Horace Kephart fixed blade

wildcat · Post by **wildcat** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 5:52 pm

This knife is based on the knife that Horace Kephart supposedly carried on his adventures. I added a little more roundness in the belly of the blade. His was a little more straight. 4 1/2" blade is from and old crosscut saw, handle is Maple Burl. The sheath didn't quite come out like I wanted, but it works.

The pic shows how the blade is in the handle. It's held in by epoxy and 2 peened brass pins.

muskrat man · Post by **muskrat man** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:06 pm

Nice interpretation of the design Wildcat. Here is one I did up, off original dimensions, only difference is mine has a high scandi grind instead of the flat grind of the original. I like to recreate these old knives

wildcat · Post by **wildcat** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:18 pm

that is a nice one for shore

how thick is the blade on yours?

Mine is 1/16" thick. Modern knifers would say that is way too thin. Those old woodsman would prolly think it is just right. I know it will slice without binding.

muskrat man · Post by **muskrat man** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:50 pm

mine is aboout 3/32". alot of the old knives were thin. I've made some really thin knives, andthey do slice well. When you flatgrind 1/16" steel it gets silly thin on the edge

when you sharpen it you can almost see the edge bend when you press it on the stone, then it will spring right back up after the pass is done.

wildcat · Post by **wildcat** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:52 pm

do you heat treat your blades made from the saw or do you retain the saw blade hardness?

muskrat man · Post by **muskrat man** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:22 pm

it depends on the knife.

Do you?

wildcat · Post by **wildcat** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:28 pm

when I use the saw blades, I leave them as they are. I dip the blade in the slack tub after every two or three passes to keep it cool.

I do the same thing with files when making a knife from an old file.