Pocketknives/Kitchen Knives/Fixed Blades
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Birthday gift from Jody
Seriously old school. Carbon steel. Thick ass stag. The tip of the blade is so pointy my crappy phone cam couldn't capture it.
It's a Scagel themed knife. From the website if was purchased on about Bill Scagel:
"Born in a snowed-in Michigan cabin during the winter of 1873, Bill Scagel was "officially" Canadian but always considered himself Canadian-American. He was, before making knives, a sheet-metal worker, building metal boats prior to forging blades in earnest. Known for his wrought ironwork, his sailing prowess and his pride in exotic flower gardening, Scagel also was a gunsmith, a machinist and a builder of bridges.
Scagel's most productive years as a knifemaker began around 1910. After a fire wiped out his place in Muskegon, he settled on an acre of land in Fruitport, which became the wellspring of most of the incomparable Scagel-made knives we know today – from small 25-cent parers to full-on 25-dollar Bowies.
Perhaps owing to his Scottish heritage, the reclusive Scagel designed and built his own machining and forging equipment, wasting little. For many years his shop was powered by a gasoline engine salvaged from a 1926 Cadillac -- his way of stiffing the local electric company.
The man's frugality was reflected in his knives, particularly the handles. In one sense a scavenger's delight, Scagel made handles from what he had -- leather, bone, fiber, antler, brass -- but they were undeniably utilitarian, designed to complement the blades to which they were mated. The now-classic lines of Scagel's blades and his quirkily beautiful handles were beside the point, because the man built complete edged tools, made to be worked hard.
Bill Scagel died in 1963, about a year after he'd stopped producing knives. His 52 years of craftsmanship survives in the hands of dedicated collectors, and although it's accurate to refer to Bill Scagel as an artist, a master of 20th-Century American cutlery or "The Father of the Custom Knife," indeed the best nod to his legacy is to recognize it and carry it on."
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These are my two favorite knives out of my collection right now, my Elk ridge fixed blade and my Kershaw. I love the beautiful wood handle of the Elk ridge, and the shape and feel of it, but hate the die cut elk in the middle of it, but whatever. I use the Kershaw everyday and it could use a good cleaning.
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yes the sebenza is fine!!!
i sharped it with www.lanskysharpeners.com/ -
I have this'un or one very much like this:
http://www.boker.de/us/knife-sharpener/09KE183.html
I probably should take more time sharpening it… Can you harm your knife at all in the process?..
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freehand is difficult….this one is the referenz...but expensive!!!
http://www.toolshop.de/product_info.php?products_id=4207&XTCsid=11f0c343b459696a0931f56c316fd17a -
It can start to look weird if you're sharpening it at too acute an angle
The most surefire way of getting it sharp if you're sharpening incompetent is to use a Spyderco Sharpmaker
I either freehand it or use my belt sander (which I don't recommend if you don't know what you're doing, you can really screw up a knife this way)
Getting the angle right is as finding a piece of paper. Find a sticky note (or something small with a right angle). Fold it in half diagonally. Thats 45 degrees. Fold it again. Now it's 22.5 degrees. That's the angle you should be sharpening at
Alternatively, take a sharpie, color in the edge bevel, and take a couple light licks on the stone. If you see that the color is being removed off the edge bevel, you've hit the right angle. Now just maintain it
Seul, if your knife ever gets dull and chewed up to the point it needs to be professionally sharpened, send it back to Chris Reeve, or send it to me. I'll make sure you're taken care of
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I probably should take more time sharpening it… Can you harm your knife at all in the process?..
Nothing that can't be fixed by sending it back to Chris Reeve for a professional resharpen if needed.
For freehand sharpening, practice makes perfect. You'll be able to get great results with it, but you need to maintain the angle that you sharpen at precisely. The more you do it, the more your muscle memory will allow you to hold that angle.
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Anybody here going to the knife show in Vegas during Labor Day weekend? Should be a good one, and I'd love to meet up and say hi to anyone from here going.
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I'm a big fan of knives, guns, etc. I carry this as a cheap workhorse:
Just a simple S&W HRT knife, holds its edge great and was inexpensive so if it breaks I don't really give a fuck.. I also own this:
A Dark Ops Stratofighter, amazing knife.. expensive though so I'm a little more careful with it. -
my two favorite brands are Laguiole from France and Buck from the US. Everywhere I go, I try to buy a nice knife. The only place I fucked up was in Japan. I was in the plane flying back and I realized that I had totally forgotten to look for a knife there.
Laguiole: I probably have like 10 of those, since my dad had them delivered in the 70's by boxes of 25 which he gave as gifts when the brand was not famous at all. The last one I bought has a mammoth tusk handle which is absolutely fabulous looking. I went overboard with the blade and instead of a plain steel one, I got a damas steel which looks nice but too much with the mammoth handle. I might return it to the knife maker for a simpler blade.
Buck: I have a crapload of those, all folding knives. All MADE IN THE USA, fuck the Chinese outsourced models. They are big, look menacing, American in a word!!! Just kidding.
I also brought myself a nice machete from Kingston, just a regular one that farmers use down in Jamaica.
For cooking, I have a nice little ceramic blade (white blade) that cuts real nicely. I love it. But my favorite cooking knife is a traditional 12cm Opinel (from France) folding knife. Simple as fuck, but great wood handle, wicked blade, very cheap.
Its getting riskier to walk around with knives with the safety and security bullshit politicians force down our throats, so I mostly keep them at home.
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Not a pocketknife, but I thought I would throw this in here:
I got this for Jody last Christmas. Made in Japan, damascus, pakkawood handle. Between the thin bevel and my belt sharpener, this thing goes through meat/vegetables/bone like a lightsaber. The best part is the handle though. It feels like a well used piece of soap in your hand. No sharp angles at all, just super comfy
