Large Bushcraft Knife - Part 3 - Third Version

The third, and for now the final, version of my bushcraft knife is in principle the same as the prototype. I made one knife of this type as a commission last year, one is available in the webshop, and one is currently in production for the webshop.

The custom-made knife has a handle from black locust burl, and the pommel and handguard are from bronze and beef bone.

The main difference from the prototype is the tang, which now goes all the way through the whole length of the handle. The handle is thinner towards the front and the point of balance is in the finger groove. That allows for great control for cutting. At the same time, the handle is long and more robust towards the end, which allows to hold the knife in a way that allows for stronger chopping force for example for preparing splinters to start a fire. The blade is from spring steel 54SiCR6. That means it does not have top hardness, but it is extremely tough and it is easy to sharpen and to keep sharp. Unfortunately, spring steel is not stainless, but the blackening done with oak bark should, in combination with oil, provide enough corrosion protection. My working knife did not rust over the two years I use it and I do not take care of it and it has done a lot of work.

The sheath has undergone a change as well, this time it has a belt collar with a snap fastener to keep the knife safely in the sheath. The pocket has remained the same, and it came with a ferrocerium rod and a striker and some space left for some fire-starting materials (like oil or paraffin-soaked paper napkin).

This design has proven itself to me, so I plan on making more knives of this type in near future. Both from 54SiCR6 and from stainless N690. The knife currently available in the webshop is from N690.

The next week I will probably write a bit about making a new forge. I need a bigger forge for safe and easy tempering of larger blades and I will probably write a few articles about how I did it.