A friend commissioned me to make him a knife for skinning animals. He wanted the handle to be about the same width as the blade and for the blade to be around 4 inches in length. This is the design I created. I used 5/32 O1 tool steel for the build and heat treated it to a hardness of 61-62 HRC. This knife has black micarta handle scales, 3/16-inch carbon fiber handle pins, and red 1/8-inch G10 pins. The finish is acid etched and stonewashed. The bevels are flat ground, and the edge is sharpened at a 20 degree angle (40 degree inclusive angle). I purposefully left this knife thick behind the point and edge so that it can be used aggressively without breaking if needed . Even though I kept it thick, this knife still came out extremely sharp! The sheath is black kydex with a small size tek-lok for attaching it to your belt or gear.
The customer has named it “The Mule Skinner”.
