I always forget about Crazy Crow! So much good stuff there. When I was MUCH younger I was really into the whole 'mountain man' thing. :) Hmmm....I may have to pick up a few of those bare blades. Make a few gift knives for Christmas 2018. ;) ....McM

That's done. The belt is not tied, just wrapped for display. It simply passes through two slots in the rear of the external scabbard.

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Hey, Mark! My Crazy Crow order came in, and I'm seeing great potential in these inexpensive blades. Good length. Good thickness. Lots of options. Early bowie, CSA bowie and, of course, Bauernwehr! Wotcha reckon?

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Hi Sean,

do you think the tang on these blades is soft enough to peen over a pommel plate if you cut it the way shown in your picture?
Has anybody else tried this, maybe?

I was thinking instead about cutting a dovetail slot in the end of the tang and brazing in a short tang extension of mild steel, to mount a pommel plate on.

BTW, I also just got one of these blades for a future project. Planning to mount it up as a sort of "short messer", with a slip-on guard with quillons and a nagel.

Alex.

Alex: I haven't tested these blades and don't know their origin, but if they're anything like Windlass they'll be very hard throughout. I always have to anneal the peen area of Windlass blades, but that's not a problem. I wrap a wet rag just below the area to control heat. Also, cutting a slot in the base of a solid pommel and brazing that to tang does appear to be an historical method of attachment. You can see it on some of Tod's knives.

Mark: Yep, I marked it up quickly just to get a sense of proportion but it doesn't look half bad!

I am almost 100% sure these Rifleman blades are made by Windlass. I also recently got a few Windlass made blades from Atlanta cutlery, including the Companion (https://www.atlantacutlery.com/companion-blade) that was discussed earlier on this thread. The way they are packaged, the look of finish, and the INDIA stamp - everything is pretty much identical between them. This model must be an exclusive for Crazy Crow, can't think of other reason why it isn't sold via Atlanta.

BTW, I noticed that the Companion and Rifleman have the same blade length (about 11") and general width/heft. I am thinking about seriously reshaping Companion's tang and making it into a Bauernwehr (steel bolsters with nagel, no pommel). Could make an interesting contrasting pair with the Rifleman mounted as I said above as a Messer.
Haven't decided yet which one to start with, as both sound as very interesting projects (I have never done either Bauernwehr or Messer).

Alex.

I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. I have read that Chinese airgun factories make the same airguns for multiple brands, so it would make sense that an Indian cutler would be doing the same. My guess is that, unless otherwise stated, blades are from India or Pakistan.

Just thought about one more question. Until now, I was planning to work around the fact that these blades have no hole for nagel. Which seems possible, but may get tricky and of course wouldn't be traditional. But then I looked into drill bits that are supposed to work on hardened steel and quickly found a few, for example: https://www.amazon.com/Champion-Cutting-Tool-CT705-3-16/dp/B004OFT0YO/ref=pd_bxgy_469_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B004OFT0YO&pd_rd_r=VQ0WJT6YSB61ATG1KD43&pd_rd_w=7SWmz&pd_rd_wg=ECWom&psc=1&refRID=VQ0WJT6YSB61ATG1KD43 or https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Twist-Carbide-Drill-Uncoated/dp/B003JTI81C/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1521051398&sr=8-4&keywords=carbide%2Bdrill%2Bbits%2Bfor%2Bhardened%2Bsteel&th=1
They are relatively expensive, though (about same price as the blade itself). So before ordering one to try, I am hoping someone can confirm that they actually work on hardened blades like these and last for more than a couple holes. Maybe suggest a specific brand, or give me some pointers on using them?

Thanks.
Alex.

you just need something rated for stainless. those are not expensive.

That's what I used on the Windlass knife here. Same on my thrift store stainless butter knife projects. Now, I'd certainly rather use something like you showed--probably faster, better and longer-lived. But if you get something like this as a start and it works, you've saved yourself a bit of money: https://www.lowes.com/pd/CLE-LINE-12-Pack-3-16-in-Cobalt-Black-Gold-Twist-Drill-Bit/999917799

if it doesn't you're not out much. HOWEVER, I tried to get through a thin kitchen knife the other day and it took me forever. I might have picked up the wrong bit or a spent bit, though.

I have a cheap drill press, but I find that a hand drill sometimes works better because I can control the speed better--lots of pressure, oil on the bit and VERY slow speed.

I have used the drill press and one of these straw-colored bits to go through a Type T pommel like it's wood.

I believe I have some of these cobalt drill bits, use them a lot for mild steel. Will try on the blades, they are cheap enough so that even wearing one out for a single hole will be worth it. Really want to do a proper nagel passing through the blade for both projects...

Thanks.
Alex.

Tried the Cobalt bits in my drill press at lowest speed, and they cut both blades with no fuss. I also found that at least the Rifleman blade can be cut even with my Nicholson files. Not as easy as mild steel, but they do cut and don't get damaged. So these blades are not really "knife hard", they are apparently heat treated more like machete blades (springy but not too hard).

Which is a good thing because I was forced to rework this blade a lot. Maybe I got a lemon, but the way the tang was shaped was just horrible. The blade/tang junction area was both narrower and thinner than the rest of the tang, and what's even worse it is wedge shaped towards the edge. Which of course would make it impossible to fit a slip-on guard. Not to mention the tang wasn't close to true flat, and pin holes were drilled out of perpendicular and not all the way through (1/4" drill fixed that).
So I spent a good chunk of Sunday taking the tang down from about 3/16" to 1/8", while leaving the guard area intact. Which wasn't a trivial undertaking with my little 1" belt grinder, especially keeping it reasonably flat. Also took 1/16" off the back of the tang to create a second shoulder for the guard to sit against, and partially off the front to make it straight. I think what I have now (see attached picture) should allow for fitting a guard more or less tightly, but that will still be a tricky job.
BTW, the cut at the butt is for a short mild steel extension to be fitted and brazed in (to hold a buttcap).

Overall, this is turning into a kind of project my late grandfather used to call "let's make a piece of candy out of this piece of shit". He was of the opinion that any idiot can do a decent job given perfect materials, but making do with whatever crap you happened to be able to get your hands on - that takes real skill. This kind of thing gives you certain satisfaction IF you can pull it off. Will see how it works out with this one.

Alex.

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[ Download ]

Nice work!
Can anyone tell me where this image came from?

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Just finished my project with the Rifleman blade discussed above, posted at http://myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?p=330194#330194
So, do you think I managed to pull off the "let's make a piece of candy out of this piece of shit" trick here?

Alex.

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Messer in scabbard [ Download ]

Hell yeah! I'd love to see that out of the sheath, too. It's great to see that guard, because I've wanted to try that for a little Flemish messer project. Great work there!

I posted back in March about

Alex Indman wrote:

... the Companion (https://www.atlantacutlery.com/companion-blade) that was discussed earlier on this thread... I am thinking about seriously reshaping Companion's tang and making it into a Bauernwehr (steel bolsters with nagel, no pommel)....

So I actually finished this project, just need to organize the pictures and post! The project includes one more Atlanta Cutlery blade used as a by-knife with the Companion Bauernwehr: https://www.atlantacutlery.com/small-hunter-blade
Since this thread was in large part about using and modifying Atlanta Cutlery blades, I decided to start by showing here how I reshaped the blades for the project.

I believe the seriously modified Companion's tang profile not only looks more authentic as a Bauernwehr, but feels more comfortable in hand. It really shouldn't have been so curved, but nothing could be done about that...
And the by-knife was just a little reshaped to match the Bauernwehr's rounded handle style better.

A separate post to show off the competed project coming up soon!

Alex.

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Before (main blade)

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After (main blade)

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By-knife marked for rounding off the butt.

Nice! I'm trending toward these knife projects because it's so much easier to find blades that can be modified.