handle wrap, black Kydex sheath.
I'd rather sweat and feed mosquitos in my shop than wrestle with lawyers and politicians. Thanks, guys!
Friday, August 18, 2017
Sinuous bush chopper for Knife Rights
My donation piece this year for Knife Right's Ultimate Steel fundraiser:
13.5" blade forged from 80CrV2, marine epoxy-impregnated black-over-tan paracord handle wrap, black Kydex sheath.
I'd rather sweat and feed mosquitos in my shop than wrestle with lawyers and politicians. Thanks, guys!
13.5" blade forged from 80CrV2, marine epoxy-impregnated black-over-tan paracord handle wrap, black Kydex sheath.
I'd rather sweat and feed mosquitos in my shop than wrestle with lawyers and politicians. Thanks, guys!
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Thursday, July 6, 2017
Veteran-made tanto in progress
This tanto is in the process of being made by a student of mine who is a Marine veteran, Emilio Fernandez @fernandezindustrial. It is ground from a 1951 Ford pickup leaf spring, with stamped markings still visible on the tang. The blade is 5 1/2", the overall length is 10 1/4", and the blade is 3/16" at the base of the blade, tapering distally to the tip. It is ready to be heat treated. This is available for sale. It will be getting an epoxy-hardened cord wrap and a Kydex sheath. Price is $150 for the knife and $40 for the sheath. If interested, send an e-mail to gpmsatx@att.net with "Tanto" in the subject line.
Monday, June 26, 2017
Blade Show 2017 After-Report
Finally doing a Blade Show after-report.
It was the best knife show I've done, and it flew! I didn't get to get around to talk with more than a small handful of the folks I wanted to, and sold all but three pieces at the show. Those three were all claimed before I made it back home.
It was the biggest Blade Show yet. The first year I was there, a large margin of empty space surrounded the tables. The year after that they pushed to the outer walls. This year they had booths in the foyer out front.
I haven't done a show yet where I didn't end up putting the final edges on in the hotel room.
It was my buddy and fellow Forged in Fire champion Tobin Nieto's first time to have a table at Blade, and he, of course, made it entertaining. My loverly bride holds a glaive that he made, and he has my sword. You always need an eye-catcher on your table, and these are ours.
Always enjoy it when Dan Keffeler comes by. Among other things, he had a Super Assassin with him.
Which Tobin seemed to like.
This fellow bought several blades from me, including the Ludicrously Oversized Bowie.
Got to meet Ryu Lim, fellow Forged in Fire champion.
Jason Knight was a contestant on the unaired pilot episode of Forged in Fire. He won with this Damascus gladius. He did all right. :D
Mardi Meshsejian (another FiF contestant) made a katzbalger that was undoubtedly prettier than the one I built for the show. Mine was lighter, though; there's a full pound of sterling silver in the guard! Gorgeous work with a stainless san mai blade, anodized titanium handle, sterling guard, and fossilized walrus ivory pommel.
He also had this gorgeous o-tanto with stainless san mai blade and fossilized walrus ivory handle.
Tobin was as enthralled with RMJ Tactical's official rendition of the Frank Frazetta Deal Dealer ax as I was last year.
There was a small disagreement that was amicably settled.
Luke Swenson liked Tobin's glaive in spite of it not being a slipjoint. :D
My brother-in-law talking with Tracker Dan. An interesting study in contrasts.
Ed Calderon, the Taco Ninja, poses with some $5 foam nunchucks someone sold my nephew. Tobin's wife and daughter are in the background, oblivious that they are being posted across forums and social media.
Don Carlos Andrade, who makes beautiful culinary cutlery, and Joe Flowers, who designs for Condor Tool and Knife.
The Forged in Fire contestants who were at Blade Show got together for a group photo. There were a lot of us!
This bolo, o-tanto, and sword were the only items that didn't sell at the show.
We got invited to tour RMJ Tactical's new shop in Chatanooga, TN, on the way back home. Enjoyed it a lot! Ryan made some comment about "the bellies of bladesmithing". :D
While my wife and I spent a couple of days in the Smoky Mountains on our way home, I shot some better pics of the unsold items. All three were bought before we got back to Texas.
This Sasquatch waded into the stream and grabbed the sword, but eventually wandered off.
In spite of the long handle on the sword, the Sasquatch's paws filled it with a two-handed grip.
I didn't get a good picture of my two tables at the show. I did have one of the four smaller tantos travel back with me so that I could ship it to the customer so he wouldn't have to mess with getting it back home.
It was the best knife show I've done, and it flew! I didn't get to get around to talk with more than a small handful of the folks I wanted to, and sold all but three pieces at the show. Those three were all claimed before I made it back home.
It was the biggest Blade Show yet. The first year I was there, a large margin of empty space surrounded the tables. The year after that they pushed to the outer walls. This year they had booths in the foyer out front.
I haven't done a show yet where I didn't end up putting the final edges on in the hotel room.
It was my buddy and fellow Forged in Fire champion Tobin Nieto's first time to have a table at Blade, and he, of course, made it entertaining. My loverly bride holds a glaive that he made, and he has my sword. You always need an eye-catcher on your table, and these are ours.
Always enjoy it when Dan Keffeler comes by. Among other things, he had a Super Assassin with him.
Which Tobin seemed to like.
This fellow bought several blades from me, including the Ludicrously Oversized Bowie.
Got to meet Ryu Lim, fellow Forged in Fire champion.
Jason Knight was a contestant on the unaired pilot episode of Forged in Fire. He won with this Damascus gladius. He did all right. :D
Mardi Meshsejian (another FiF contestant) made a katzbalger that was undoubtedly prettier than the one I built for the show. Mine was lighter, though; there's a full pound of sterling silver in the guard! Gorgeous work with a stainless san mai blade, anodized titanium handle, sterling guard, and fossilized walrus ivory pommel.
He also had this gorgeous o-tanto with stainless san mai blade and fossilized walrus ivory handle.
Tobin was as enthralled with RMJ Tactical's official rendition of the Frank Frazetta Deal Dealer ax as I was last year.
There was a small disagreement that was amicably settled.
Luke Swenson liked Tobin's glaive in spite of it not being a slipjoint. :D
My brother-in-law talking with Tracker Dan. An interesting study in contrasts.
Ed Calderon, the Taco Ninja, poses with some $5 foam nunchucks someone sold my nephew. Tobin's wife and daughter are in the background, oblivious that they are being posted across forums and social media.
Don Carlos Andrade, who makes beautiful culinary cutlery, and Joe Flowers, who designs for Condor Tool and Knife.
The Forged in Fire contestants who were at Blade Show got together for a group photo. There were a lot of us!
This bolo, o-tanto, and sword were the only items that didn't sell at the show.
We got invited to tour RMJ Tactical's new shop in Chatanooga, TN, on the way back home. Enjoyed it a lot! Ryan made some comment about "the bellies of bladesmithing". :D
While my wife and I spent a couple of days in the Smoky Mountains on our way home, I shot some better pics of the unsold items. All three were bought before we got back to Texas.
In spite of the long handle on the sword, the Sasquatch's paws filled it with a two-handed grip.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Monday, May 22, 2017
Saturday, May 13, 2017
On "tactical" knives
The question recently came up on a certain zombie forum what renders a knife as "tactical". This is something I've wanted to comment on in my blog for a while but haven't taken the time. It seemed an opportune moment to remedy that.
"Tactical" has been an over-used description for blades, tis true, but has some valid usage and I don't hesitate to use it to describe my own work.
As I see it, there are a couple different basic connotations. The first would be the original connotation, derived from the dictionary denotations such as "of or occurring at the battlefront" and "of or relating to small-scale actions serving a larger purpose". I believe, though I could be wrong, that the term was first applied in the bladed world to folding knives specifically designed for carry and usage by warfighters on the battlefront. The needs might range from cutting webbing to prying a jammed door to, in the worst-case scenario, killing an enemy combatant while locked in a grapple. Certain characteristics were needed to make it a feasible option on the modern battlefront, such as a high degree of toughness, the ability to open and possibly close one-handed, a strong lock, and materials that would continue to operate despite harsh environments. Fixed blades also picked up the moniker.
Common characteristics in both tactical folders and fixed blades are subdued coloration including blade coatings, the use of synthetic handle materials to minimize the effects of environmental conditions, a focus on designs for strength and/or fighting ability, and a carry system compatible with modern load-bearing equipment that will simultaneously provide good blade retention while allowing quick deployment.
Most of what I do these days would fall under this category of "tactical" in one way or another.
The other connotation is essentially a sub-genre of "fantasy" knife designs. Instead of the fantasy of killing dragons and rescuing scantily-clad damsels, the fantasy is somewhere on the spectrum of Rambo and Snake Eyes taking on armies of commies and terrorists. They take some of the cues from the "real" tactical knives, such as blade coatings and synthetic materials, but are much more concerned with looking cool than doing the job.
So the one is a purpose-built tool for warfighters on the front line and the other is a stylistic choice that derives from the former.
I'd consider the katzbalger I built for "Forged in Fire" to be tactical in both senses. In the first sense, I built it using the materials and techniques I do for all of my tactical knives and bush swords, with as strong a handle construction as I could come up with, using multiple redundant techniques to keep everything as solidly locked together as possible. If a warfighter wanted to carry a katzbalger on the battlefield, this is how I would build it for him.
But the absolute impracticality of carrying a katzbalger into battle these days pushes it, tongue-in-cheek, into the "fantasy tactical" realm. There are practical situations for carrying a blade, even larger blades, as part of a modern warfighter's gear, but a katzbalger is the last design I would go with.
"Tactical" has been an over-used description for blades, tis true, but has some valid usage and I don't hesitate to use it to describe my own work.
As I see it, there are a couple different basic connotations. The first would be the original connotation, derived from the dictionary denotations such as "of or occurring at the battlefront" and "of or relating to small-scale actions serving a larger purpose". I believe, though I could be wrong, that the term was first applied in the bladed world to folding knives specifically designed for carry and usage by warfighters on the battlefront. The needs might range from cutting webbing to prying a jammed door to, in the worst-case scenario, killing an enemy combatant while locked in a grapple. Certain characteristics were needed to make it a feasible option on the modern battlefront, such as a high degree of toughness, the ability to open and possibly close one-handed, a strong lock, and materials that would continue to operate despite harsh environments. Fixed blades also picked up the moniker.
Common characteristics in both tactical folders and fixed blades are subdued coloration including blade coatings, the use of synthetic handle materials to minimize the effects of environmental conditions, a focus on designs for strength and/or fighting ability, and a carry system compatible with modern load-bearing equipment that will simultaneously provide good blade retention while allowing quick deployment.
Most of what I do these days would fall under this category of "tactical" in one way or another.
The other connotation is essentially a sub-genre of "fantasy" knife designs. Instead of the fantasy of killing dragons and rescuing scantily-clad damsels, the fantasy is somewhere on the spectrum of Rambo and Snake Eyes taking on armies of commies and terrorists. They take some of the cues from the "real" tactical knives, such as blade coatings and synthetic materials, but are much more concerned with looking cool than doing the job.
So the one is a purpose-built tool for warfighters on the front line and the other is a stylistic choice that derives from the former.
I'd consider the katzbalger I built for "Forged in Fire" to be tactical in both senses. In the first sense, I built it using the materials and techniques I do for all of my tactical knives and bush swords, with as strong a handle construction as I could come up with, using multiple redundant techniques to keep everything as solidly locked together as possible. If a warfighter wanted to carry a katzbalger on the battlefield, this is how I would build it for him.
But the absolute impracticality of carrying a katzbalger into battle these days pushes it, tongue-in-cheek, into the "fantasy tactical" realm. There are practical situations for carrying a blade, even larger blades, as part of a modern warfighter's gear, but a katzbalger is the last design I would go with.
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