OT: Source for decent knives?

OK, sounds useful, I'll stuff one on my shopping list for the future together with a mattock.

The different styles evolved around the country, often to do with the rotation length common for hedging or coppicing as well as the style of working. Here we tended to go for a style in between reaping and chopping, pointing to a more regular cut of small stems, the straight edge is probably for cutting the larger stems cleanly at ground level when plashing.

I imagine decent ones will be getting scarce as a lot of the manufacturers are gone now, manual working simply has no place in the modern economy but the tools are still appropriate for simple tasks.

AJH

There are still some about, but the last new ones i saw (about 6-7 years ago) were no bloody use at all. They had blades made of some rather soft steel, which rather than being a gentle taper from blade to back were just a large flat piece of steel with a 45deg edge ground on. Not only were they no good for cleaving wood, they were also twice as heavy as the old ones.

Evidently a case of someone looking at a billhook and saying "yeah we can make some of those" without actually know what it's used for.

Alex

Sounds a bit like bulldog brand, that's why I specified Elwell but there were a lot of other good brands, Fussell springs to mind. I got mine from farm sales but the billhook in the picture (which is heavier than many I have used so is for hedge work rather than cleaving) was given to me by a work mate when I coveted it ;-).

AJH

Ian Rawlings wrote:

|| Wotcher all, I'm in the market for some decent knives, a short sheath || knife (say 4 inches) and a 12-inch parang of similar type to the || following; || ||

|| || The problem I'm having is finding one that I can be sure is of any || use. The parang on the above link has a rubber handle, unknown metal || blade and you're probably paying £20 extra just because it says || "special forces" on it. || || Most sites I've found stock decorative knives, made of stainless || steel, or have handles that are rivetted on the handle surface || (causes blisters) or are made of rubber/rope etc. There's some quite || ludicrous sites out there with masses of daft knives that look nice || but seem to be inferior quality, quite why there's such a market in || trinket knives I don't know. || || For both the parang and the short sheath knife I want a wooden handle || that has the blade's tang going all the way through and rivetted on || the end. The metal should be hardened at least, not stainless steel. || I don't want compasses and fishing kits built into the handle, they || just weaken it. The short knife needs a mostly straight cutting edge || without decorative curves that make it hard to sharpen. || || For the "we'll all be murdered in our beds" brigade, these are to go || in the pinz/lane clearance toolkit in the back of the truck, not for || strapping to my side and striding around the high street or bolting || to the dash in full view. || || -- || Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!

Anchor supplies do a couple of machetes - I got the one in the canvas sheath (think it was marked as mil surplus) and it's great with a dull steel blade that takes sharpening well (dull as in non-shiny, not as in blunt IHTA). Ads in usual places.

"William Tasso" wrote >

I saw some beautiful and very expensive kitchen knives the other day which were hand forged in Japan in the traditional sword making way, layer upon layer of thin steel forged together, Tojiro Damascus was the name if I remember correctly.

regards Bob H

Aye - seen that type of thing - way out of my budget except maybe for the day we entertain visiting royalty.

In shops that sell those look out for knives with a ceramic blade - wicked sharp. really can cut wet paper. Similarly reassuringly expensive :|

Gerber freeman fixed blade. Stupidly strong and lovely to sharpen. In fact if they make one; get a gerber machete too :)

Weight and heft I guess, I have a cheap machete of dubios manufacture I got from an army surplus store so long ago I can't remember, sometimes though a pruning saw is a better bet, all depends.

I picked up one of those whilst working in wales a few years ago now. ok the blades need a lot of sharpening (it's not the hardest steel in the world) but the three foot handle on it makes it much more fun for grubbing out anything from shrubs to small trees.

Eddie

If what you seek is more of a bushcraft type of tool, then I can recommend EKA. Eskilstuna, Sweden. Their blades are of Sandvik 12 C

27 steel. Mine was pretty darned sharp straight out of the box, but with a "good" sharpening system and a little stropping, I'd be confident I could shave with it!

I've been trying to recall the name of the company I bought it from, but I can't. No doubt a google will turn up a supplier.

HTH

Neil

(Reply via NG please)

Fällkniven

are also very good, particularly their S1 and A1 knives. Actually, might be the same company, not sure offhand.