Before I retired I started to make some knife blades . Actually I started when I was a kid but I got into it more and I do it just for the enjoyment of doing something that someone might be able to get some use out of . I was told that you need to build at least a five gallon bucket full of blades before you get good at it , well I'm at about half a bucket full now . I like to use 52-100 bearing steel and AEB-L stainless steel . I'm learning to get my grind right and the heat-treating of the steels correct . It's all about enjoying what I'm doing when I'm doing it , I don't want another job at this point in life I just want to do something and get pleasure out of what I'm doing . Some find their way to the recycler and some find their way into the hands of someone that will use them . I have given several to people to try out for me and let me know how they , hold an edge , ease of sharpening and if they are too soft or if they are brittle . Several of the ranchers that I know have pocket knives that I made blades for and gave them to test for me . These guys don't baby anything and when I get one that will hold up for a couple of years for them I feel that I have done about as good as can be expected . They tend to pry , use them as screw drivers , and even cut wire . One of them uses his to cut strings on bails when he's feeding but then as he is doing that he will castrate his new calves that need it at the same time . As with coyote control it's a matter of pride in what I do and trying to learn to do it my best .
Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote
- Thread starter DSheetz
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nealm66
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I worked with a guy cutting timber who's younger brother made some knifes out of his wore out saw bars. Twisted them Damascus style. He said they worked really well
nealm66
Well-Known Member
I always wanted a good butchering knife that would hold an edge and make me quicker/better. No such thing
I think this is all in the eye of the beholder. As far as keeping an edge, I think there's a few variables. Some blades just don't hold one, I think biggest factor of that is steel. I have also had a few over the years that would hold good but liked to be sharpened just a certain way. Obviously, cut meat not bone lol. As far as speed, 1 experience, 2 finesse, 3 find the right blade for you. I grew up butchering hogs and steers and cleaned probably 1000s of pounds of fish. The more you have a knife in your hand the better. You figure out angles and where to cut and not to cut. By finesse I mean let the blade do the work. Knives cut, saws saw, don't saw with a knife! Personally I work the blade handle to tip in one rythemic motion and 99% of the time I only use the tip half of the blade regardless of how long or shape of the blade. I have drawers full of knives and use several for different things but 90% of the time I use 2 for just about everything. I like the blade shapes and size and they just work good in my hand. It's just what fits you and what you get used to. I also only hand sharpen with stones and a steel, an OLD smooth steel. I've read and learned that magnetics actually can play a big role in knife blades. The more inline the charges are the better the edge will be and stay. When sharpening with stones or steels, if you only go the same direction you actually cut you are actually doing this proccess to your blade. I think this is also why they say old sawblades make good knife blades, they spent their existance always going the same direction so the particules/molecules are more aligned. All this just my experience. I know a few meatcutters that can make me look like a fool lol, but there's plenty that I can do that too also, just more time learning how to do it.
Knives are like pistols if they are good quality and fit you well you can do better with them . The steel and how it is heat treated as well as the grind are all a part of the fit and feel . Knives are like any other tool as you mentioned they are designed for different uses but some will be okay for various jobs . Many years ago a young lady from KY told me to respect , and keep my knife sharp it would save my life some day she didn't know how true that statement was .
nealm66
Well-Known Member
My neighbors have raised and sold beef for over 65 years. Watching them filet an elk from kill to package is something else. They have weird superstition about if a knife is given, a coin is given in return. Hard to say where that comes from but it's a very old superstition.
We had a neighbor where I grew up that retired from one of Swifts packing plants. He taught us that same rule. NEVER give a free knife, a free knife will hurt you. A dull knife will cut you. Sell them for a penny but never free. I still go by that rule lol.
I have never heard that one before . I have had a couple of people hurt themselves with knives I have given them . One guy tried to close it against his leg but forgot it had a blade lock that needed pushed with his thumb first and stabbed himself in the leg . Another guy was going to punch a hole in some leather with his new knife . He pushed and it cut through the leather and the web between his thumb and index finger . He said dam that somebitch is sharp isn't it was all he said . I'll have to keep that in mind and charge a penny from now on . I have given knives to people all across the United States a couple of them even went to Afghanistan one with an Army Medic and one with a Seal Corpsman , they were designed to cut clothing off with out cutting the person in the clothing , Doc carried a straight razor for that , so I built one for doing that . Now I find out I should have ask for a penny to keep them out of harms way . lol ! As with most people I was taught that a sharp knife is safer then a dull knife so when I was maybe 10 I had a meatcutter teach me how to use a stone and steel to keep my knives sharp . An older guy gave me a wet stone ( whitstone ) that was called a Hindosten Falls Stone . It was quarried by French Lick Indiana and finished at Hindostan Falls Indiana and is fine enough that you can put a good edge on a straight razor wit it , I still have that stone , but Hindostan Falls has long since disappeared just the holes in the stone are left where the old water mill stood beside the White River , Even the shell mounds have now been hauled away . I was 8 years old when my parents moved me to Southern Indiana and 13 when I left there to come home to Wyoming working the summers here then going back in the fall for school . I do know of the placing of different denominations of coins on the headstones of military personnel to denote different status of your relationship with them , but I found that some one kept taking the coins how low can you go stealing from a dead person .
Several years ago I was up on the mountain checking some traps it was on private property behind locked gates . We had around a foot of new snow on the ground . I unlocked the chain let it down and opened the gate drove through and closed the gate behind me as I would be coming back out I didn't pull the chain back into place . Up on the mountain behind me I saw a glint of light in the timber . I checked my first set , moved on to my next set and saw a green truck coming down the hill behind me it stopped and opened the gate came in the pasture and closed the gate behind them . A big shepherd dog was let out of the truck and was running behind the truck so I stopped to wait for it to catch up to me . Yes it was the fish and game warden . She got up to me said what the hell are you doing here I replied I'm trapping coyote for so and so what are you doing here on private property with your dog running loose . I am the law and I go where I want to if I think I might catch someone breaking the law let me see your written permission slip to be here . I showed it to her and asked her to put her dog back in the truck so that I didn't trap it and was told it's my dog and I'll take care of him as I see fit . I then told her you may want to follow me out when I leave . Again she said I am the law and I will leave when I'm ready and not before . I smiled and said no you are to enforce the law as well as abide by the laws . Again she said no I am the law . I drove off checked the rest of my stuff turned around while she wandered around and watched me from a hill . I went out the gate pulled the chain up and locked it behind me when I left . It was a 10 mile trip out past the ranchers house if you knew the right roads I have no idea how far she had to go to figure out how to get there but the rancher had a few words with her when she showed up at his house . She got into some more trouble here then was transferred to Cheyenne where she didn't fair much better and was terminated after less then a year with the game and fish department . Odd how your attitude works for or against you isn't it .
Amen to that DSheetz. Don't get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for LE and the jobs they have to do and 99% of them are fantastic people but....that last 1% that seem to get the God complex with a badge I have no use for. Dealt with a few of those myself a time or two lol.
LE , Firefighters , medics and others in jobs like that all have my respect . I'm glad that someone will do their type of work . It really doesn't make any difference what you do for a living or where you go even out to shop for groceries you will run into someone with a bad attitude and want to bully others with out showing the least amount of respect for others . I had a good friend once that told me the ratio of a564oles remains constant , one moves on and someone you would least expect it from turns into one . So many times you will find that the worst attitudes come from people that really don't think they are superior to others but are using it to cover their feeling of inferiority to others they feel that you are a threat to them because of your abilities and their self perceived inabilities . Just a little of things that I have figured out for me in some of the situations that I have experienced . I had some guys threaten to kill me once so I got suspended for awhile . The boss called me at home in a couple of days and asked what are you doing today ? I told him then he said I'm going to buy you lunch at such and such a place I need to visit with you about this serious stuff that is going on . We visited for the afternoon he asked me about what I thought was going on when I told him of my thoughts of them feeling threatened by me and the way I did things and the results of it . He smiled then told me you are right it's not only the people you work with but the people in management that feel threatened by you and what you can do that they can't . They feel that you may make them look bad I have even felt threatened by your abilities . and fearful that you may take my place . I just smiled at him and said you and they don't have to worry about that with me I have a job and I'm happy where I'm at , I don't want the responsibility that comes with your job and if they do that's fine let them have it I'm happy just doing my job the best that I can . Several people were called into a meeting the next day one guy lost his job the rest were told what I had told the boss , I promised that I would retire in 4 years and swore that I wouldn't , put in as I never had before , for a managers job . I stood by my word but they still felt uneasy around me till I left . Funny thing is that after 5 years there are people that still call me and ask me how to do things . Some I answer them and some I let go to voice mail and never call back . My life is good it always has been they may choose to be miserable if they so desire , but I refuse to let them take me down with them . My Grandmother told me misery loves company but you can choose not to be that company . Yup I'm a little different but I don't want to take anyone with me down my road we each have our own roads to travel .
