TBP EDC

Whoa!  I best get something on here about the upcoming knife "The Backyard Pioneer EDC".  Mike Prunty at TheBackyardPioneer.com and I have started working on a knife together.  He originally liked the Camp knife listed here.  We decided to make some changes to that design.  I actually made an outline of the Camp knife and sent it snailmail to Mike.  He wanted to incorporate a few things into the design.  Mike's ideas included a thicker steel, a clip point and a thumb ramp.  After looking at his ideas, I decided to make some slight changes.  His design is shown in the fist diagram and by the dashes and my changes in the second drawing.

The first thing was a thumb ramp above the handle.  This gives your thumb a place to rest when you are going at it.  Jimping will be added for better traction on the thumb ramp.
I like a slightly longer clip.  This flat clip will still have plenty of steel behind the point for maximum penetration and integrity.
Next, my belief is the knife is being designed for SHTF work so it needs some point to be able to open soup cans or a car door, drill a hole in plywood and stab into anything.
Mike first mentioned to me about a beefier handle at the blade/handle junction.  Comfort and grip are my main concerns and I think this works well.
Last is a little Skull Crusher at the end to use for breaking skulls or other breakable stuff...but mostly skulls.

I cut out two blanks for the prototypes.  These aren't the steel we plan to use but what I had on hand at the moment.  One was Aldo's 1095 and it was .150" thick, close to the 5/32" we'll use.  The other was Aldo's 1084, it was .200" thick.  At first Mike wanted the knives to be 3/16" thick so I'm trying a thick one.  My thought on that is if we use a tougher steel we can make it thinner and stronger.  The O1 is on order and will be used after the prototypes have been looked at and checked for any design changes.

 Steel will be ordered in .125" and .156" thicknesses and will be a choice for anyone that orders one.  This will take a while to get it all right.  Can't be sure when knives will be available.

  Here are the blanks cut out and profiled to shape.

This is after the initial grinding.  Next is drilling any holes in the handle area and then on to heat treating.

Hopefully I will get heat treating done this week and have a chance to get close to finishing them this weekend.  Stay tuned for the next installment of TBP-AK EDC.  Now you can follow my posts by signing up for email updates.  It is about time I got that going.

New Offerings

There are some things that I have wanted to offer for a while and with the help of my lovely wife we put together some Personal Survival Kits or PSK's.  These handy little kits are made to stuff into a pocket, pack, purse or whatever just in case you may have to spend an unintended evening in the woods.

We decided that the contents of these kits would have to fit into an Altoids tin.  While spending one night in the woods shouldn't be anything major, it can be very disorienting and lead to any number of problems.  Hunters, fishermen, backpackers, hikers or anyone that goes out to the woods should be prepared with a minimum of gear.  The biggest issue when someone is lost or turned around in the woods is their own self.  They tend to doubt their abilities and then their gear.  With just a few items you can keep your mind focused on keeping yourself as comfortable as you can for your overnight stay.  A fire will help you to stay warm and ease your mind. 

The kits have the basics for starting a fire, water purification, navigation, repairing torn clothing or packs, first aid, fishing and signaling.  I will offer these with or without my P.A.T.(Pats Altoids Tin) knife and I'll also keep emergency blankets on hand.

Just as you make preparations for most things you do, this gives you a little assurance that you have at least minimal gear with you when you visit the out-of-doors.  PSK's don't stop things from happening but can give you some peace of mind that a little incident doesn't have to turn into a major rescue mission.  Thousands of folks each year get stuck outdoors when weather hits unexpectedly, lost or injured.  Don't get caught empty handed. 

For fun Leslie put together a Mini PSK too.  It has less of everything, but most of the same items as the PSK.  Can you see the cute little mini knife at the bottom?  It is made to cut.  All of this stuff fits into a mini Altoids tin.  It is crazy!!!

Rescue Me

In an earlier posting about the kitchen knives I have accumulated, more than one was a rescue knife.  By rescue knife I mean it had been abused in the past and left for dead.  I don't find good ones in that shape very often but when I do I snatch them up and give them a little TLC.  The two rescue knives in the pic are the 2nd up from the bottom on the right side, and the 2nd down on left side. 

This rescue knife is the 2nd down on the left.  It is a J. A. Henckels 10" Chef knife.  New, this knife probably went for $100.  I got it at a thrift store for $0.50.  You can't really see in this picture how badly it has been treated, but trust me, it was in bad shape.  It looks as though someone took it to a grinding wheel thinking they could sharpen it that way.

Here you can get an idea of how it was treated.  There are deep scratches, scuffs and grind marks going every which way.  The edge was damaged in places and there was no way this could be used in the state it was in.

So the first thing I do is make a plan and try to stick to it.  I look it over and see that the cutting edge is uneven but the spine is straight.  The tip has been ground down and there are battle scars on the spine.  The guard/bolster area needs to be taken down a bit for the knife to cut properly.  As you can see in this pic I have drawn a line at the tip that I will cut off at the portaband.  While cutting it I dipped it in water many times to keep the steel cool.  After cutting the tip off it's time to take it to the knife grinder.  When the tip was cut it left the area thicker than the tip should be.  My first step is to thin the tip down so it flows with the rest of the blade.  I can't tell you how wet my hands got grinding this blade.  It went into water after every second or two of grind time and I touched it to make sure I didn't let too much heat build up and ruin the heat treating.

This was a very slow process and after an hour and a half of grinding it looked pretty good.  Unfortunately I had to grind off the makers mark but it had to be done.  I turned my attention to the handle which had some scarring.  First I tried to buff the handle but it instantly caused friction burns.  Next I got out the sandpaper and went at it with that.  It will not have the shiny handle it once had but it will still feel good in the hand.

I notice the edge isn't as rounded, when compared to my 8" Henckels chef knife.  The edge is more like that of a Sabotier.  From the handle, the edge is fairly flat 75% of the way to the tip.  It should perform well in the kitchen though.

It needs to be sanded a little more to make everything nice and even looking.  Then it will get a good sharpening.  At that point it will be ready to give away to some unsuspecting victim...I mean to one lucky reader of The Backyard Pioneer.

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There was a minor setback with the Give Away knife.  It seems to have a crack in the blade close to the handle.  I noticed it as I was hand sanding the blade.  A line kept showing up perpendicular to the edge as the 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper went over it.  After seeing it happen a few times I turned the blade over and tried on that side.  The line was about 12mm long and went to the edge and around the other side the same distance.  Looking online, I found J. A. Henckels website, printed out their customer relations information and packed the knife up to send back to them.  It went in the mail on March 26th.  Hope their customer service is as great as their knives are.  I informed them that this knife was going to be given away and their reputation was on the line.

When I hear something I will update the post and proceed from there.

Show Season Begins

The first of the season runs Friday March 22nd through Sunday March 24th in Linden, Tennessee.  This is  a good show with lots of people attending.  Here's the low down on it:

LINDEN'S 5th ANNUAL BLOOMING ARTS FESTIVAL: WEEKEND EVENT FEATURING ARTS, CRAFTS, FOOD, AND LIVE CONCERT

Fire, glass, wood, antique fiber, molten metal, paint splatter, bungee jumping, live music and street theater dance!With an outstanding slate of events and interactive exhibitions, Linden's 5th Annual Blooming Arts Festival promises to be a spectacular kaleidoscope of fine arts, crafts, and performances that are all at once "family friendly" and focused on "audience participation"...while also offering food, music, kid's activities, and an element of spontaneous fun for all!

The 3 day event runs from 12am-5pm on Friday, March 22, 10am-8pm on Saturday the 23rd and 12-5 on Sunday, March 24th,featuring interactive artist demonstrations in blacksmithing, fiber art, , painting, theatre, and music of multiple genres.Demonstrating artists and performers include local and regional artists and artisans.Food will be abundant provided by local eateries and street vendors. Guests can tour the Linden Art District, and the Historic Commodore Hotel featured in recently on television and in magazines.

Approximately 100+ exhibiting artists will present items such as wood carved bowls, totem poles, hiking sticks, pottery, clay figures, stained glass, weaving's, jewelry, baskets, quilts, painted feathers, portraits, photographs, paintings, dolls and gourds.There will be live music on the square all day and the Saturday Night Concert, starting at 5:30, featuring Tara Tinsley and Joey Hyde,sponsored by First Bank, will surely get the town rockin'!

Linden is in final stages of its downtown revitalization and has a new streetscape including widened brick sidewalks, new streetlights and landscaping completing Linden's "renaissance" transformation. Linden's Mayor Jim Azbill, likes to tell all visitors to enjoy while "the paint is still
  wet!"

The Blooming Arts Festival is part of an effort to bring attention to the rich cultural, artistic, and historic heritage of the community, and has grown into a regional signature event attended by thousands. In continuing a nod towards technology, there will be a drawing for an iPad giveaway, sponsored by the Bank of Perry County, as part of a social media campaign. Participants need to become Facebook fans of the Blooming Arts Festival and register at the festival.

The 2013 Blooming Arts Festival has expanded not only in number of days, but also includes indoor and outdoor venues throughout Linden's downtown, with performers and demonstrating artists mixed within exhibit locations. A Quilt show, beauty pageant, large antique faire and a live concert on Saturday

Night make the first weekend of spring a jam packed not to be missed event.Participating artists are excited about their media, and eager to share information and encourage hands-on activity. Artist listing's, and a schedule of events will be available at the event's Welcome Booth. Festival attendance

and parking is free. For further information please go to www.bloomingartsfestival.org

 

Stop on by and say Howdy to Leslie and I as we welcome each and every person that stops by the booth.  We will be there Friday and all day Saturday.  Unfortunately we can't be there on Sunday.

KMG Upgrade

So I finally went ahead and ordered a pair of 3-step pulleys from McMaster-Carr for my KMG grinder.  It has been something on my mind for at least three years. 

The reason for it is to be able to control the speed a little bit.  Now I could have gone with a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) and new DC motor to make it infinitely adjustable, but I did not want to spend $900 to do so.  Instead I purchased a 6213K73 with 5/8" bore and a 6213K73 with a 3/4" bore to fit my motor and KMG drive wheel, respectively.  The pulleys have 2", 3" and 4" wheels so I can get 3 speeds from a one speed motor by moving the belt from one tier to the next.  They set me back a whopping $45 including shipping

There are many times when I want to slow the machine down.  When working with materials like purpleheart and a few others, the fast speed burns the oils in the wood.  Then it has to be sanded again, usually by hand, to get the dark coloration off.  I'm sure this upgrade will pay for itself rather quickly.  All totalled I have about $65 in this upgrade.  Not bad when compared to $900.

First thing I did after ordering the 3-step pulleys was to clean off my grinding table.  Dang there was stuff on that table that I haven't seen in years.  Luckily the layer of dust was protecting everything. 

Next was to take the motor off the bench and measure it all up and drill holes for the motor.  My plan is to mount the motor to a piece of 3/4" plywood.  Hinges will be attached to one side so the weight of the motor will keep a constant tension on the link belt. 

The old pulleys were taken off of the motor and drive wheel with a gear puller.  New pulley is attached to the motor in this picture.  The other pulley was put on the KMG drive shaft.

From that point I had to attach the plywood base to the grinding table and remount the motor square to the grinder.  I ordered 3 feet of link belt to replace the v-belt that was transferring the power from the motor to the grinder.  The new link belt really makes a significant difference in the way the machine runs.  V-belts will retain humps in the belt which makes things run bumpy.  The link belt can be made any size by adding or subtracting the small links.  So it was easy to make it the right size.  With regular v-belts if you don't have the right size you end up going back and forth to the supply store to get the right one.  This takes the guesswork out of the equation.

This upgrade was way easier than I thought it would be.  It's something I should have done a long time ago and will make life a little easier at the old grindstone.  Everything runs so smoothly now that I can't wait to grind some blades on it.  I'll let y'all know how it works.

Review ofJK Toby v2.0

This is a review I posted on BladeForums.com.  The knife was made by John Kiedaisch of JK Handmade Knives.  The knife belonged to Peter H. aka KYenglish who generously allowed a bunch of us knife slobs to put our grubby paws on it and tell y'all what we think.

JK Toby 2.0 Review

OAL - 7.375"

Cutting Edge - 3.000"

Blade Width - 0.785"

Blade Thickness - .092" at Spine - .034" at Tip

Handle - 4.250" Birdseye Maple -  0.839" Thickest Width - 0.552" Narrow Width

Sheath - Brown Leather Pouch with White Stitching

When I opened the box with this knife in it I was really impressed at how it looked and felt.  Personally I prefer a smaller knife and this fit me very well.  After initial view I gave it a closer inspection.  It appears somewhat rough and the scales haven't been sanded smooth.  I noticed a small separation at the front of the left scale and back of the right scale.  The separations are minimal.  After everything the knife has been through already I'm surprised there isn't anything else going on with it.  While the scales were a little rough, I noticed that it had an excellent grip in the hand with no slippage. 

The knife and sheath went onto my belt at that point and stayed there for two weeks.  I sharpened it a bit and stropped it so it would shave with no problem.  This took the place of my EDC's and was used as much as possible.  I didn't put it through everything I would have if it was a little larger, but knowing John made it, I wasn't afraid to use it hard.

So the first weekend our grandson was with us and a friend let him catch a few of his trout.  Gramps whipped out Toby and made short work of them with no effort whatsoever.  It was mostly used for food prep at home but would work well as a hunter.  It did a great job at home and work opening boxes, cutting plastic tubing, slicing sacrificial rope and whittling some apple wood.

One of my favorite tests is cutting through a nice venison steak.  It performed great and I believe that steak gave it a little bit of color.  While showing it to a friend I did stab it into a mailbox a few times with no ill effects to the point or edge.  He was totally impressed.

I have to say that Toby 2.0 is a really nice knife and anyone would be happy with its performance.  Thanks to KYenglish for the opportunity to participate in this Pass Around.