13 1/4" overall length, 7" of sharp cutting edge (though it could stand to be ground steeper... the hell with it, all that manual labor!). Pretty weighty (all solid construction, haven't weighed it) so seems good for chopping.
Yes I had to cut an ugly-ass notch in the handle (made of 25% Zn brass plus maybe 5% lead and tin) to fit the blade tang, since my as-cast core didn't work quite right. Still needs some other finishing work, though it could be acceptable in the current dirty condition.
Tim
-- "California is the breakfast state: fruits, nuts and flakes." Website:
I've made scrapers from old wood chisels, nice steel in some of them.
It's pretty soft as is but I thought it had a goodly carbon content.. maybe it is just soft stuff, if so there might be little to be done with it. There's a lot of cool sources for edged tools that if one weren't ideal just try something else; some piston rings seem interesting, steel cable, spring steel, the shifting stick in out of a pickup or truck transmission, files, etc. I've got some interesting stuff, I was told it was a low carbon spring steel. It's strange to forge, it seems to get pretty soft around 900F and then harder again up to around 1500F (if I try to bend it, it'd rather bend back where it's not red).. Tough stuff, someday I'm going to make a blade from it. Tried a piece for a cutting tool in the lathe- fuel oil quench with no temper worked pretty good..
Pick up a few used power hacksaw blades. They make excellent knives.
Gunner
"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.
Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner
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