The Butcher

[Amish Mike]

Hello everyone,
I am relatively new to the knife making community and have just finished my 5th knife. It's a new design that I call the Butcher. It's made from 1095 and is approximately 16 inches long. The blade shape is similar to an ellipse in that it tapers at the front and near the spine. Any comments or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

 

[Darrin Sanders]

Looks pretty good, especially for #5. I hope you don't mind a little constructive criticism. Personally I would move the forward pin/bolt hole back approx. 3/8"-1/2". I also think ot would look better without the Choil but that's just me, I'm sure there will be some who love it. Overall though, its looks pretty cool. I've been wanting to build something similar for a while. Maybe I'll get around to it. LOL

 

[Amish Mike]

Hey Darrin,
Thank you for the input. That's exactly what I was looking for, constructive criticism. I agree with you on the handle pin. The reason it is so close to the top is that the handle was originally supposed to be about an inch longer. However, after looking at it on the knife I decided to cut the top off. Thanks for the comments, please keep them coming.

Mike

 

[Stormcrow]

I really dig it! Good work.

Some thoughts on the design: The blade and handle follow an elongated sine curve, which makes for a powerful chopper. If you're going to be using it on a butcher block, though, you might run into knuckle clearance issues. Check it and see. If so, you might kick the angle of the handle up on the next one.

That being said, for most of my choppers I follow the same elongated sine wave. On the one I knew would be used for processing out goat carcasses, I did kick the handle angle up to clear knuckles.

 

[Jeremiah Rostig]

Looks pretty good, especially for #5. I hope you don't mind a little constructive criticism. Personally I would move the forward pin/bolt hole back approx. 3/8"-1/2". I also think ot would look better without the Choil but that's just me, I'm sure there will be some who love it. Overall though, its looks pretty cool. I've been wanting to build something similar for a while. Maybe I'll get around to it. LOL

I like it because it is a classic, functional design and it is flat-konvex ground which is the correct geometry, not a hollow ground 50% bevel which is seen often, and with the pin darrin is right...should according to lines and proportions.
anyway nice tool!

 

[Amish Mike]

Hey guys,
Thanks for the input and kind words. I will certainly take the knuckle clearance issue into consideration and will be moving the pin back as well. Believe it or not, my intended use for this knife is typical machete work, brush clearing, limb chopping, etc. Any thoughts on using it this way?

Mike

 

[Jeremiah Rostig]

Hey guys,
Thanks for the input and kind words. I will certainly take the knuckle clearance issue into consideration and will be moving the pin back as well. Believe it or not, my intended use for this knife is typical machete work, brush clearing, limb chopping, etc. Any thoughts on using it this way?

Mike

at least better than a stone wedge....lol

 

[Stormcrow]

For brush work, I'd say your angle is spot on. The blade might be a bit short for such usage, but it may be fine. I'm finishing up a chopper with a 10" blade, and it's got a lot of power in a short package.

 

[Amish Mike]

James, my thinking was that this blade would provide the benefits of both a machete and the full tang tomahawks we see so often these days. It has the heft of the tomahawk but with a much longer cutting surface and the curvature of a parang. Once I take some better picture I plan to put it thru the ringer and test out my theory. Thanks for the input.

Mike

 

[Lagrange]

I've been seeing more of these lately by custom makers. I'm not sure if it's just a fad or what...but you did it right. Nice job!