M
Mathsr
Guest
This is a 4.25 in blade hunter made of 1/8 inch CPM M4 steel. It is flat ground and hand polished. The bolsters and bolts are stainless steel and the handle is made of ash. It is going along with us to the Blade Show.
James Terrio
Well-Known Member
That's gorgeous! I'm seeing some details that really make it stand out... the clean smooth swoop of the edge into the guard/bolster, the gentle curve on the back of the bolster, and the overall "flow" of the design. Plus that's really handsome ash, I don't think I've seen figured ash like before.
Hats off, and thanks for the inspiration! 2thumbs
Hats off, and thanks for the inspiration! 2thumbs
Billy Helton
Well-Known Member
That is truley a quality knife . A +++2thumbs
Bruce Bump
Forum Owner-Moderator
It looks great Harry. Tell me how is the M4 to grind and heat treat? I guess its about the best for high performance now.
M
Mathsr
Guest
The heat treatment wasn't bad at all. It is about the same as S30V. I heat treated it prior to grinding the bevels on the blade. It is thin and I wanted to avoid any chance of warping.
The grinding went slow but it was not as bad as I thought it would be. A 60 grit belt doesn't leave very deep scratches in it at all. (I don't think anything is going to scratch this stuff very much.) I have never seen anything smooth up a new belt like this stuff does. M4 is not going to be the steel of choice for the maker who is faint of heart. I polished an S30V blade and a D2 blade after the M4. The S30V blade was easy in comparison and I was amazed at how quickly I finished it. With the D2...I wanted to check the D2 with the Rockwell tester just to make sure it had been hardened.
M4 seems to be the most wear resistant steel we have used. I think it will make one heck of a knife, but they aren't going to be cheap. There is just too much time and too many belts involved in getting the kind of finish on it that we like. I think that M4 will be more of a specialty steel. With steels like CPM S30V, CPM 3V, and CPM 154 out there that do a great job at a lower cost, you would really need the combination of extreme wear resistance and toughness to go to the effort and expense to use M4 IMHO.
The grinding went slow but it was not as bad as I thought it would be. A 60 grit belt doesn't leave very deep scratches in it at all. (I don't think anything is going to scratch this stuff very much.) I have never seen anything smooth up a new belt like this stuff does. M4 is not going to be the steel of choice for the maker who is faint of heart. I polished an S30V blade and a D2 blade after the M4. The S30V blade was easy in comparison and I was amazed at how quickly I finished it. With the D2...I wanted to check the D2 with the Rockwell tester just to make sure it had been hardened.
M4 seems to be the most wear resistant steel we have used. I think it will make one heck of a knife, but they aren't going to be cheap. There is just too much time and too many belts involved in getting the kind of finish on it that we like. I think that M4 will be more of a specialty steel. With steels like CPM S30V, CPM 3V, and CPM 154 out there that do a great job at a lower cost, you would really need the combination of extreme wear resistance and toughness to go to the effort and expense to use M4 IMHO.
Bruce Bump
Forum Owner-Moderator
I have taken S30V up to a mirror before and complained about it for a week. I think the M4 would be the ultamate hunting knife if we can just leave a belt finish and get away with it for about the same price as a well hand rubbed 154 blade. What rc hardness did you leave it at? Does it require cryo?
G
Gatogordo
Guest
Hi:
Just registered here and am enjoying catching up on past threads. Nice forum and I appreciate the opportunity to interact with other knife enthusiasts.
I'd really like to have a USING hunter out of M4 with a upper end Rc hardness level and a MUCH lesser finished blade for a reasonable price. I'm going to use it for skinning deer and wild hogs, not put it in a safe, nor am I going to be prying with it or using it as a screwdriver. Something on the order of Bruce Bump's professional hunter would be perfect with a lesser finish. I also love nice wood on handles but, in this case, I think a surface roughened micarta or similar would be better. I find that many of the current fighters/Bowies I'm buying, even those that are designed for real military use have very slick handles, something that could easily slip out of (or even worse, into) your hand when it is covered in blood, water, or mud. A major mistake made for the collectors, not users, in my opinion. Nothing against collectors, I are one, but function for a using knife should always trump looks IMO. I'm old and impatient so if the REAL projected delivery time of this M4 hunter is more than 6 months I'd prefer to find someone who doesn't have that kind of backlog. Any volunteers or suggestions would be appreciated. The above knife is really nice but probably more finished, which translates into a higher price, than I'm looking for.
Just registered here and am enjoying catching up on past threads. Nice forum and I appreciate the opportunity to interact with other knife enthusiasts.
I'd really like to have a USING hunter out of M4 with a upper end Rc hardness level and a MUCH lesser finished blade for a reasonable price. I'm going to use it for skinning deer and wild hogs, not put it in a safe, nor am I going to be prying with it or using it as a screwdriver. Something on the order of Bruce Bump's professional hunter would be perfect with a lesser finish. I also love nice wood on handles but, in this case, I think a surface roughened micarta or similar would be better. I find that many of the current fighters/Bowies I'm buying, even those that are designed for real military use have very slick handles, something that could easily slip out of (or even worse, into) your hand when it is covered in blood, water, or mud. A major mistake made for the collectors, not users, in my opinion. Nothing against collectors, I are one, but function for a using knife should always trump looks IMO. I'm old and impatient so if the REAL projected delivery time of this M4 hunter is more than 6 months I'd prefer to find someone who doesn't have that kind of backlog. Any volunteers or suggestions would be appreciated. The above knife is really nice but probably more finished, which translates into a higher price, than I'm looking for.
SCALPHUNTER
Well-Known Member
Very nice, love the Ash handle.