I think I’ve finally managed to achieve my ideal pocket carving knife. It’s a smidge under 75mm (3inches) overall length with a blade of around 32mm (1.5inches). It’s ground from a curious file with lovely deep curved teeth that make for a fabulous grip.
Just to recap slightly, my brief to myself was:
• No more than 100mm (4inches) in length, total.
• Fixed blade
• Double bevelled, I somehow love the symmetry.
• Upswept blade, reminiscent of a Puuko.
• Capable of sweeping cuts as well as fine detail.
OK, so, this one is probably just a tad shorter than the pattern I designed on paper but I had a scrap of this file left over that was already annealed so I sacrificed a little length to get that lovely deeply grooved grip.
The grind is almost a full zero grind but I prefer a very shallow micro bevel so that I’m not having to grind off so much metal when I need to hone or re-sharpen.
Because the knife is so short the paracord lanyard, when twisted like this gives a lovely bit of extra leverage and effectively increases the length of the grip.
This one is a prototype and so is a bit rough and ready but I will definitely be making more once I’ve proven the concept to myself with some proper user trials. I reckon I’ll easily be able to get four of these little beasties from a single file so I reckon I might even post some for sale.
I’d be interested in some idea of what you think might be a reasonable price. As it is they would be delivered with a soft leather sheath, micarta style liner to prevent damage to pocket or blade.
