Navy SEAL's bush sword

[Stormcrow]

This was an interesting project.  I was contacted by a Navy SEAL who wanted a blade.  He had come across my website and liked a bush sword I had made that was inspired by a Thailand machete I had seen in an article in Tactical Knives magazine.  I still had that bush sword, with a neon orange paracord wrap.  As we discussed things, we considered re-wrapping the handle in colors more appropriate to covert operations, but ultimately I recommended that he let me build a new one from scratch since I make my military blades a bit stouter than general-use blades.  Also, he wanted the top edge of the clip fully sharpened and the original only had a false edge.  I suggested the possibility of a Micarta handle on a full tang, but he liked the integral socket handle idea.

 

So going from my first take on the blade here:

 

 

I forged out this 16" blade from 1/4" 5160 and triple normalized it:

 

 

After eating the scale off with an overnight soak in vinegar, I ground and filed in the bevels.

 

 

 

After that came a triple hardening cycle in canola oil and a triple tempering cycle in my kiln.

 

 

Since this may be going into some pretty hairy situations, I took an extra step after the third tempering cycle and differentially tempered using a pair of tempering tongs to heat the spine and make it tougher.  I alse drew the tip back a bit extra, with the thought that a slightly bent tip is more useful than one that's broken off in a dire situation.

 

 

Given that he wasn't sure whether he'd be carrying it into a desert place or one with more vegetation, we decided on a color scheme that could work in either place.  The main wrap is olive drab and the two-strand Turk's head knots are in coyote brown.  After the wrap, it was impregnated with Minwax Wood Hardener.  Somehow or other, I didn't do my wrap correctly and had some small gaps between coils that I didn't see until it was already sealed.  I don't think I've seen that before.  So I cut off this wrap and redid it.

 

 

 

After that, I built the Kydex sheath for it.  We decided on a digital woodland camo pattern that had enough mix of green and brown to blend well with a variety of environments.  A pair of MOLLE locks and a whole lot of grommets gives plenty of options on carrying it.

 

 

 

After that it went to fellow knifemaker and leatherworker Luke Swenson, who's an all right fellow for a grinder guy.  :D  He made a leather rig with a detachable shoulder strap and carrying frog.  After I got it back, I sharpened things up and got the final pictures before mailing it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was like making the machete/Bowie from Predator, but a thousand times cooler because it's going to a real special forces hero instead of actors.  :D

[oakwoodironworks]

Great Job!! It really looks good. I hope this knife helps to keep the owner safe. Thanks for showing it.

[WraithsNinja]

Well done sir!

[Stormcrow]

Thank y'all!

 

The SEAL e-mailed me, "Tested it out last night, safe to say that one section of the Christmas tree is decidedly much barer now. Haha"

I don't think I've had a bad or rude customer, but he's been the most polite. I asked him if that was his SEAL training or his raisings, and he says it's his raising.

[K. Bryan Morgan]

James, as a veteran sailor I feel you are doing wonderful work for our folks in the military.  Thank you for your support of our troops.  Awesome job on this and the other projects I've seen you doing.  I appreciate your contributions.  USN 77-83.