New for 2012!

Here’s the news for the New Year:
1. Victorinox is back! This excellent line of kitchen cutlery and Swiss Army Knives is available again through my supplier. The prices are about the same as before, and there are a couple new models I’m quite excited about. Coming soon….
2. Nessmuk, Bushcraft, and 6-inch Lightweight knives, made from sawblade, are now offered in the super-tough saw-hardness (~Rc. 45), or, fully heat-treated (Rc. 58-60, or custom-tempered to your specification) for superb edge retention. The new heat-treatment option decreases the toughness somewhat, but it will allow the edge to be ground thinner for increased cutting efficiency. And, it should be easier to eliminate that burr when touching up the edge. This will cost only 20% more than the advertised price currently shown on the website. That covers the time and fuel for heat-treating, and time and abrasives for the extra grinding required to de-scale and polish the blade.
3. S30V steel–unfortunately, I’m going to have to add a 20% surcharge for knives made of this excellent steel. The steel costs fully twice what 154CM costs, and descaling/flattening the tangs requires the very sharpest grinding belts, and lots of them; not to mention time and patience. However, this steel is such an excellent performer, that I hope you will try it anyway. If you prefer carbon steels such as O-1, these are still available.

Take care, and have a great year. I hope to have the opportunity to equip you with something sharp!

How Arts Are Lost; and Why Are We Unprepared?

LOST ARTS.
It is quite a natural question that has been asked: How have certain arts known to the ancients become lost? The answer lies in the custom of imitating a genuine article by one which costs less. Some man substitutes a cheap ingredient for a costly one and produces an article so nearly like the genuine as to pass for it, and this imitation wins it way and supplants the genuine, because it can be bought for less and there is more profit in making it. Adulteration in other ingredients follows, and after a few turns of the wheel, the original is wholly lost and forgotten. So it has been with the “lost arts” the world over. It has not been from a lack of intelligence or from forgetfulness merely, but from adulteration, avarice, deceit, sin.
There is danger that pure and undefiled religion may fall into the list of “lost arts” if we allow ourselves to rely upon the outward appearance at all. The genuine is and always will be counterfeited, and the richer and better the genuine, the more counterfeits will there be. But there is one way, and only one, in which every man may be sure that he has the genuine; that is to get his inspiration direct from Jesus our exemplar and teacher. If we depend upon others for our copy, adulteration will necessarily follow, because they are human, and there will be grave danger that to us pure religion of the soul will have become lost.–Selected

–We all think we know just what to do in a grave emergency, but when it comes we are always so taken by surprise that we do something very different. And we are all of us better able to give a sharp and deserved rebuke to a piece of impertinence when we think it over two hours afterward, than at the moment when it occurs. Our after-thoughts are very wise, and if certain experiences would only recur, we should be ready for them; but they never do recur, and there’s the rub.  –Review and Herald, March 11, 1880.

The Last of 2011

Here are a couple of hidden-tang blades–the last of 2011! Both are carbon steel.
One is made from 1/8″ thick 1095, with a blade length of 4 inches and weight of about 4.3 oz. The handle is cocobolo wood. Both pins go through the tang. The blade was ground entirely on an 8-inch round wheel, with a smooth, strong, blade-handle juncture. Blade was differentially hardened.

This blade is special, because it is the first knife I have completed in 1095 steel.   $165.  Want it?

The second knife is a blade just like the one in the year’s most popular post–the Hidden-Tang Scandinavian Knife–in a different dress. I experimented with heat-treating this blade, and had it Rockwell tested. It is up from 45 Rc. to 53 Rc., with a good long tempering soak at 475 degrees in the oven. Next time, we’ll reduce the heat a bit for a little harder result, but it is soft enough to be plenty strong, and still a definite improvement over the untreated hardness. It seems that the Finns like their blades on the soft side anyway, especially when it is -60 degrees.

The guard is black paper phenolic (aka micarta), and the handle is black locust wood–nicely contoured, and more hand-filling than the micarta handle shown on the first post. The stainless steel pin does go through a hole in the tang. Weight of this knife is about 2.5 ounces–which is less than many pocket knives! Should make a good all-around hunting/fishing/wood-carving companion for a weight-conscious adventurer.
It can be yours for $120. Contact me!

What Is Knife Abuse?

In reading various knife- and survival-related posts, “knife abuse” is a recurring theme. People seem to have a vast range of definitions of what it is. Some think that prying with a knife is abuse. Others think that throwing a knife is abuse. Others think that using it as a spear is abuse.
My opinion is, that any use that needlessly defaces or damages the knife, qualifies as abuse. For example, I have seen youngsters sitting around a campfire, whittling on rocks. A lot of knives with broken points have also come through my shop, and I would class these as “abused” until proven otherwise.
A category that also needs to be considered, is “arduous use.” This is simply heavy, possibly risky, use of a knife by a skilled person who has a good feel for the capabilities of the tool, and who knows how to stop before damage is done. This person can and will use the point of the knife to probe and pry. But, unlike the unskilled “abuser” knows how to tell when the steel is reaching its limit. And he stops before the blade bends or breaks.
Handles are another common victim of abuse. Again, the user needs to consider what material the handle is made of, how strong it is, and how they are applying force to it. For example, if a knife has a beautiful wood (or antler) handle, it would be very unwise to pound on it with a wooden baton, because the wood will be defaced, and possibly destroyed. However, a knife with a micarta handle and good, strong construction could take the same beating and hardly show a scratch.
The most common abuse of knives that I see, is simple neglect to sharpen and maintain the edge. Plant sap and animal juices need to be cleaned off promptly, or they will cause a dreadful amount of friction. Either, or both, of these elements directly increase the amount of force needed to accomplish the necessary tasks; and this increase in force places needless stress on both the knife and user.
Finally, we mentioned the word “skilled.” The more skill a person has, the more work they can accomplish with any given tool, and the less likely they are to damage the tool (or themselves).
So, how to we gain skill? By doing useful work. Not just “busy-work.”
A last observation is, that people who got started early in life almost always have the best intuition regarding the limits of tools. They can “feel” how the tool is reacting to the stress they place on it. They may have broken tools at times, but they learned from this how to detect the signs of stress, and stop short of doing damage. They are not careless, but responsible. They know the value and importance of their tools, and how difficult it can be to repair or replace them. Therefore, while they work earnestly and swiftly, they are alert to detect danger before it springs upon them.

New Horizontal Leather Sheath Design

Here are some pictures of a sheath I made for a left-handed customer recently. The knife is my standard 3-inch Compact, which has an overall length of 6 inches. The design is particularly nice for this knife, with its short overall length and thin handle. The knife is reasonably secure without the flap, but the flap makes it doubly secure. Also, the flap covers the handle of the knife, and an unobservant onlooker would probably think it is a cellphone. Nevertheless, the outline of the blade is traced by the stitching, and it can ride in plain sight on your belt.
This sheath is a mirror-image of what a right-hand sheath would be.
The belt-loop is too narrow for my 1 1/2-inch wide belt, but it pleased its owner well, since he usually wears a 1- or 1 1/4-inch-wide belt.  The pictures show a 1-inch wide belt.

Basics of Sharpening Sheet

Where to Find Sharpening Information and Instructions

Sharpening is a sadly-neglected skill in America today. Many people have never tried to sharpen a knife, let alone gain a good understanding of what is going on.
At the recent Sustainable Preparedness Expo, I received many requests for instructions on sharpening. Unfortunately, I ran out of material before the show was over, and people were still asking for help.
If you are looking for help in this area, I would suggest that you download my booklet, With Nature and With God. This is a relatively large PDF file, so if you are on dial-up, please e-mail me at info@ctfischerknives.com, and I’ll send it to you in print.  This 40-page booklet contains several pages of information regarding sharpening equipment and sharpening techniques, including how to sharpen scissors and shears. Also, you can find the Basics of Sharpening Sheet here. I want you to be efficiently and confidently producing hair-shaving edges on your tools as soon as possible!