Hunting knives and related projects

[Von Gruff]

Another day of shaping and sanding but have all the knives shaped now so that will be it till next week. A friend is joining me and we are off to the high country for a couple of days hunting.


Todays sanding effort.


The companion for the rifle


With the first coat of oil to keep them till I can get back to them next week. I decided to use my fathers old tool mark as my makers mark so the 3 dot trialgle will go on all my blades from now on.

[LRRPF52]

Great work Von Gruff.

Nice to see someone that is a producer.

[sneaky one]

Garry, sorry if I helped make your retirement too busy. Take a week off mate ! Outstanding craftsmanship BTW ! I think that I want 1 now !

3 dot Triangle is extra nice. Tribute to your father.

Make a jig to hold the blades, so it's easy to replicate them all. Hmmmm ???

You''ll have to become automated - eventually, hee hee !

[Von Gruff]

Dan, no more automation than the jig to get the grinds the same with everything else done by hand. I am enjoying the heck out of these little projects and wouldn't have it any other way.
I would be happy to discuss what you would like in a knife. I have just designed up one for another chap who wanted one similar to a new design by Bark River. If he goes ahead with it I will put zebrawood handles on it. 9 5/8 in long with 4 1/2 in blade


This is the Bark River knife the design is modelled after

https://www.knivesshipfree.com/bark-river-knives-kalahari-hunter/

Have the truck all packed up for the trip away and just waiting on my friend to turn up now.

[sneaky one]

I'll get back to you soon upon specs. Thanks!

[Von Gruff]

Yesterday turned out to be 18 hrs of slog but arrived home tired with meat. The day started out at 4.15am when I woke and started breakfast for Foster and me so we could get away by 5. This got us up to the first saddle in the high country at first light where deer had been seen once or twice. We walked and glassed for a while but there was nothing seen and as it was way too early for them to have been bedded down it was soon obvious that there were none in the area. I had heard from the station owner that he had cought a chopper pilot hazing deer off the property toward another area where his friends were allowed to hunt as this station is 27,200 acres of private land that is only accesable to those of us who the owner has given keys to the locked gates.
With no deer we came back down to the lower part of the property and spent the rest of the morning getting a bag of rabbits which were jointed and washed at the mountain creek (beautiful clear cold water) and where we had lunch.
It was then on up another 2500ft elevation and into the bluff system where we wanted to have the first look for goats. We stopped a couple of times on the way in to glass some of the steep stuff that ran over 1000 yds down to the little Nevis river. There were two or three little mobs of 1/2 dozen or so that wesaw but that area is very steep and with them being 6-8hunred yards down with no way to stalk without being seen, we gave them a mkiss which in all reality was a good thing as it would have been more than my old legs could have taken to get away down there and carry up any animals we managed to recover.
We carried round to where we have had some good shooting over the years and after leaving the truck walked into the head of the bluffs where we spotted a lone animal so stalked into position over some big rocks for the shot but when we got there we saw the rest of the little mob were in the same gulley system so when we were both ready, the first shot was fired and very quickly thereafter a few more till it all went quiet. We could hear one on the far side of the gut and Foster started the clamber to get round to it and the other two that were over that side while I started the guttin og the 4 that fell in the nearer face. (Foster being 10 years younger than my 65 did the honourable young guy thing and took the hardest retrieval) I got my four done and carried the first two with the rifle back to the truck then came back for the second pair and when I had got back again Foster had got the other three back to the first saddle and as we stood there taking a break and a drink of water that I had bought back in we saw another little mob on the rocks above us but we both decided that seven was about all we would really need and besides after the hard yaka of the retrieval and carry out of the one we already had it was going to be just a bit much for the tired bodies to climb away up to get the other lot, so we watched them for a while till the wandered off. I slung one of the remaining three over my shoulder and his rifle while he carried the last two and we made our way back to the truck to a very welcome hot drink.

This was the area that the main action took place


All of them back at the truck so I set up the skinning rack and the boning table and we set to work with Foster doing the skinning and I did the boning out. All of them had the back legs kept for roast with the rest boned out to be made into sausage and salami so the meat container I carry was full



Skinning



Boning table



And a bit of video and while in I say we are going up to the next basin our tired bodies countermanded the intention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmrH5TB5adM&feature=youtu.be

[jim_bob]

Beautiful country! I really enjoy reading about your projects and hunts. Thank you very much for sharing!

[Errorhead]

Beautiful place! I would have a hard time driving that Toyota, with the steering wheel on the wrong side, but nice views!

[Von Gruff]

I have the knives in the finishing rack and just have the sheathes to make but have got three new knives to make with a couple of guys on another forum wanting similar knives but with differences in thickness, length, finger guard and handle material so have drawn up individual data sheets for each of them and the friend I was hunting with last week has sent up a kitchen knife he wants done in a better steel so will do these three at the same time

[Von Gruff]

Today was a long one with all the meat cubed this morning and then the grinding was done. I grind all the meat through the coars plate twice then what is going to be sausages gets ground through the fine plate as well. These are a few videos of the days effort and results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YecYCaS3ao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AC-8cXC6zo&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMGbNRjClos&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8pdv6VfACk&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhIG3ciyuO4&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a63vOyQm45Y&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_B7ebe4JAY&feature=youtu.be

Now I can get back to a knife or two

[montana]

So, are you also going to be selling select meats along with your knives from NZ, because you made my wife and I hungry LOL You even cut your own sage, very nice. On your other video you made quick work of that rabbit. When I was a teenager I use to snare rabbits and used the waste for my weasel traps. I dried the rabbit fur along with my other critter furs and would hang them all over my bedroom wall. The furs started spreading to the other rooms of the house until my mom decide she didn't want Liver eating Johnson decorating her home LOL. We use to grind meat every year with an old friend and his wife and would make a fun day of it. It was fun watching your add on improvements of the grinding process. Great videos, I enjoy them very much, thanks again for posting them.

[Von Gruff]

Thanks Montana. The salami will get smoked in a couple of days then cooked in a water bath so will do a short one on that then back to the knives.

[sneaky one]

montana- be easy on VG.-- he my be making me a few knives this year. He's on the sausage run for now dude---- Hee !


I'm making a 160 lb. run of sausage-summer soon also. Moose-deer- beef-pork- Elk.== Yummy!

[montana]

montana- be easy on VG.-- he my be making me a few knives this year. He's on the sausage run for now dude---- Hee !


I'm making a 160 lb. run of sausage-summer soon also. Moose-deer- beef-pork- Elk.== Yummy!

Von Gruff is quite the talent and I doubt anyone is going to ruffle his feathers
Sounds like you will have a good supply of summer sausage with 160 lbs worth. That being said even that amount seems to disappear fast in my house. Were a pack of wolves! I am excited to get one of his knives from NZ but there is no hurry needed on his part, if he feels pressured the joy of creating things can disappear in a hurry and that is not what this is about.

[Von Gruff]

My salami all got smoked and cooked today along with a few other necessary chores in the garden but tomorrow we are away to get our dog from the vet where he has been the last couple of days on a drip to recover from pancretitus so then I can get back to playing in the shed. on the three that have been scribed onto steel. Still finishing up a rifle stock but down to the final sanding so that is almost done.