Process Notes: The Joiner's Bench Knife

So, I've been using some less common tools recently. I just did the bench with a hatchet as the main tool and I loved it. Splitting wood is really efficient, and chopping is a great way to remove wood fast. 

I've also been using framing chisels. Big ones; like over an inch wide and 10 or 11 inches long. Not for anything in particular; just to have on the bench for the odd paring job where the long blade and big bearing surface would allow good registration on the wood. 

These tools seemed unrelated, but then I saw this guy on YouTube: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esISzRH8oko

Not only are his skills impressive, that huge, cleaver-looking thing he's using is just amazing. Look how he chops and pares with it. It's a big tool, but so precise. Heavy when he needs it, but delicate, too. 

I need something like that. 

Guess I better make it. 

So, I'm hard at work on this thing I'm calling the Bench Knife. The idea is that it will be like a light hatchet combined with a knife and a big chisel. You'll be able to chop and split with it, but also pare with the flat front edge. It will have a single bevel like a broad-hatchet and a two sharp corners for marking. 

Here's the progress: 

I've made a mock-up in Lexan to figure out the details and now I'm working on the prototype in 3/8 thick, 1095 steel. Man, even annealed, this stuff is a bear to work. My metal-cutting bandsaw wouldn't even touch it. Had to break out the angle-grinder. 

You might think this looks like the Mora Chisel Knife, and there are some similarities, but mine is WAY bigger: a full foot long. That will give it the kind of chopping and splitting power you just can't get from a knife. I've also carried the bevel all the way around the tip so that there are two sharp corners and a short bevel on the back side. This way, you still have a safe back for tapping with a mallet or holding with your free hand, but the all-around bevel means you can chop shallow mortises (like for door hinges) and you have two flat corners for marking. Obviously, this is a bit big for your main marking knife, but if it was on the bench anyway, I bet you'd grab it to mark one or two lines. 

This week, I'm going to grind the bevels, heat-treat, temper, and make handles. Then, I'll put it on the bench for a few days and see what happens. Will I reach for it all the time, or will it just be in the way? 

Only one way to find out. 

--Rex