Let's see your patch knives and technique

[mbokie]

Beyond my wildest dreams.

Response has been awesome and the pics have been great!

Thanks so much to all!

:hatsoff:

 

[Nifeman]

Here's one I've used for a while... Bud

3" blade with a 3 1/4" handle of walnut

 

[lonehunter]

Sweet lookin piece of walnut ya got there Bud! :v

 

[horseman1977]

I use a medium sized french trade knife from Track of the Wolf. It is big enough to wear on a belt or small enough to fit in my shooting bag if needed.

 

[Nifeman]

Sweet lookin piece of walnut ya got there Bud! :v

LH, got a couple of burls from a friend that was sawing them upwith a portable sawmill about 9 yrs ago. He was gonna throw the burls into his water stove :youcrazy: ...

 

[tg]

Nifeman, that is one killer knife and sheath there, very nice, you should strut like a Peacock wearin' stuff like that dude. :thumbsup:

I carry knives like this 5"-6" or so blades ( from TOW I think) which would work fine for patches, one really does not need a "special" small knife for the job.

 

[Greenjoytj]

I found cutting the patch at the muzzle was easier if the knife's blade was both thin and long.
I started with a modern peeling knife with a inward curved blade that measured 2 & 1/8" long copied from a picture of an old Lyman patch knife.
I sharpened that knife with my lansky sharpener set at razor 17 degrees. That knife was sharp!
BUT it didn't cut a patches as easily as I thought is should.
The problem was the short blade, you have to reciprocate the blade back and forth too many times to cut the .54 cal. patch free of strip of material (.018" pillow ticking).
So I tried a longer 4" bladed knife, again it was a modern plastic handled paring knife sharpened the same as the first knife.
This longer bladed knife worked much better and faster, due to the longer blade less pumping the blade back and forth was required before cut through.

So my advise is to try the various kitchen knives you have around the house that have a thin blade at least 4" long that has high enough quality steel in it to take and hold a razor like edge.
The lubed patch material is tough to cut, I suspect the lube allows the blade to slide on the threads of the cloth rather than bite in and cut so don't sharpen the blade with a fine stone, use a coarse stone so the rough edge will snag the thread fibers but keep that razor 17 degrees taper.
I also rounded the point of the knife so I wouldn't get jabbed deep when that inevitable jab occurs.

 

[Fred_Dwyer]

Who made that knife? How long is the blade?

It's a clam knife, they're about $4 new.
They are easy to sharpen, about 8 strokes on an India stone. They're about 6-1/2..7 inches overall. I don't like clams so I had to do something with the knife.

 

[mbokie]

Hey Durham! :v

Now, on the subject of the 17 degree angle.

This is to the thread in general.

What sort of precautions should I take when I'm cutting.

Do I need to worry about damaging the muzzle? I would worry in any case, but I still want to hear from all of you guys or gals if there's some out there.

The angle gives me the idea that laying the blade flat on the muzzle, will prevent muzzle damage.

 

[mbokie]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I have a knife around here that will do the job. something along the lines of a $4 knife.

 

[George]

Do I need to worry about damaging the muzzle?

No real worry. The crown of the muzzle is the part you will hear people talk about protecting, but that's inside the muzzle where your knife can't reach. As long as you lay your knife reasonably flat across the muzzle there's nothing to worry about.

Spence

 

[BrownBear]

Do I need to worry about damaging the muzzle?

No real worry. The crown of the muzzle is the part you will hear people talk about protecting, but that's inside the muzzle where your knife can't reach. As long as you lay your knife reasonably flat across the muzzle there's nothing to worry about.

Spence

If I can dogpile on that point a little-

No effect on accuracy, but over time the scrape of the side of a knife can wear the finish off the muzzle, even if you never get down below the lip to touch the crown. Certainly not a big deal, but it's there.

 

[mbokie]

What if you angled the blade from sharpening, so that when it laid flat on the muzzle, that it could not scratch?

None the less, time wears on everything so eventually, finish will wear off.

 

[BrownBear]

What if you angled the blade from sharpening, so that when it laid flat on the muzzle, that it could not scratch?

None the less, time wears on everything so eventually, finish will wear off.

In my experience it depends on the gun finish and how much down-pressure you put on the blade as you swipe. "Roughish" browned finishes want to polish smooth, even with a smooth knife sliding over them. Blued finishes less so.

Of course, if you're worried about the finish there's a real easy solution- just don't rest the blade on the muzzle before starting your swipe. Doesn't hurt a thing if it's a little above the barrel. You'll find less of a tendency to rest a knife on the barrel and saw if it's really sharp. Just one quick pass with a really sharp knife, and it never has to touch the barrel. But if you're sawing back and forth a few times for a cut, the knife always seems to work it's way down onto the muzzle.

Yet another reason for a really sharp knife- a lot sharper than most guys are satisfied with for general uses. You'll know just how sharp and durable an edge is once you start cutting at the muzzle. And you'll know right away when it starts going dull! :rotf:

 

[George]

What if you angled the blade from sharpening, so that when it laid flat on the muzzle, that it could not scratch

Sure, that would work. I've seen purpose-made patch knives with the edge only on one side, the other perfectly flat so it would lie on muzzle. It's just not the sort of thing I worry about.

Spence

 

[tg]

Yeah, what Spence said, if really concerned about this method you can take a piece of 7/8 dowl about 6"-8" long or as needed and drill a hole a bit larger than a marble which you can buy at most department stores and practice with looseish combos using marbles instaed of lead balls you will need to set up a method of holding your "barrel" steady when loading that replicates the real thing, this will give you a lot of experience with the positioning of patch and ball and knife

 

[CrackStock]

What is used and how depends upon the situation. At the monthly range matches, I use either a Swiss Army knife or a knife made from this blank:
Track Paring Knife

This works well, holds a good edge and is convenient.

In the field, I just use whatever knife I have along that is correct for the period.

As to how I use it, while at the monthly shoots, I lean the rifle against the loading bench and cut away from me. In the field, I cut toward me as shown by Spence.

I do not see a right or wrong, but those work for me.

CS

 

[tg]

In the field a leather thong that ties to the bag strap or goes around the neck, or tied off to whaever works for you (basicaly as needed for the individual gun) allows one to let the gun be held by the thong and freeing both hands for loading

 

[woodse guy]

What all did you have to do to that blank. Other then the handle is there very much angle put on the blade or do you have to do it all.

 

[CrackStock]

2 Cutler's rivets and 2 pieces of wood for scales. I made 5 of them - mostly from hickory which was readily available from broken tomahawk handles, but I did 2 with very curly maple from gun kit scraps.

The edge was all set. In fact, that is a bit of a concern since I had to cover that edge carefully while working on the knife project.

I made a leather sheath and attached that to my shooting bags. The back of the bag is better than the strap because when you put a bag down, your knife tries to escape.

That blank does make a handy patch knife.

CS