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.