A spoon and a pouch

 I have been doing a lot of small bushcrafty projects lately. I find it is soothing to my mind to know how to create things out of nothing. 

Do not get me wrong - I know perfectly well all of the stuff I know is not relevant. I am just biding my time. I am waiting for death, nothing less, nothing more. No so - called "Survival skills" will save us. There are a lot of people knowing a lot more than myself. But all of us are inevitably doomed. The lunatics ruling us will make sure of that. Nuff said.

But how I spend the time until they finally pull the trigger, is none of their business, not yet.

Making things in the woods makes me happy. Of course they do not want anyone to be happy, so I try to be as happy as possible. Maybe this is childish, but I do not care. I do not do this against anyone, but for my soul. Just because I have the custom not to soil it with their swamp, if not because I believe in something greater. Something good. Who knows? It is not fashionable to believe in anything anymore, but I am an old fart, so I am entitled not to be fashionable. 

I made myself a spoon from elm wood. Actually I have fallen in love with this wood. I love the colours and the oxidation. I also tried my hand at some Kólrosing, which did not yet turn out too well, but could be much worse, so actually I really like the outcome.

The little pouch I just made to practice the technique. It is made from bramble splittings weaved together. After plaiting, I gave it a quick oiling to keep it flexible. I still have to learn a lot, and that is a very good thing, because it keeps my mind off things. 

The "Nessmuk" I made some years ago. It is made from spring steel with a selective quench and temper. Scales are desert iron wood with mosaic pins. It is a bit of a controversial knife, having a spine thickness of almost 9mm at the handle (albeit with a distal taper towards the tip). For the length it is a very able chopper, but it is also a very heavy knife. Having fallen in love with Moras again I find it stays at home more often than not. Actually it also cuts quite nicely, but it needs to get some getting accustomed to it, mainly when carrying is concerned, but still. It is a monster, and actually overbuilt for what I do these days.

Anyway, it still is a very good feeling to make things out of nothing, to be even able to do so, in these times, and doing it with tools you yourself made from junk noone cares a runny shit about. 

Message. ☺️ 

Review of a KatzeK55K special run knife

 I am very proud to give you a short review of a knife you will not see that often... up until now, there are just some 10-20 pieces worlwide. Let me tell you its story. Readers of my blog know that I am somewhat acquainted to Mr. Morsbach, a very experienced knifemaker from Solingen and of ancient Solingen grinder nobility, former head of corporation to Otter knives. At the "Messer-Gabel-Scherenmarkt" expo we met again, and he had these on display I coveted ever since I saw them on Jagd und Hund expo in Dortmund in February (I reported about it). So, the time was now, and I had a closer look. While it loosely follows the lines of a very classic Solingen Jagdnicker design, that´s all about tradition. The knife has an extremely well - made convex bevel with a moderately thick spine at some 3 mm. The scales are rough-ground Micarta, which is a good thing, for they offer a load of grip. The blades is some 90 mm long (ca.) making for a great EDC, and the edge geometry makes it fiercely sharp. This is enhanced by the choice of steel: It´s made from 1.4153 Böhler N678 steel, which is stainless and quite similar to 440C or AUS - 8 with one important distinction: It is alloyed with Niobium, hence its nickname "Niolox". The Niobium content makes it capable of taking an extremely fine edge for a stainless steel. I was surprised by its sharpness, which is really up to par with a good carbon steel. And the best thing is: For mere mortals it comes at a price of 65 €.[EDIT]: Willy notified me that this is not true, and 1.4153 is NOT alloyed with Niobium. Niolox is a trademark of Lohmann (Witten - Krefeld) steel corporation and is NOT to be confused with a Böhler steel or a simple 1.4153. Böhler N678 has the following steel analysis:

http://www.bohler-bleche.com/english/files/downloads/N678_DE_v2010.pdf

But of course that does not render this knife any less capable. It´s an able cutter and keeps a good edge. It just dents Mr. Morsbach´s reputation (and mine).

Advice: Never trust anyone.

 The scales are a bit refreshed by beautiful red liners. Craftsmanship is very solid, albeit not high lustre. But it is a workhorse I have now used so far for a lot of tasks and that always rides in my pack these days.

The sheath is of good quality, although it makes for a bit top - heavy carrying and I do not recommend leaving the button open. It is a priority for me to make a new one, but for the price, the sheath is well enough.

And it might be, just thinking, if Mr. Morsbach receives enough questions  concerning the topic, he will make more of them ;-). Contact him via his website www.katzek55k.de

Brief review of a Victorinox Rucksack folder-bargain to boot

I want to share with you a recent acquisition of mine, a flea market find, but a new one and identical to the up-to-date model. It´s a Victorinox Rucksack, and it is a somewhat nasty product policy ;-), in that it renders many custom efforts a bit futile. It´s a bit like the case with Moras. The knife has a 86 mmx2,4 mm main blade. The steel of the tools is 1.4110 (440A) with a Rockwell hardness of about 54-56 HRC. It has aluminium liners with a stainless steel bolt-lock mechanism, a saw, cap lifter and can opener, corksrew and awl.

...

Here you can see the bolt of the locking mechanism.

This bolt is spring-loaded and drawn back by the grey button. The locking mechanism is enforced by a spring as with a slipjoint. The blade has some radial play, about 0,3 mm, which is a bit annoying at first, but, as the knife stands the spine whack test with not so much of a slip, it is a matter of getting accustomed to it. The locking mechanism certainly inspires the confidence, but could be machined more precisely. There was no axial play, and the finish was awesome. The blade and saw came out of the box (it was new) razor sharp. The owner had not bothered to take it out of that box, let around fuss around with it, and I guess that was a good thing:-). 

Here you can see the main blade in locked mode. The bolt slips into the root of the blade. The knife overall feels light and nimble, and, I have to admit, might be as well all you need for a bimble through the local woods, maybe even an overnighter. The blade is a real cutter, and the handle comfortable enough for overall work. Whittling, cutting cardboard, packaging, cordage, making fuzz sticks and the like are a cinch, and the additional tools make for good versatility. Sold new it costs around 36 €, and at that price, it is a bargain hard to beat. It is easily up to par with knives far more expensive. It is no beater knife, and I would not exactly want to baton it hard, but then there are far better ways to split wood...;-) than batoning, that is.

It offers a solid value. The scales cry "replace me", but otherwise they are dead functional and get the job done very good. Victorinox could work on the radial play, but I have seen folders with that equipment three times the price being worse. The axial play is non-existent and I guess will take a long time to develop. The steel is no wonder material, too, but flexible even when prying, easily serviced and keeps an edge well enough.

If you are looking for an allround pocket knife for those short walks, dayhikes and even overnighters, look no further.

New blog I follow

The magic troll sent me a link, and who am I to argue, she always knows what´s best for me;-). It´s a blog about Czech knifemaking, and while I think they spoil the marketplace;-), they still do it in style.


Click

I hope Hloh isn´t angry with me if I share this photo:

 ...just to appetize you a bit. I really like those rustic folders, and the fixed blade knives do not hurt either...;-)

Örnie;-) Pummelzahn party at the Bethaus

 On Saturday, the children´s holiday program "Ernie Pummelzahn" took place in the Bethaus smithy, and I helped out Volker. It was right mad, for there also was a wedding taking place and passers - by came along like mad! So but few pics. Above is Lukas, who forged, annealed, filed and tempered his first utility sheath knife and was righteously pround of his achievement. We made this from some C 45 with 0,45 % carbon content. To do it more safely, we quenched in oil, and yap, I know, we should have quenched in water;-). I forged hearts, snakes, snails, nails, Thor´s hammers, mini horseshoes, ram´s heads, and all the while they kept coming. But suddenly, all was over. Funny, but all of a sudden, the smithy was empty.

So we vleaned up the mess, and I worked on some projects of my own.

 Skinning knife with a finger ring that also works with a full-hand-grip. 1.2842, and edge - quenched.

Top is a project I have been working on for quite some time now, a dragon handled spring steel knife. Below is a big En - Nep, C 100Cr6 that has to see quite a lot of forging, too. And the camp knife out of crucible steel courtesy of the woods around my home I tempered encore une fois, for it got not hard enough, and it did not work, either. So next time will see some water quenching. If that does not work either, I will experiment with a carbon cementation process Viktor taught me.

And the lowest in line is a damascus viking women´s pendant knife, 1.2842 and tank cannon I tempered.

Lalalala!*ggg*

Pimp my blade;-) rebirth of an old knife

This knife on top is the old  knife on the picture below, the lowest in line. It always felt kinda awkward, so I hacksawed a big part of the handle off and made a copper butt cap to peen the tang against. And what can I say? It certainly was a difficult decision, but it was well worth the effort. The knife has far better balance, and now is a real EDC utility with a great feel to it I really like. I also reshaped the bevel, making it a bit more slicey. I like it! Zwissler "monster" damascus, 300 layers, integral, 80 mm blade, spine thickness 3,8 mm.