Gale Force

KelleyKnives

Well-Known Member
Hello All,
I've called this knife Gale Force after the powerful winds that under rare conditions have the ability to cut; it is called kamaitachi.

In Japanese there are several conceptions of how it looked or operated, but the most common is one of a trio of weasels with sharp claws, riding on a gust of wind and cutting people's skin on the legs. According to this interpretation, the first weasel knocked the unsuspecting victim down, the second cut the victim's flesh and the third applied medication to the wounds, so that at the time the victim realized what was happening they were left only with painful wounds that weren't bleeding.

I like the story and thought it would make a cool name, could have called it kamaitachi but.

This knife is made from 1/4" thick 1095 steel and has a 5 inch long differentially heat treated the blade and is overall 11.5 inches. The finish is wrinkle black powder coat and the handle is made from olive drab canvas micarta. My makers mark is visible under the powder coat on the top of the spine.
 

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Hello Dwane,
Thanks, I’ve powder coated blades now for about 10 years (only powder coat a small number of the total knives I make). The wrinkle finish is new for me and I've only done a couple, it looks good but I'm not sure how well it holds up yet. I see this finish on TOPS knives so it'll probably be alright. I carried and used a small Tanto for a number of years that was 1095 with smooth flat black powder coat and the finish help up really well. The Kydex sheath eventually wore a shinny spot on the blade and also scratched through while splitting wood with the baton method. Overall it holds up well.
Interestingly a high contrast on Damascus can be had by etching the Damascus deeply then powder coating the blade and sanding the powder coat down. Color can also be added; this is Jim Fergusons Damascus (when you could still get it) with blue powder coat.
Thanks again for the kind words.
Kelley
 

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Agree with Dwane I like the shape of the knife not sure about the finnish, that is not shooting your work down Kelley it is just how I feel. I love the blue bowie that looks good.
 
Hello Pieter and Dwane,
Thanks for your input I value your opionions. What finished do you most like on carbon steel? For a using knife I like a browned finish to lower the maintainence but I also like a steely gray finish from a quick ferric chloride wash and buff and it also brings out the temper line, if present. I'm trying to get a horse radish panina on one of my knives but its coming along real slow and been in horse radish now for a week and just looks gray. A sanded finish looks good but darkens and rusts awfully fast on 1095.
Kelley
http://blade.home.sonic.net
 
What do you think of the Gale Force with browned finish? I've also done the gray also but didn't get pictures before customers got the knife.
 

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