The last BMK build was about a year ago so I'm thinking it's time for another. And, I have it on good authority that the BMK folks are up for another build if we have enough interest on the forum. So, what's the mood of the Behring Made Maniacs? Another build or wait a while longer?

PS -- Just to let folks know up front, if we go forward with this build, I have disqualified myself from putting my name in the hat since I "won" the last two and would likely be strung up if I hit a trifecta.

I am wondering if there is enough interest for a build as the forum as a whole seems to almost be dying on the vine, seems that very few people are posting anymore. Hope I am wrong.

I'm down for another build.

I'm not sure it's quite that bad but I see your point. A lot of options for folks here in terms of what gets built. And, if there's a concern about cost, we can keep it simple. Even a simple knife from BMK will be very nice and likely unique. Stay tuned.

I'm Interested
Sharpi

I'll play if it's a raffle build, but if it's a "winner buys the knife" build, I'll have to sit this one out.

I’m in.

I'm always in, sounds like a great idea. Something different and never done before would be my vote

I will jump in too. Let’s say a WW2 handle...

I prefer "winner buys the knife" for simplicity but Jim, if you'd like to regulate this we can make it a raffle style too- at the end of the day I need to collect what the knife is worth so how the means are put together doesn't bother me. I just do not have much extra time here these days....

In such a case we would need to pre consider a budget and participation. Up to you boys, I'm just here to make knives and see them go

I just got off of the phone with Grant and we believe that we can do a raffle-style build if we have enough folks and that is the consensus for how to handle it. It does look like the raffle route can be a good approach based on the Captain's latest builds so just shout out your preference and we will see how things shake out. Thanks folks.

Raffle sounds great!

WW2 dagger handle with yellow micarta spacers.
Wide double edge 4"-5" blade.

I would be in for a BMK raffle build. For example if the head count is low, I could see going $60 for one number with 10 numbers total. Assuming $600 covers the knife we end up building.

Here are a couple of double edged leather stacked handled examples from WWII. Both do have 7" blades. The Case has a forward curved hilt.

I like the idea of a WW II fighter build with maybe a different twist of some kind along the lines maybe of the spacer thing Peter suggested or maybe some other type of add to make it a little out of the ordinary. A lot of possibilities with the BMK guys. They are almost as crazy as those Zombie Tool Fools. Something about that Missoula air maybe. :-)

I'm in if its WWII styled or even Theater knife style.
Out of it's gonna be a $900 KnifenStein...

Raffle works.

Ramking is wise.

Looking through the pictures of the WWII knives made by Behring in other threads, I am interested in the Alaskan model.
Of course, I collect RMK Model 11's, so that may have a "bearing" on my taste.
I would be interested in a Behring Build (I will get off the puns and alliteration)
A Hatchet and Alaskan combination would be very appealing, but that might be a discussion for the folks at Behring.

Build it and they will come.

I’d be in for a raffle for a WWII style (blued with leather).

I'm thinking we will get enough folks and it looks like a WW II (but not a mega build) and a raffle format. I think maybe we wait another day or two to gather up the folks who want to participate and then get going with the details. For any who have not yet signed up, remember that the more folks we have the lower the $$ for each person to enter the raffle.

I would like to be part of this one.

welcome

Having run my share of builds, it is good to know (from BMK's) perspective) if you are "In" or you are "Not", not predicated on a specific knife or style. "In" or "Out". That's a true head count:
Capt. Chris
PS: I'm "IN"...and, like my builds, ya'll know I don't care "what" we build,,,CCS

I'm in as previously noted.

I'm in for a raffle style drawing.
Walker

I'm in for a raffle. Any blade or handle style.

Sounds cool. I'm in.

Raffle ok for me.

Pap

in
Sharpi

Good deal. Let's get going. What size and style of blade?

Woodcraft 5", leather stacked reminiscent of an old Marbles. Nickel hilt, stag pommel.

I'm in for a raffle.

The Woodcraft like Warren suggested would be nice, but I also like the Alaskan and the Hunter. 4" blade. Maybe 5".

James gang make a very nice woodcraft.

And a few more:

I agree with Warren and nate-dogg on a 4-1/2” or 5” blade, either Hunter or Woodcraft.

Woodcraft would be my 1st choice.
Let's Roll,
Capt. Chris

The original Marbles Woodcraft is over 100 years old and still going strong. If we decide on this blade for the build, a convex grind would be a classic look.
Here's an oldie to my earlier post.

Warren’s build idea is excellent. I second his idea!

Alan,

Good to hear from you and thanks. Others have suggested an Alaskan and Hunter. Let's hear it.

An Alaskan with stag.

Based on my count, we have 17 people signed up for the raffle-style build.. Per Grant, ballpark price for a WW II Alaskan 5.5" blade is $550. This is just an example for rough reference. That would work out to about $35 per raffle ticket.

I'm thinking that price is probably about right for a different blade style (such as a woodcraft) in the same size also but Grant can kick me I am wrong about that. Some colored spacers can be added without bumping the price much.

Looks to me like we might want to wait just a bit to hear from a few more folks about blade style and then set that part of it for a vote. Thanks.

Woodcraft works for me.
It's not a Blade shape we can get from RMK, where we can get an Alaskan or other hunting styles.

I don't have a dog in this hunt but, just for the sake of equal time for the different points of view, here is a BMK WW II Alaskan from their web site.

I say let's do a roll call to decide on blade shape and length.

Not being able to post pics to this forum WITHOUT making a deal with the Devil...R E A L L Y sucks the fun out of this experience...

I'm with Nate, let's vote on a Blade shape.

Why can't you post pics?

Free account available at:

https://imgur.com/upload

I haven't agreed to anything and don't get any emails or nonsense spam.
Just sayin'

Just let it go... before the build gets side tracked... Jim, I am sorry

Caruso: David is onto something, I use the same. If you wanna fire up imgur, ping me on usual resources (off of this thread) and I can walk you through it.

No... I want to participate in a platform that does not force me to jump through other hoops to participate. In the year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Nineteen...that's really not too much to ask....
But thank you Rob.

My vote is for one exactly like Jim E posted. Awesome knife.

Knife and hatchet combo with the Alaskan both in WWII setup.

Pap

I would like this also!
Thanks!

The combo would likely run the price up to the point of losing participants.

One way around that, run a "hybrid" where participants buy in raffle-style and the winner gets the prize for a heavily reduced price (minus the buy-in proceeds, basically).

I don't think the price for the combo would be much different than the 2 Randalls that we just raffled off. Grant could give some insight on that.

Pap

Okay, let's vote on blade shape and then, after that decision is made, we can poll to see if there's a consensus to add a matching hatchet. So, the vote is for an Alaskan-style blade or Woodcraft-style blade. The Alaskan pictured previously is 4.5" and the Woodcraft will be 5" or 5.5" unless there is a strong preference expressed for a different size. If size matters (which I have been told it does ) we can do a vote on that after we pick blade style. With no further ado, LET"S VOTE:

A) Alaskan
B) Woodcraft

Thanks.

B
.... because I have a Alaskan.

Glad we're back on discussing this build, rather than bitching about the forum picture-posting! Having built stuff before and knowing, especially from my last build, how price conscious folks can be, I believe a single knife build makes sense. I'm for "B". Here's one headed my way from The James' Gang! Size does matter (in this case, at least)!
Stay sharp, Capt. Chris

B

B

Just a single build is really more than enough....

B.

A Alaskan

B) Woodcraft

A

The addition of a hatchet would be adding at least $645, but this is up to you fellas.

My suggestion is we keep it simple and roll with momentum as it is- which thus far appears to be a Woodcraft.

A. from the minority

B) Woodcraft like Warren mentioned.

B

Pap

A.

A

B

B for me

Tom Flynn

I count 5 votes for A and 10 for B. Not enough votes left for A to catch up so I'm calling it for B, Woodcraft.

Next I suppose is carbon or stainless? Also, we will need to deal with the blade "treatment" like hammer mark, bluing, etc.

Thoughts, opinions, better ideas?

Stainless steel might not grow in Big Sky Country.... so this would most likely be a carbon build.

I'm always in for Hammer marks

A convex grind would be more traditional and old school IMO. No blue for me.
Carbon

Carbon

Pap

Carbon

FYI, Grant says that stainless is available but it will increase the cost. If anyone feels strongly about getting stainless, please chime in otherwise we will go with carbon and move this along.

Carbon

Carbon

Convex would be great!

Jim,
Welcome to the world of "Builds"! It will be difficult to chose blade "treatments" at early onset. For example: "I" would like blued, carbon steel with a W.W.II styled handle, with a blued butt cap and pinned. If we don't chose blued, I would not want the WWII...Ya' follow?
Mentioning "future" things always open up the can...I think carbon will rule the vote, most likely..."BUT"...discussion may help move this build in "God-only-knows" what direction...but it's needed.
Just my thoughts,
Capt. Chris

Carbon hammer marks

Thanks for the advice Chris. My understanding is that this was intended from the get-go to be a WW II build so I believe the WW II leather handle is a decision already made. As far is the bluing is concerned, my guess is that this sentiment will prevail. But .. no disrespect intended .... if the majority doesn't want bluing then I believe the majority prevails. If that means you are no longer wanting in on the raffle then that's understandable. I know there have been times that I did not ultimately put my name in the hat when a build took a turn I didn't care for. Not often but a couple of times. But, hey, I'm just the cat-herder here. Whatever the cats want to do is fine by me.

When did we decide this was a WW11 style knife?

I must have missed that roll call too

Carbon

Based on early responses it seemed to me that this was the direction folks wanted to go. It looks though like we don't have a unanimous view on that so we can put it up for a vote after we get the blade in final form. Sorry, my bad.

I'm in for whatever. Just showed my sentiment. I too had no idea a WWII had been decided.
Capt. Chris

It wasn't really decided, so much as strongly requested we go in that direction. Which is really more picking a knife out of the Catalog than actually building 1...
I think Jim is steering us true.
Blade shape then go from there!

What Warren said about the blade.. Dang,
Warren you are picking a great knife.

Alan

Carbon

Tom Flynn

One thing I like about builds is photos of examples. I robbed these from BMK's archives for the sole reason of showing 3 examples of 3 blade finishes.
Jim: It "looks" as though the Woodcraft is leading the voting by a handsome margin. For that reason "only" I chose 3 Woodcraft models for this comparison. I'm slammed all weekend but thought a visual would aid builders.
I know Warren does not prefer the "all-blued" blade. That's fine and, as I have said many many times, I don't care what we build and Jim will lead us down the path. I love all "3"!
Hope this helps, Capt. Chris

I like the blade in the middle picture (hammer marks)

I like the all-polished blade at the bottom better, at least for this build.

Okay folks, we have a carbon Woodcraft. Let's "forge" ahead. Here we go!

A -- blued blade
B -- no blue

Vote now!

A blue blade

Pap

B - No Blue

B

A - Blued Blade

This blued example still looks good 76 years later

B is "no blue"

Changed it to an A

Made sense to me......B for Blued, my bad.

A - Blued

A
Sharpi

Capt is number 1 for sale?

No blued for me.

No blue.

B No blue

A blued blade as I do not have one.
Walker

B

A - Blued blade

A) for me, thanks.
Capt. Chris

I will do the tally tomorrow morning, make the call and we can move on.

A

Please also clarify whether it should be a hammermarked hollow grind or smooth convex grind, fellas!

The blued finish can be done on either. For what it's worth, I'm almost positive that we have not yet done a Woodcraft with a convex grind and a blued finish. If it's been done, it's in the single digits. I can't find one in my archive or email references either.

Grant

Been lobbying for a convex grind since this started. Let it go for now and see what happens.

Grant -- I was thinking the hammer mark would be next. Honestly, I had not thought about the grind but we can do that after the hammer mark vote? Straighten me out here if needed. Thanks.

Easy,

Captain posted 3 pics.

Convex blued would be OK too.

Jim,

After blue/no-blue, next is convex or hollow grind.
BTW, we still have not decided on a theme for this knife.
I'm confused with this build. The theme usually dictates the build. All these details are important so what's the end game?
Might make my choices matter.

B -- no blue

I had thought the theme was WW II but there was push back on that. So, now the theme is whatever the majority wants.

con
Sharpi

Close vote on the blue/no blue. I count 8 for blue and 7 for no blue. So, the blues have it. Next is a convex or hollow grind.

A -- convex
B -- hollow

I'm going to jump in a bit here to assist in flow. "Ideas" for handles have been suggested but this has not been voted nor decided on so that part of the conversation seems to confuse and should be left alone for now.

We have clearly set a Woodcraft to be the blade choice so now are currently voting on two things:

-Blued or Nah

-Convex (smooth) or hollow grind (with hammermarks).

The next thing to be voted on should be blade size.

Once we get that "honed" in, we can discuss what should be done with the handle. In the past, guard style came next (tall, standard, S guard, half S, etc). Handle details will then follow. Keep in mind WWII handles get blued steel guards, in which USUALLY (but not always) are paired with blued blades.

Designing knives isn't quite as simple as it seems now is it?

No reason for any frustrations to come of this my friends. Like James told me when we first met in 2012: "KNIVES ARE FUN!"

Blued hollow ground

Pap

Thanks Grant! Obviously, "we" (as in me) needed some professional assistance here. ;-)

This is a collective Jim

Hollow grind

I care not which grind..."BUT"...convex has "never been done" in a blued blade. Therefore, put me down for that
Convex, Capt. Chris

Convex

Convex

Convex
Walker

A -- convex

Convex

Convex

Convex

b hollow

Looks like most folks have voted but I will wait and do a tally in the morning.

I see what you did there....

Convex

Convex......just to get along.

A- blued blade

Tom Flynn

Convex

Tom Flynn

The tally from Tally (James got it) is 11 for convex and 3 for hollow. That's not 100% voter turn out but enough to call it. So, it's going to be a blued convex blade.

Per our knife sensei Grant, next choice is blade length. Initially, it seemed like folks were cool with a mid-length blade of 5" give or take but I have learned my lesson here not to make assumptions so let's lay out some options and we can then tee it up for a vote. Thanks.

5" is perfect.

Let's just throw it straight into a vote!!

A. 3-3.5"
B. 4-4.5"
C. 5-5.5"
D. 6-6.5"

C

Pap

B

A

B. 4-4.5"

C for me

Tom Flynn

C

They'd all be way-cool but from a practicality point of view, I vote:
B)
Thanks, Capt. Chris

B

C)

A
Walker