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Author Topic: Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.  (Read 16350 times)

Celt_Ginger

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Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.
« on: November 21, 2009 »
We (The NIBA) were VERY fortunate to be on the receiving end of a most generous gift from Barnie Garland and Scruff. We received matching Woodsman B&T knives from Bernie and fine leather sheaths from Scruff. Below are some pictures and a review of them.
Please note. Bernie nor Scruff have asked any of the NIBA for a review of their products, nor payment nor any form of endorsement what so ever in return for these knives.

Here are 3 of the knives (4 were made)



And again



Details of the blades, which were engraved with out user names and NIBA



Handles were of stunning stabilised Box Elder burr. the blade is 3mm 01 tool steel. Blade length is 105mm, with the handle an additional 110mm


Some more handle detail.



It was a VERY wet day here (though not nearly as bad as in some areas of the UK) so I undertook a short review of the knife in my workshop.

First up was a spot of light battening, which the knife had no problems with



The knife has quite a high grind (9mm), which leaves the tip quite fine. I had a little bit of concern about how this would cope with battening and of course, making a hole in some wood. It was fine at this, though to coin a phrase from Siberianfury,"I wouldn't go opening a tin of paint with it"
I did discover, to my cost, that bernie's knives come VERY sharp. I choked up on the blade to carve the hole, placed my thumb against the sharp edge, and simple pressure, not a slicing action, was enough to open my thumb up and release the red stuff.



15 minutes later and with a bandaged thumb, I made some feather sticks. With the finer blade of 3mm and a good sharp edge, these were easy to do.



A power cut through thumb thick green willow was easily achieved.



I carved a pot hanger from the willow branch. The fine tip made tasks like this very easy to do.





After a bit of carving, I went back to battening again, this time a long piece of wood.






I referred earlier to the fine tip on this knife, so I decided to see what it was good for. Apart from the obvious fact that this knife will make an excellent food prep knife, eg. skinning and gutting, I wanted to see if the fine tip was useful for carving.
I made some curves.....





Then had a go at cutting a circle. Easily done with a fine sharp tip.



Every knife needs a home, and where finer to keep it than some fine leather work by Scruff.




Detail of the belt attachment.


And after all that work, I gave the knife a few strokes on a sharpening steel and it was razor sharp again. It was able to slice paper with little effort.


Overall impressions? I think it's a very good knife. It is a shape that I have liked for a long time and the handle suits my hand extremely well. I personally prefer the 3mm blade that this knife has over the thicker 4mm blades that seem to be the Bushcraft norm. I believe that this makes a much more versatile blade with only the smallest compromise on strength. very few us us will ever brake a knife of this thickness and if we do, then it wasn't the right tool for the job anyway.
Highly recommended.
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pablo

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Re: Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2009 »
hmm nice enough ,but i dont like the blade shape.just personal taste.

and after today i have quite an insight into knife making.

im sitting here with four nicely ground 4mm woodlore clones from flat ground stock. last one took me half an hour from start to finish.ok there may be a little variation in the blade grinds but i have to say they are pretty damned good for a first attempt.

just need to heat treat them and stick a couple of handle scales on em,wee sharpen and bobs your uncle.
it occured to me though that perhaps a lot of these makers actually have their blanks cut out by steel fabrication companies(laser cut from templates)then just stick em in a jig for a quick grind.seems a reasonable practice.which means all the actual skill is in the handle shaping. just speculation of course.

my jack russells ate my phone to pc lead so you,ll have to wait for the pics.



Mr Garland seems to give away a right few of his knives? which is great. very generous of him.and well done for getting a freebie.
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billy56

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Re: Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.
« Reply #2 on: November 22, 2009 »
Try a Paul Hardwick knife to compere to them (woodie clone,s) and if you can
match what he can do i,ll buy one (or two) ;D
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Celt_Ginger

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Re: Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2009 »
Bernie makes all his knives from 01 blanks, just the same as you have done Pablo. I don't know of any reputable maker who used pre-formes. Knives are indeed a very personal thing. I have used many Woodlore knives and woodlore clones over the years and I just don't like the shape and the 4mm is too thick in my opinion. The shape of these BG blades is very old and it is a very traditional Scandinavian shape and one advocated by Bushcraft Guru Mors Kochanski (One of Ray Mears Inspirations)
« Last Edit: November 22, 2009 by Celt_Ginger »
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pablo

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Re: Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.
« Reply #4 on: November 22, 2009 »
4mm blanks are quite substantial indeed.id hate to drop one of these on my foot!

im going to order some 3mm o1 this weekmaybe grind a few blades in that to see which i prefer.then set up a forge for the HT and do them all at once.

the steel did get a little hot from the angle grinder but seein as its all gonna be hitting 8oo degrees soon i dont see it as a problem.
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Bernie Garland

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Re: Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.
« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2009 »
Just like to point out the knives for the NIBA lads were not a gift as such  :)

They were my way of saying thankyou to the NIBA, for the hospitality shown to me and my wife Maxine,when at Carfunuk in september  :)

Bernie
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Bernie Garland

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Re: Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.
« Reply #6 on: December 04, 2009 »
Quote from: billy56 on November 22, 2009
Try a Paul Hardwick knife to compere to them (woodie clone,s) and if you can
match what he can do i,ll buy one (or two) ;D

Just to let you know Billy

It was me that showed Paul Hardwick how to Skandi grind,set the jig up ect

Showed him how to heat treat

Got him his Radius Master at the right money

even made the woodlore blank for him, from my actual Wilkinson sword factory blank  :)

Bernie
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billy56

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Re: Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.
« Reply #7 on: December 05, 2009 »
Bernie, I meant pablo that if he could match them i,d be interested!
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pablo

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Re: Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2009 »
quick answer is , not yet.this is my first attempt at this but i dont see any problem. plus im not doing it as a money making exercise but rather just aquiring another skill matey.

but lets see what transpires eh? if i make a few - well- i cant use em all can i?
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Bernie Garland

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Re: Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2009 »
Quote from: billy56 on December 05, 2009
Bernie, I meant pablo that if he could match them i,d be interested!

No worries Billy  :)

Bernie
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billy56

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Re: Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.
« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2009 »
Cheer,s Bernie I,ve probably got the ability to do this but i,m fecked (or is it lazy) ;D
In the past i,d 38 hrs per week to do my job and do the many homer,s that were asked, ASME9 coded and all that shit ;D
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Celt_Ginger

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Re: Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.
« Reply #11 on: December 06, 2009 »
Quote from: billy56 on December 06, 2009
Cheer,s Bernie I,ve probably got the ability to do this but i,m fecked (or is it lazy) ;D
In the past i,d 38 hrs per week to do my job and do the many homer,s that were asked, ASME9 coded and all that shit ;D

Is that the same as a Coded Welder Billy? I'm after a coded welder to repair some Stainless steel equipment at work.
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billy56

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Re: Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.
« Reply #12 on: December 06, 2009 »
Yip,  I was coded in stick, mig and tig but with being ill after 6 months your codes lapse, so no longer coded :(
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pablo

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Re: Bernie Garland Woodsman Bird and Trout knives.
« Reply #13 on: December 07, 2009 »
can we have that in english? :P
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