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High-Performance Blades Sharing ideas for getting the most out of our steel.

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  #1  
Old 01-14-2013, 12:45 PM
TYG TYG is offline
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pig hunting?

hey guys,
I have a friend n Hawaii who does a ton of pig hunting w dogs and a knife. I wanted to make him a new knife for killing the pigs since he just uses cheap yard sale knives. I need some help with the design, but I am not sure where to start. I'm going in the direction of a bowie but that's as far as I've gotten. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. thanks.
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Old 01-14-2013, 01:15 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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Double edged is always good but they can be a bit of a challenge to make. The bowie pattern good, with or without a clip. A swaged spine would help with penetration. A saber grind would give some strength to the spine for going through the tough sides. I would say that a guard is a must to prevent the hand from slipping up over the blade. Maybe even one that is wider than normally seen on knives.

A shorter bauernwehr or messer with a side spur over the inside of the grip if you are looking for a more "traditional" style. A side ring dagger would work if you really wanted to be fancy. These patterns, especially the first two were used for boar hunting "back in the day".

Doug


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Old 01-14-2013, 02:50 PM
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Gary Mulkey Gary Mulkey is offline
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Doug's right on with the double edged design. Your goal to to promote as much bleeding as possible with a thrusting type blade. A traditional Arkansas Toothpick or large dagger design will accomplish this well. Give him plenty of blade length. If it were me I would give it 9-10" of cutting edge.

In addition to a good double guard I would recommend a handle shape designed for maximum grip as he will want to be able to easily extract the knife after stabbing.

When designing a knife to be used in a dangerous situation like this, toughness is a major issue. Even more so than edge holding so make sure that you nail the H/T before it ever leaves your shop. I would recommend testing the blade well. Put it through some abuse before you deliver it. You certainly don't want it to fail when the chips are down.

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Old 01-14-2013, 04:05 PM
TYG TYG is offline
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thanks for the advise guys that's exactly what I needed to hear. do you have any recommendation on hat steel would be good for this purpose, preferably a carbon steel that I can heat treat myself?
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Old 01-14-2013, 04:29 PM
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what do you guys think about a knife similar to this one. it is 15 inches long with a 10 inch blade. I was thinking about using a cable Damascus for the blade and guard and African black wood for the handle
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Old 01-14-2013, 04:41 PM
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Gary Mulkey Gary Mulkey is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TYG View Post
thanks for the advise guys that's exactly what I needed to hear. do you have any recommendation on hat steel would be good for this purpose, preferably a carbon steel that I can heat treat myself?
It's always a good idea to use the steel that you are most proficient at H/T'ing. [1084 & 5160 are both very forgiving steels and will give you a quality blade if H/T'ed correctly.]

Gary


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Old 01-14-2013, 05:00 PM
TYG TYG is offline
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thanks for the help Gary. ill put the Damascus on the back burner for a while and go order some bigger 1084. I only have a 1'' x 12'' x 3/16 piece at the moment
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Old 01-14-2013, 07:02 PM
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Fulmaduro Fulmaduro is offline
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I hunted wild hogs in Hawaii and N. California while in the Marine Corps and used an old WWI bayonet. Pointed, thin in heighth, and double edged. It was about 12" of blade and had a guard and the handle was rectangular in cross section. The blade had to punch through the side armor and into the lungs and heart, and we tried to spin the blade by twisting the handle to try to maximize the wound channel and allow the maximum amount of blood to exit. They bleed a lot and do not succumb quickly. Plus the handle should not be polished as it will be slick with blood. I had my handle wrapped with parachute cord and had a lanyard attached (crudely thru a drilled hole). The dogs have a hold on the pig when you use the knife, or they better, and hold on and hope the dogs don't loose their grip! Just my 2 cents.

Tony Z


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Old 01-14-2013, 09:02 PM
tuskbuster tuskbuster is offline
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ive stuck a quite a few pigs around here and Tx.anything over 7 in. blade is over kill IMHO.my blades are 1 1/2 wide belly with the top of spine swag and sharpened only about an 1 or so .you dontjab a knife in you insert the tip and slide er home and some up and down action to really damage the organs.heck ive killed em witha case pocket trapper.with that bulldog for an earring he aint goin nowhere and not as likely to get ya.
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Old 01-15-2013, 10:54 PM
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thanks for the advice from experience. I know my cousin likes to go in and cut their throats. I forged a 5 1/2 inch fighter while testing out my 1084 for the first time. I am not sure what to do about the handle though, but mostly concerned about the style of guard. here are two examples of handle styles I liked. any preference?
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  #11  
Old 01-15-2013, 11:02 PM
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the blade I forged looks just like the sub hilt fighter on the right but with a single grind forged in about 3/4 of the height of the blade. it will have a hamon of antiqued finish if that helps you. thanks guys
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  #12  
Old 01-15-2013, 11:22 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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A swage on the spine would help with penetration and a false edge would also do more cutting but you have to go with what you are feeling comfortable with. Either one of those blades would put an end to a hog. You say that you've already forged your blade. What steel did you use? Why do you want to go with a hamon? It will give you more toughness in the spine, less likely to break, but you will lose some strength, or be more likely to bend.

Doug


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Old 01-16-2013, 11:45 PM
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I used 1084, would you recommend not having a hamon for this knife. knowing my cousin it will get snapped sooner or later so I would rather it bend on him. there is a strong chance that he would continue to use the knife if it was bent 45 degrees. I decided to go with the first style with the longer guard, but I may go with a d guard. that's my last decision to make.
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  #14  
Old 01-17-2013, 08:21 AM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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Whether or not you use differential hardening or differential tempering or just straight hardening and tempering is something that you will have to decide on yourself. It's all part of the trade-offs with knife design. Just remember that a hamon itself is more of a decoration than something that is functional. The difference in the crystalline structure will be there whether not it is polished and/or etched to show up.

Doug


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5160, art, back, blade, bowie, damascus, design, forged, guard, hand, handle, heat treat, home, hunting, knife, knives, make, pattern, pocket, saber grind, steel, toughness, wood


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