I finished this one up a few weeks ago. It is D2, camo G10 with hunter orange G10 liners.





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Would you, the maker, classify this as a double edged knife? Seems that is a gray area in the minds of various people. Not trying to steal your thread but trying to learn more.

As the maker, no, I would not consider this a double edged knife. The top grind typically refereed to as a "false edge or false bevel" because that bevel was never meant to be a cutting edge. The purpose of the "false bevel" is several fold.. it helps balance the blade by removing unwanted/unnecessary material, it reduces the overall weight of the knife and in my eye, makes the blade more aesthetically pleasing. When grinding a false bevel, I personally try to leave plenty of material on the "false edge" so that there is no way that edge could cut. I feel like a thick false edge reduces any reasonable argument that could be made against the knife's legality.

That isn't to say that an unreasonable officer/lawyer/judge or other authoritarian figure couldn't make the case against it.. You are correct in saying that it is a gray area.

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When I first became interested in custom knives back in '79 the double edge fighters were popular. And as you say, a grouchy LEO, up tight ADA and judge can spoil ones day/night. I could not tell from the photo how keen/sharp the edge is but as you state it also lends itself into the "dagger' definition. Thanks for the reply.

Nice work.

I really like the handle!

What do you use to grind your bevels on D2? Using a belt grinder or hand filing the bevels?

Reason I ask, is I'm working on a D2 skinner and it's proving difficult to hand file the bevel. Ate up a Nicholson mill file, and the D2 is annealed.

Thank you for the complements!



D2, even annealed is pretty darn hard to work with. I use a 2 x 72" grinder and ceramic belts when grinding D2. I wish I had some advice to make working with it easier but in my experience, everything about it is hard. Grinding is hard, filing is hard and hand finishing is hard. BUT.. D2 makes a fine knife. I've made a few knives from D2 and they all turned out to be good performers.


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Appreciate the response, yeah, D2 is a hard metal to work...
I only have a baby belt grinder at present, and was hoping to work this small skinner with hand files. Proving quite challenging. I clean my file (Nicholson 12" mill file) after every few strokes, to ensure its not embedded material causing it to not cut. Only cut on the push stroke, so I know it's not misuse dulling the file. Did well for a while, now just slides across like my file is made of glass. Frustrating.

Switched to a 12" bastard file and it seems to be working for now, but still doesn't feel like it's biting on the steel like it should. I'll keep at it, but won't make this mistake a 2nd time. Will have to learn to use belt grinder better for d2 going forwardz

I made my first knife in 09 and when I started my tools were pretty limited. The first 5 or 6 knives I made were D2 and ground out with one of those Delta 1 x 42" wood sanders from Lowes/Home Depot. It isn't ideal but you can make some nice blades with one if you aren't in a hurry. By the time I ground, hand sanded, polished and completed a knife, there was probably 20 hours tied up in each one. I can't imagine using hand files to make a knife. I know many people cut their teeth that way but I'm waaaaay too lazy. Good luck with your knife and be sure to post pics when you get her done.

All the knives below are D2 knives that I ground out with that little 1" delta belt sander.
This pair of skinners were my first knives. They were a wedding gift to a buddy of mine.