The Official 2013 "FIGHTER" K.I.T.H. thread...

[metal99]

That's lookin real good man! All the knives I've seen that were meant to be swung were all blade heavy. With a long blade I think it just comes with the territory. Some file work would look good

[BfrancioS]

Thanks Metal

Yeah, the more I thought about it, I need to do the filework....

[metal99]

I just mailed out the knife for another kith I'm doing and almost have a couple more ready for heat treat. I should be heat treating this weekend

[Imakethings]

HT and rough fitment of handle complete, need to find something to use for the guard and cap, I ran out of brass so I can't cast either one right now. Any suggestions?

[metal99]

What about an acid etched steel guard and pommel?

[Imakethings]

Originally Posted by metal99

What about an acid etched steel guard and pommel?

I decided to do some metal casting and managed to get the guards and pommels I wanted done. I might try the steel guards on a future knife.

[metal99]

Cool man what did you cast? Lets see some pictures!

[metal99]

I'm going to be firing up my forge today to heat treat the little scrapper

[metal99]

Heat treating is not going as planned... I have four knives ready to roll. I quenched the first one and it was great. I dropped it on the way to the toaster oven... It's on four pieces now.

[Imakethings]

I'll snap some pictures of what I did for the brass later.

I'm currently having 2nd thoughts on these two kukri being fit to trade in this KITH or sell. There is some significant pitting in the steel from the HT and subsequent etch, one of them might be ok, but I'm far from pleased with them right now in terms of finish.

They do balance nicely though.

[ricky_arthur]

Originally Posted by metal99

Heat treating is not going as planned... I have four knives ready to roll. I quenched the first one and it was great. I dropped it on the way to the toaster oven... It's on four pieces now.

Ouch, sorry man.

[metal99]

It's life lol. The scrappers heat treat turned out great except for one thing... When I pulled it out of the forge to quench it I bumped the tip and it curled over so now my nice flat grind is a little less flat on the tip. The last 3/8" of the tip is slightly convex. That bugged me more then having that other knife shatter lol.

[Imakethings]

Since you're curious about the Kukri that I'm not happy with:



There is heavy pitting on the flats and bevels, I've been slowly sanding it down and it's just not coming together for me.

The brass guards at the top and bottom were a bunch of brass plumbing bits remelted, cut and fitted.

They do balance nicely though.

[scox]

I just want to apologize to everybody, I will not be able to finish mine in time. Life and other things have got in the way and sapped my free time so progress has not gone well. I will still post pictures when it is finished but I'm afraid I must withdraw from the KITH. Sorry.

Shane

[ryano]

Hey Shane,

I've been feeling like doing the same - I just don't think my knife is going to be up to par with the others that I've seen here. I've been seriously contemplating withdrawing for the last week or so.

That said, I'm going to stick with it and come up with the very best blade that I can. I know our time situations are likely different, but I bet you'll be able to put forth something great if you stick it out.

I'm nervous about being "that guy" who has a crappy blade to throw in the hat, but the other side of that coin, for me, is that I've come up with a new design, and I'm starting to understand what "fit and finish" really mean. I feel like asking for the 3 knives back that I've sold over the last few months so I can finish them properly.

Just my 2 cents, I'm not trying to stick my nose where it doesn't belong... especially amongst people who are known for having sharp objects lying around.

-ryan