Thread: who likes custom knives?

Here's a 6" blade fighting knife I recently got through making for a customer and it'll shave. The blade has a double fuller, generous false edge on top, has been differentially heat treated, double-tempered and mirror polished. The handle is ebony with ivory inlays finished up with mosaic pinning. I just wanted to share. I was pretty happy with the way this knife turned out.

As you should be. It looks very nice. I'm not really one for fighting knives since I don't EVER expect to use on in a fighting situation. But it DOES look like all that and a bag of chips.

I'm not really one for knives either, but I can appreciate fine craftsmanship when I see it - looks brilliant!

James.

No custom knives for me, if custom straights weren't so expensive I would like to have one or two.

Looks great, but I have to ask. What is the difference between a fighting knife, and say a camping knife? Both cut, are sturdy, ... . Is it the strength of the spine? groove in the middle of the blade (like that on the K-bar)?

Very few fighting knives are actually used for fighting any more than genuine Samurai swords are actually used for fighting. These usually go to fairly (or extremely) wealthy individuals who collect such pieces. The attraction is the wicked, beautiful look of these weapons as presentation pieces and this is a presentation fighter. It's certainly an excellent choice for actual fighting or combat and could be carried as a weapon but that's not usually the use for these presentation knives.

The difference between a fighting knife and a camp knife is that they are designed for very different purposes. A camp knife needs to be easily sharpened, are usually pretty hefty for chopping and other heavy choes and have a utilitarian blade design, often much like a chef's knife would have. Fighting knives can either be practical, such as this one, or "fantasy design", which isn't so much practical as just plain evil looking. One that's a practical fighter will be light in the hand, very agressive at cutting, tough, but hard at the edges so it will take and hold a razor edge. It should be able to be held comfortably with a standard or reverse grip and usually has a very agressive tip with a false edge for stabbing as well as slicing. The fullers lighten the weight and balance. It should be very nimble. It should also have very good finger guards so that cutting off a few fingers while using it isn't a likelihood and it should also be, in my opinion, very secure in the hand with a strong hook at the butt section so it can't slip from the hand when wet or when trying to extract the blade.

Think of hand to hand querilla combat during a wartime situation when you think of fighting knives. These utilitarian pieces would be "tactical fighters", similar in design but with much less focus on a polished fit and finish with high end materials. Micarta handles and brush finishes are pretty standard fare for tactical knives meant for every day carry by law enforcement, military, etc.

I make it a firm policy to never take a knife to a gunfight.

Originally Posted by Jonedangerousli

I make it a firm policy to never take a knife to a gunfight.

Believe it or not, a knife is more dangerous in close quarters (less than 12 feet) than a gun.

Police are taught that anyone armed with a knife should be considered a deadly threat at 12 feet or less.

Guns make a bullet sized hole. A knife can do so much damage with one stroke that survival is a virtual impossibility. Best bet is avoiding both gunfights and knife fights.

Actually knife "fights" are rarely what we think of as classic knife vs. knife hand combat. It's usually one guy armed with a knife dispatching someone who isn't armed with a knife. This kind of stuff is really common in the worst parts of South Africa and the Phillipines and some other places where knives are the weapons of choice.

Here are a few of my Customs

Takeda Ajikiri
2x Harner utilities
Carter KU Nakiri

I like custom knives that I can use, so I focus on kitchen knives. I'm putting together a set of custom carbon knives from different makers. So far I have what I think is the top of the list with Carter and Takeda, now to figure out the next 3...

Wow...those are some real nice looking tomatoes!
(...hey...what can I say....I'm on a diet!...)

Seriously, though, not being a knife guy, I was surprised to see that the 2 Harners weren't at the top of your list....they are the most visually appealing....heck, if I saw the other two at a garage sale, I'd offer, what, maybe two or three bucks......five tops. Those flashy Harners, though, well, I'd dig deep for those.....


....just goes to show.....flash sells.

nice knives.

-whatever

-Lou