CondorTool & Knife Bushlore Blade Blank - 1075 High Carbon Steel - Knife Blank with a Scandi Grind - Product is Sold Without Sheath - 4.3in Blade - 4.6oz

I made a real honey of a knife using this blank. I have the original Condor Bushlore that comes finished from the factory, but there were a couple things I wanted to change. So I ordered this incredibly inexpensive blank and made myself a Bushlore tailored to my needs. The comfortable Palm swell on the handle of the original Bushlore is well known for being comfortable But I wanted to imitate the same handle but bigger for my larger hands, I also felt the original knife could use some Jimping on the spine to brace your thumb against. If you nit pick like I do and like the bushlore, this is an oportunity to make a really excellent knife that will rival some of the insanely expensive customs out there for a lot less money. It just takes a little time and skilly with some common hand tools to make yourself a great bush knife.A couple of things to note about this blank:(A) If you like the sand blasted finish of the original Bushlore this one doesnt have it. if you want that on your custome knife you will need a sand blaster.(B) the knife seems to be coated with some kind of thin laquer or clearcoat. I see it coming off in areas that I grinded or sharpened this is a 1075 high carbon steel not stainless so certainly this was done to prevent rusting while the item is sitting on store shelves. It helps the polished finish of the knife look bright and shiny, however if you want to blue or patina the blade you will need to soak the blank in a finish remover and get down to bare metal before applying your custom finish.(C) this is not an exact copy of the blank used in the original bushlore knife. The shape of the pommel is slightly different and protrudes slightly more away from the spine than the original, also the center pin hole is dead center instead of closer to the pommel like the original. I ground away the extra pommel on mine to match the original better as I feel its more comfortable but the holes I left the same. if for whatever reason you prefer the pin hole style of the original its easy enough to drill another hole on a drill press. Also on the blank all three holes are the same size where on the original the bottom hole is enlarged for a lanyard hole. Again you can always ream out the existing hole with a step bit if you want tot copy the original.(D) my Biggest disappointment is that Condor doesn't have the option of a leather sheath to go with this blank. I love the dark brown leather sheat that comes with the original bushlore and wish they sold them separately so I could use one on the custom knife I built from this blank.

I was a bit hesitant buying a blank from Condor because of past issues with their quality control but I pulled the lever anyways. I am super happy that I did because IMO the blank is better than the factory full handle design. Condor has really stepped up their quality control, are they always perfect? no but what company doesn't have bad eggs once in awhile, but you get a great knife for your money. If you have the skills to make your own scales do it! you dont have to end up with a thin handle that is just ok cause you can make it YOUR WAY. Condors walnut scales are way to thin for my taste so I did mine with beautiful blood wood and another factory blade I removed and did it with Brazilian hardwood, both turned out beautiful and super comfortable. If you're on the fence just do it, plus you can buy an Enzo Trapper sheath from DLT trading and it will fit perfect or shop around they are everywhere. You can also find these blades and sheaths at Ragweed Forge ....his prices are awesome and delivery is fast.

This blade in nicely finished and makes an easy project. Compared with the current generation of factory produced finished knives, which I also own, the blade blank is slightly thinner. My fine graded ruler put it around 2.7 mm in thickness. The difference in thickness likely comes from the difference in the blade finishes between the blank and factory knife. The blank has a ground and polished surface while the factory version is bead blasted. The ground and polished surface includes the tang which makes for a nice flat handle and easy scale attachment. Compared with the factory knife the blank certainly is more attractive out of the box. The blank also arrived hair popping sharp. I have only lightly used the knife so far, but after carving a piece of hardwood the blade remained very sharp. The main drawback that I see between the blank and factory knife is that you don't get the fantastic factory sheath. It would be nice if Condor offered the sheath as an option for purchase. I used purple heart for the handle scales and ended up with a very attractive and functional knife. All in all a very satisfying project.

Well, I wanted a cheap belt knife that I wouldn't care if I lost it on one of my canoe trips and it looks like that is exactly what I got.Let's list the things that I think are shortfalls with this knife blank.....1- The blade is a hair under an 1/8th of an inch thick.... Not bad for a 20 dollar blank but I was hoping for something a little thicker. I should of looked closer at the listed thickness of the blank and then looked online for the conversion table from mm to inches...Always think thinner when decimal points are used in the converted thickness.2- Maybe I got a bad blank, but the lowest handle hole on mine (the one toward the point) is almost in line with the start of the blade grind..I will go ahead and make some handles for this blank but I will have to drill another hole for the bottom pin and cover-up the factory hole with a little swell of wood...I will not send this blank back as that would just be added bother but I WILL NOT purchase any more blade blanks from Condor or Amazon. (One and Done)