hey guys!
having seen the movie "The Hunted" with Tommy Lee Jones playing a character based on Tom Brown http://www.trackerschool.com/ a friend of mine bought the Tops version of the Tracker knife featured in the film.
it cost him $250.00, and it is a beautiful piece of 1095. I decided to make my own, for as little as possible, in the spirit of Tom's own philosophy. so I set out on my quest for steel. I ended up with a chunk of 5160, an outstanding knife steel for heavy applications like this.
from there, I made afew design changes. I lengthened the point about .500", and changed the pommel a bit. I also added serrations for both the thumb and forefinger. I then made my pattern and transfered it to the steel. then I cut the stock to length, trued the stock, and ground the profile out.
then comes all the shaping and thinning. the blade has a distal taper, from .280" at the tip to .315" at the pommel.
next comes the blade grind. I chose a convex grind, similar to an axe, for the same reasons. now its time to spend some money. I bought some Micarta stocks and fiber spacers for the handle. all told, I sent about $12 to www.knifekits.com the handles are attached with flat head cap screws. that makes the handles servicable.
the marks you see in this pic are notes to myself. ie, items to take care of before the next step. the knife is now finished in Brownells matte black baking lacquer, mostly as an experiment before I coated the 1911 project I was working on concurrently. I'd say the coating looks nice, but doesn't hold up like powder coating...
the only thing I don't have a pic of is the leather sheath I made to hold it... perhaps later.
final thoughts:
this was the 12th knife I have made over the years, and the most unusual. the double grind was a bit challanging, but managable. I built it to replace a few edges I carry on backcountry trips, and it does that. it throws well, provided you have gloves on. (the saw is quite agressive) I have split wood with it, cleaned fish, cut kindling, notched sticks for deadfalls, dug holes, and to top it off, the deepest forward notch on the spine will break chain link fence! (tested on scrap only, I dont do the B&E)
its nice to have the tools available to turn a thought into a tool, be it a blade, light, or anything else you can think of! in the end, it cost me time, plus around $25.00 I hope you folks like my version of the tracker.
having seen the movie "The Hunted" with Tommy Lee Jones playing a character based on Tom Brown http://www.trackerschool.com/ a friend of mine bought the Tops version of the Tracker knife featured in the film.
it cost him $250.00, and it is a beautiful piece of 1095. I decided to make my own, for as little as possible, in the spirit of Tom's own philosophy. so I set out on my quest for steel. I ended up with a chunk of 5160, an outstanding knife steel for heavy applications like this.
from there, I made afew design changes. I lengthened the point about .500", and changed the pommel a bit. I also added serrations for both the thumb and forefinger. I then made my pattern and transfered it to the steel. then I cut the stock to length, trued the stock, and ground the profile out.
then comes all the shaping and thinning. the blade has a distal taper, from .280" at the tip to .315" at the pommel.
next comes the blade grind. I chose a convex grind, similar to an axe, for the same reasons. now its time to spend some money. I bought some Micarta stocks and fiber spacers for the handle. all told, I sent about $12 to www.knifekits.com the handles are attached with flat head cap screws. that makes the handles servicable.
the marks you see in this pic are notes to myself. ie, items to take care of before the next step. the knife is now finished in Brownells matte black baking lacquer, mostly as an experiment before I coated the 1911 project I was working on concurrently. I'd say the coating looks nice, but doesn't hold up like powder coating...
the only thing I don't have a pic of is the leather sheath I made to hold it... perhaps later.
final thoughts:
this was the 12th knife I have made over the years, and the most unusual. the double grind was a bit challanging, but managable. I built it to replace a few edges I carry on backcountry trips, and it does that. it throws well, provided you have gloves on. (the saw is quite agressive) I have split wood with it, cleaned fish, cut kindling, notched sticks for deadfalls, dug holes, and to top it off, the deepest forward notch on the spine will break chain link fence! (tested on scrap only, I dont do the B&E)
its nice to have the tools available to turn a thought into a tool, be it a blade, light, or anything else you can think of! in the end, it cost me time, plus around $25.00 I hope you folks like my version of the tracker.
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