SR-71 Blackbird - A New EDC from E. Scott McGhee

The SR-71 Blackbird isn't just one of the fastest, stealthiest airplanes to ever grace the skies, it's also a very fast, stealthy little knife from Guinea Hog Forge. This new EDC (or everyday carry) is Scott's latest waterjet project, and the way we produce this knife allows us to price it lower than comparable hand-forged models.

Scott designed the SR-71 by hand, imported the sketch into a CAD file (thank you Chris Williams), and then had a fabricator cut out several knife blanks with a waterjet machine. Below is the knife shaped object that comes from back from the waterjetter.

Scott rough grinds the blank, heat treats the steel, and shapes the handle slabs. Then he final grinds the blade, Parkerizes the steel to protect it from corrosion, assembles the knife, and texturizes the handle for improved grip. Each SR-71 comes razor sharp with a lined Kydex sheath. 

SR-71 Blackbird

Steel: 1084 

Overall Length: 9 inches

Blade Length: 4 1/4 inches

Finish: Parkerized

Handle: Scalloped Black Micarta

Sheath: Lined Kydex

To distinguish our waterjet models from our hand-forged blades, all future waterjet designs from Guinea Hog Forge will come with the Chinese symbol for water as a part of the maker's mark. Here are a couple of videos about the SR-71. In the first, Scott shows all the features of the knife and discusses how it was produced. In the second, he takes the SR-71 for a test drive.

Thanks for looking!

GUINEA HOG FORGE

guineahogforge@gmail.com

Puma with Interrupted Quench Hamon

August has been the month of the Puma. Scott has made four so far, all with hamons, and he has one more to go. Here's the latest - a Puma with curly Koa handle and interrupted quench hamon.

Scott typically creates hamons via the clay method which is relatively fail-safe, but he just had to create one via an interrupted quench to try the process and test the results. Here's how it works - the knife is nearly final ground, brought 1460 degrees with this steel, and then soaked. Next, it is quenched for approximately one second, withdrawn from the quench for 1-2 seconds, and then plunged back into the quenchant until the blade is around 400 degrees. It is an exciting heat treat process that usually involves a lot of smoke and fire, and results in a very organic hamon. See what you think.

The unnamed side got the most "clouds".

Nice koa!

Thanks for looking.

Guinea Hog Forge

guineahogforge@gmail.com