Zombie Squad

I bought my wife one of these since her work environment doesn't allow for more obvious defensive items. I don't know about the pen aspect of it, but the body makes a nice kuboton type tool. https://knifeworks.com/boker-plus-09bo068-mpp-multi-purpose-royal-blue-tactical-pen/ I took one of Ed Caldero...

Thank y'all!

Lailr - That's the plan for the second, heavier one.

Howdy, folks. Been a busy, productive year, and not as much time has been spent on forums as I used to. But I have had a couple of interesting projects I wanted to share. They are the two largest carcass splitters I've made so far, one completed in February and one in August. The first was a commiss...

The first sheath off of the new tooling ready to ship out to a very patient customer. 15" Wrecker, sharpened inner beard, Boltaron sheath, quick-detach shoulder sling. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48920959976_9e0ae55f1c_c.jpg bob01 by James Helm , on Flickr https://live.staticflickr.com/65535...

It's been a busy year, and difficult to keep up with everything. Here's some of what I've been building. It's all 80CrV2 steel with various cord wraps impregnated with marine epoxy and sheathed in Boltaron. I like to focus on getting geometry, balance, and ergonomics right without playing around too...

Well, the vacuum forming was not giving the level of retention needed to hold a tomahawk securely in a bottom-eject sheath, so we cut a new mold to be used under my hydraulic forging press. The material is 3/4" HDPE. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48915385883_18902a17af_c.jpg sheath01 by James ...

Moab - I'll send you a PM.

We did a mostly-successful test with vacuum-forming sheaths this weekend. Hopefully will be able to do some tweaks and further testing later in the week.

One of my 12" Woodsman 'hawks. 1/4" 80CrV2 steel, Cerakote, and new tan TeroTuf handle slabs. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48794014958_6da088002c_c.jpg hawk04 by James Helm , on Flickr https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48794376996_0c0dd6e9c9_c.jpg hawk05 by James Helm , on Flickr And custom...

I've been making full-tang tactical tomahawks since 2013, with the prototype process beginning with nylon-handled punched-eye 'hawks extending several years before that. The 'hawks were my first foray into making mid-techs, which I define as using modern manufacturing processes to build small batche...

Thank you, Ellywick!

Been busy banging out bodadacious blades. Here are some recents. 80CrV2 steel, cord wraps, and Boltaron sheaths all around. A biohazard outbreak reaction bush sword and smaller utility knife that went to a repeat customer in Canada. The bush sword has scorched hemp for the main wrap and black paraco...

Ok, re: the Green Beret's wakizashi: I'm discussing with him options for setting up on his plate carrier right now, so he's definitely looking at carrying it on deployment.

Dabster - I'm not sure if the Green Beret is planning on carrying it on deployment, but I get the impression he is. He ordered it up when he was on deployment, but had me ship it to his US address when I was finished because he was only about a month out from being back home. He was quite happy with...

Thank y'all! Yossarian - They're all off to customers. About to start my next batch when I make it out to the shop today. 91Eunzos - I could probably do a couple of scale-less mid-tech blades for you, but you'd need to find someone to build the scales for you. As I understand it, working mammoth too...

It's been a very busy last several months, and while I have produced a good number of blades, I haven't been as active online to post them. So here's most of them from recent months. :D Everything is 80CrV2 steel, with various combinations of paracord and hemp wrapped handles, and Boltaron sheaths e...

Thank y'all!

A couple of new big blades that got shipped out earlier this month. Two firsts on these: the cord-wrapped one is the heaviest I've made, and the slab handle on the lamb splitter is the longest slab I've ever made. Both of them are forged from 80CrV2 steel with Boltaron sheaths. The wrapped one has a...

I might experiment at some point down the road to see how a G10 version would hold up, but they are designed with the idea of wearing them on a plate carrier or similar LBE as a backup. The handle on it gives a lot of stability, with the tradeoff of it being wider and a little less concealable. But ...

On the mid-tech side of things, I came up with a self-defense tool that debuted at Blade Show this summer: the ST-1. They're waterjet cut from 1/4" 4140, ground and heat treated, with a Cerakote ceramic gun coating, with Boltaron sheaths. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4821/46187262272_c0c650c4d6_c....

Thank y'all!

Thank you!

I'm sure some of y'all have seen the new open cutting competition show on the History Channel, "Knife or Death". While I haven't gotten to compete on it (Several "Forged in Fire" competitors, including Rashelle Hams from my episode, have been on. She did quite well.), I did get to be involved in an ...

Finally got a chance to sit down after doing Blade Show West. Tests on the knife in the article included a wrap durability and retention test of soaking it and the user's hand in a mixture of water, ice, and dish soap. The retention was solid, and the wrap unharmed. The tip was tested with stabbing ...

A better look at the forged blades. All wrapped handles. The cleavers are 5160, the rest are 80CrV2. The hemp wraps were torched prior to being impregnated with epoxy. Sheaths are Boltaron. Especially with the cleavers, I've been working on getting closer to the final shape with my power hammer, Gun...