Tow cable knife

[SFC Rick]

Here is something unique, I had a Sergeant in my team a number of years. He started making knives and his first try at it started with the large tow cables we used on our tanks. One was destroyed and discarded in the motorpool and he used it. Once he completed it he gave me the knife. It was a much appreciated gesture and I love the knife very much. He has since become very good at it and has a backlog of orders. His brandname is LaRock knives.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1581209248855770/



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[Capt. Methane]

That is really cool and aside from the size of the individual strands in a modern cable being much smaller, twisted steel rods were long a favored material for making blades!

I looked at some of his knives and they look really nice...

[Valkman]

Very nice, and great story!

[USMM guy]

But with that much of the stranded composition still in evidence. You can not help but wonder if it has been properly hardened or not. Steel towing cables are made from very mild steel as they have to be flexible.

[Schlitz 45]

Will it pass the “Forged In Fire” pallet hack test?

[BillTK7]

Looks like a cool knife

[drail]

Anybody know what kind of alloy tank tow cable is made from?

[SFC Rick]

Originally Posted by drail

Anybody know what kind of alloy tank tow cable is made from?

I have no idea what it's made from.

[BillTK7]

I knew a person who used to make knives out of old lawnmower blades.

[Taxed2death]

Pretty to look at, and a cool presentation piece, but I'd be leery of using it with those apparent weld cracks. Doesn't look like he got a solid billet in the forging process.

[Faawrenchbender]

The underfills would certainly be concerning, but, unless cracks are present, the blade should holh ip well.

[snapshot2017]

I really like the looks the strands give the blade, how is the heat treating is it easy to keep sharp?

[SFC Rick]

Originally Posted by snapshot2017

I really like the looks the strands give the blade, how is the heat treating is it easy to keep sharp?

I wasn't there to see how he made it. I don't actually use it to know how sharp it is. He was assigned to help me on my Recruiting duties for a couple of years before I retired and he became a AGR title 32 full time Recruiter. I must say I spent most of my years recruiting fellow Marines as unit personnel and as Recruiters for the TXARNG.

I felt honored he thought enough of our time in Service to give his knife to me.

[snapshot2017]

Originally Posted by SFC Rick

I wasn't there to see how he made it. I don't actually use it to know how sharp it is. He was assigned to help me on my Recruiting duties for a couple of years before I retired and he became a AGR title 32 full time Recruiter. I must say I spent most of my years recruiting fellow Marines as unit personnel and as Recruiters for the TXARNG.

I felt honored he thought enough of our time in Service to give his knife to me.

It's a great knife and i am glad you have it.

[Capt. Methane]

Originally Posted by drail

Anybody know what kind of alloy tank tow cable is made from?

That is a good question so while waiting for lunch I gave it some consideration and did a little research, starting with trying to find a Mil-Spec...

http://www.aepetsche.com/products/wi...mil-dtl-83420/

Mil-83420 can be Carbon or Corrosion Resistant, plain or jacketed and so on.

Wiki says this-

Steel wires for wire ropes are normally made of non-alloy carbon steel with a carbon content of 0.4 to 0.95%. The very high strength of the rope wires enables wire ropes to support large tensile forces and to run over sheaves with relatively small diameters.

then there is this...

https://www.thefabricator.com/thewel...d-alloy-steels

So it is still kind of a guess but it looks like it is going to be a upper end medium to high carbon steel that should make a decent blade even if it lacks the toughening additions of molybdenum and the like and should be heat treatable enough to hold a good edge though in a Mil-Spec they may specify an alloy that has better wear resistance and/or toughness.

[hs125pilot]

Nice knife from a cleaver guy. I can see how you cherish it.

[Johnny handgun]

I think it is a very cool and unique knife! The story that goes with the knife would definitely make it dear to ones heart.

It sounds like everyone is missing the purpose of a knife like this as the handle is not something that would lead one to believe it was meant to be a combat knife.