Nonquam Non Paratus CC

Have you ever felt that you can't do something because you don't believe in it?

That is very much the kind of person that I am, especially when it comes to making knives. Obviously I try to balance this desire for perfection with available materials, cost and of course, most importantly, you, the customers' desire.

When it comes to blade materials, and I will go into them in greater depth in appropriate articles, I have used the following:

• K110 - the Bohler Uddeholm equivalent of D2
• 12C27 - A surgical grade stainless steel manufactured by Sandvik
• N690 - A finer grained stainless steel also manufactured by Bohler Uddeholm
• S30V - A powder metallurgical alloy manufactured by Crucible

I use a simple test to determine how resilient the blade edge after heat treatment: I take an everyday wire nail and shave it with the sharpened edge. With three of the alloys I see no damage on the blade edge with the naked eye, although the nail has a sliver out of it! 

The 12C27 tends to roll over on the edge slightly, as it is a slightly softer steel, but it does polish up well, is reasonably priced and is easily resharpened.

Both of the Bohler stainless steels are extremely hard wearing, take a wickedly sharp edge and can be used quite extensively for a variety of tasks. They don't polish up as well as some other steels available out there and the K110 will also tend towards corrosion if not kept oiled, are also slightly more expensive than 12C27, but do really make fantastic knife blades. As I have stated before, my focus is on functionality and these steels deliver!

The S30V is a pleasure to grind, also takes a wicked edge and is exceptionally hardwearing. It is also a powdered metallurgical steel, meaning that the ingredients are all powdered in the manufacturing process before being bonded together in a special process. This results in an alloy with an exceedingly fine grain and well blended ingredients throughout. This last can differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. It is however exhorbitantly priced and available in limited quantities only. It is also tedius to heat treat effectively.

For handle material, my personal favorite is G10, a fibreglass impregnated resin type substance that is extremely durable and grippable, especially under adverse conditions. It is however not ideal dust to breathe in..

My favorite wood is Wild Olive. When finished these handles are extremely distinctive due to the grain patterns and also glow! There is something warm about a wooden handle. It is however a natural substance and as such needs to be nourished to keep it in tip top condition.

I have also worked with Tambotie, but the dust is fairly harmful and after experiencing some of its side effects first hand, I have not used it again. I am a skinny guy and can only afford to lose so much weight!

I also like to work with Linen Micarta, similiar to G10, but with Linen instead of the fibreglass. It is modestly priced, hardwearing, unaffected by temperature and fairly easy to work with, although the dust is also not good for you. The available colour range tends to be a bit limited though.

My favorite blade type is a tanto, both Americanised and traditional, but I do also have a really soft spot for my Utility blade shape as this is an exceptionally useful shape and size, not to mention cleanly curved.