Big Brutal Camp Knife!!!!

Bill Siegle

Bill Siegle

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 3, 2000
Messages
6,451
Large blades are FUN!!!!!! I had a hankering for something large and sorta brutal this week. I think I nailed it 👍 17 1/2in overall with a 12 1/16 blade. I used 1/4in 5160 for the blade and black textured G10 for the scales. I saber ground the blade to leave a lot of heft to it. It weighs in at 28oz and is a helluva chopper!!!

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Very cool! Tell me about the blade finish, is it just patina or some sort of surface treatment like acid washing?

May I ask about the heat treatment of the blade? How hard? Anything special beyond industry standard protocol?
 
The finish is an overnight application of cold blue. It becomes an all over coat of orange rust which I then clean off using steel wool. 5160 has some chromium in it and the blue is usually a bit uneven. I find it attractive myself as each piece is an individual. I do a differential hardening with about half the blade width being hardened. I then perform multiple tempers at 400 degrees. I’ve been very happy with the results for years 👍
 
Thanks for sharing Bill! That finish is very unique and somehow seems to evoke an urge to go out and use it and get a little crazy.

The saber grind looks so good on it. Way better than a flat grind would have for this piece in my opinion. Love the no-nonsense handle scales too.

I bet it's a total blast to use!

Time to add a large Siegle chopper to the list of wants I think!
 
Full disclosure: I just bought this beast from Bill :) Very excited.

Bill Siegle Bill Siegle I was going to ask you in PM but figured others might like to hear your thoughts too... I'm curious as to what tasks you see this knife excelling at vs. some of your other big knives which I've seen usually sporting a full flat grind?
My layman's thought was that the added weight and sabre grind will make this one mean tool for limbing larger branches off trees or battoning wood. Less swinging, more impact.
 
This piece is basically a huge hefty cleaver with a point. When I go camping I like big fun knives to chop firewood around the campfire. This type of blade is sorta like when you’re target shooting with friends and everyone is enjoying their 22s and along comes a Magnum! This knife is definitely in the Magnum category 👍
 
Congrats on the score chucklethal chucklethal !

I was very tempted to reach out to Bill when he first posted this and if I didn't have so many other purchases in progress at the time, I probably would have snagged it. Still regret passing it up. This thing looks so good!

I do hope you will post some pics of it in use at some point! I'd really love to see it in comparison to some other large knives you might have.
 
The Knife Life said:
Congrats on the score chucklethal chucklethal !

I was very tempted to reach out to Bill when he first posted this and if I didn't have so many other purchases in progress at the time, I probably would have snagged it. Still regret passing it up. This thing looks so good!

I do hope you will post some pics of it in use at some point! I'd really love to see it in comparison to some other large knives you might have.
Click to expand...

This will be my largest by far. Next biggest is a Carothers Super duty field knife. But fear not, this will be no safe queen - definitely going to put this to use and will post a few pics.
 
Arrived today and I wasted no time.

Here she is after her first outing:
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So yea. Batonning is almost comical with this. The logs I buy (Oak) usually has to be broken down using an axe before I can baton them, but I thought I would skip that. Glad I did.
This thing will baton stuff that other knives have no business even looking at.

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Most of the time I found I only needed to sink the blade about as deep as the spine before the whole piece split to the bottom. I think that mid-height sabre deserves the credit there.

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10 minutes of wood processing, no axe involved.

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Because why not...

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Now THAT'S awesome! Love me some big knives!

That's impressive. Some of it looks like that horrible stringy stuff that's just plain miserable to split and it looks like it went right thru it all.

I like to think you batoned that apple too 😂

Thanks for sharing Chuck and awesome work Bill!
 
chucklethal said:
Arrived today and I wasted no time.

Here she is after her first outing:
img_1483-jpg.2073107


So yea. Batonning is almost comical with this. The logs I buy (Oak) usually has to be broken down using an axe before I can baton them, but I thought I would skip that. Glad I did.
This thing will baton stuff that other knives have no business even looking at.

View attachment 2073109

Most of the time I found I only needed to sink the blade about as deep as the spine before the whole piece split to the bottom. I think that mid-height sabre deserves the credit there.

View attachment 2073120

10 minutes of wood processing, no axe involved.

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Because why not...

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Click to expand...

That is a bad ass chopper ! That might be one of the toughest looking beasts I’ve ever seen.
 
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