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Old 01-15-2009, 09:08 AM
Ray Rogers's Avatar
Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Wauconda, WA
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As you know, I'm not exactly a huge fan of gut hooks but I have made some and read about them and can throw in my two cents on the design.

All the questions about the position of the hook relative to the spine and the tip of the blade will depend on the size and design of the blade. Basically, it has to be placed so that when you are holding the knife upside down the hook can be effectively applied to the task at hand. To me, this is one of the largest problem areas with using a hook since most knives don't handle well upside down.

I ground only one side of the hook. My thoughts were that you're working on the spine where the steel is thick (especially if the blade is not tapered) so you don't have much room to develop a thin edge. A single zero ground edge will be sharper than anything else you can do on a short thick bevel.

The leading edge should be blunt and shaped in such a way as to not be able to snag or cut into anything. In a nutshell, that's almost the whole point of having a gut hook.

The hook should be wide enough to accept the thickness of the hide you plan to cut with it without having the hide bunch up. I think having it wider than the hide is thick will work too but maybe not as well. Having it too narrow will be a big problem.....


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