Hit the finish line early "Mission Complete"

Ladies and Gents,

Really knuckled down to reach the final objective on the 2014 Run Ranger Run knife. The sacrifice is worth it knowing this helps our veteran brothers and sisters who deserve nothing but our best. This is the final installment on the build, I have pretty much shown each significant step in the building process of a one of a kind knife made from a USA "Bastard" mill cut file.


As you can see in the earlier post I started 2 knives in case something went wrong. Well "Murphy" showed up and things went wrong. I learned this lesson a long time ago, always have a back up plan!

The handle material I selected is black G10, yellow spacer, and topped it off with material called "Lighting Strike Carbon Fiber. A 12"x12"x1/8" thick sheet cost $120.00 dollars, its got a copper wire filament that when finished has a very incredible look. On the off side its hard to work with and really nasty stuff in general. All the material is cut and then epoxied together.

Gluing up the handles, they get placed between plates and clamped up to cure.

Then the handles get matched up with the knife and the holes get spotted for drilling.

Once the holes are drilled the handles get rough cut on the band-saw then fitted to the knife for profiling on the grinder.

At this point the handles are fitted, rough profiled and ready for refinement, going up in higher sanding grits. 

They come on and off several times, in this case its to profile the fronts!

 

At this point the handles are completely shaped. I hand finish from this point by placing the knife in a special vise and begin sanding think shoe shine! I take it to 400 grit, then it goes to the buffer and polished

 

Once the handles are done, I do the same thing to the knife and begin to finalize the grinds. Once again I continue to higher and higher grits. I decided at this point to turn it into a re-curved profile, which in my opinion is one of the designs that really stays sharp!

Once the blade is finished out I add my makers mark. The process is called "Etching", the material is a small stencil, a ground is applied and a pad with chemical solution is applied and it burns the mark into the steel.

 

 Mark is complete

 

Before the final finish is applied I begin making the kydex sheath. I chose O.D. Green front with a black back. The kydex is heated up and then it all goes in a foam padded press. When you clamp it all down the kydex molds itself to the shape of the knife. At this point I am marking the holes for the eyelets that will hold it all together. Once marked they get drilled and and then the sheath is cut, ground and finished.

In the next installment I will showcase the finished knife.

RLTW!
SAR

The Run Ranger Run knife is now!

"Hard as woodpecker lips"

Okay we lost a few days last week do to some really cold days. But we got the two knives into heat treat today. From here its al about cleaning up the grinds, and getting ready to select the handle material.

The knives went into the oven for a "Normalizing" cycle which helps refine the grain structure of the steel.

Pre-heat treat

 First cycle of normalizing

 Once the normalizing cycle is done and the knives have completely cooled, they go back in the oven and heat up to 1500 degrees for approximately 7-8 minutes. One at a time they are removed very quickly and placed into a very good quench oil called Parks 50

 

At this point they are check to ensure they are straight, because they are very hard they are or can be brittle. But with a small hand press you can make small adjustments to get them nice and flat.

Press setup for getting them flat and straight

Tomorrow they will go through a temper cycle to get them at the proper hardness which will be between 58-59 Rockwell "C" scale. Then we get going on finishing them!

Thanks and stay tuned for the next installment.

Putting miles on the Run Ranger Run knife with miles to go!

As promise is the next installment of the work in progress on the 2014 Run Ranger Run "inglorious Basterd" knives.

GallantFew Inc. webpage

Run Ranger Run Facebook

As stated the knives have already been  annealed (softened) drawn, shaped, cut, profiled and drilled.

Below I am measuring the thickness of the blade and then I devided it by two which gives me the exact center then I subtract another 15 which will give me two paralell lives to grind to. as we need to leave some "meat at the edge to survive the heat treat. We should also see a wonderful "Hamon" (HA MON) appear which will be a cloudy ghost like image in the steel! Have to show you what I am talking about later.

 

I set the height gauge to the numbers and scribe the lines

 

From there we move to the Knife Maker grinder (KMG) to begin the transformation from file to knife as we grind to the lines it starts to take shape

 

Then the main bevels get laid in and it will be ready for the heat treat which is really where the knife gets its soul....

 

So the next few miles is putting them in the oven for the hardening phase.

Thanks

SAR

Run Ranger Run "Your miles will change lives"

 GallantFew+Run Ranger Run+SAR Global Tool

All I can say is it is a outright honor to be involved in such a worthy event such as Run Ranger Run. here is a little history from the RRR  Run Ranger Run webpage and how this event came to be.

Cory Smith Run Ranger Run 2014  youtube video

  In 2012, 3rd Ranger Battalion veteran US Army Corporal Cory Smith, having deployed to combat twice, experienced having friends killed and wounded and with his own marriage failing decided to highlight the difficult journey home many soldiers have leaving the Army by undergoing a very public and very difficult journey home himself.  Cory decided to run 565 miles in 28 days with holding his daughter Elleigh in his arms the end goal of his run.

GallantFew Inc webpage 

Run Ranger Run Facebook page

GallantFew Inc Facebook page  

SAR Global Tool webpage 

SAR Global Tool Facebook page 

I was asked by the organizers if I could provide a knife for the event. As a Veteran who understands the struggle our service members face and having faced some of the issues myself I was completely on board. 

 So with that being said I decided to build the "Inglorious Bastard" design as I had a few already shaped out of American made Bastard Mill cut files. The original IB was 14.5" and these two are scaled down to 12". I am building two as a fail safe to ensure at least one is good to go, I am sure they will both be fine but we all know that "Murphy" can pop up at anytime. Not to mention Rangers always have a contingency plan!

Here are the knives at the start point

 

In the next few weeks I will be posting progress as we turn these files into hardcore working knives. So please tune in and if you can please support this event and donate to GallantFew Inc which is a great organization who's mission is to help Veterans and our Veterans deserve all we can do for them to ensure they continue to succeed in life.

RLTW!

SAR

Ferriers Rasp turn big bowie

This project started with a rasp that Larry Brown Jr. profiled into a bowie knife back in 1991. It lived in a shop drawer for more than a decade and a half, then it got the job of fire poker for the shop stove. One day while working at Larry's Machine Works Inc. I took it home and made the first one and gave it back to him at Christmas of 2012. These are the first run of the LBJB, pretty crazy to knock out 5 big blades at once it was lots of grind time. I have a few left and posted on my website in the edged tool section.

If you interested there is one left at my web store  LBJB for sale

Thanks
SAR

 

First Ever "SAR Global Tool" T-shirts coming

 Scroll down for larger picture!

Folks,

I will be offering a t-shirt, I have never offered a t-shirt under the "SAR Global Tool" label. They of course will be of the highest quality and the design is rocking a little bit of the old SAR and the New SAR.

Front of the shirt will be the SAR oval arrow logo with Global Tool with the circle r which I am very proud to be a "Registered company in the U.S.. The back will have the Skeleton Hornet which is the very design that put me on the map and help pave the way to where I am now. Also the Hornet XL production knife is being offered one last time and is going fast if you are interested in getting one go to POHLForce USA talk to Phil and he will square you away. My signature logo below the Hornet only goes on my 'Top shelf" or prototype knives and gear. On the right shoulder will be the reverse American flag and will be offered in Tan and O.D. Green color shirts of the best quality stock I can afford.

The logo's will be one color (black).

Mitchell Martin of Gator Graphics Gator Graphics is doing the work. He is a really awesome and respected artist who is local to Louisiana. He has been making shirts for my partner John Hurth that runs TYR Group LLC which is a world class "Visual Combat Tracking" school and I have had the pleasure of seeing the quality and care that goes into John shirts he offers through his Webpage

 Last time I had shirts or swag was back in 2007 and things are changing with more coming down the pipe. If you are interested in a shirt please send me your size and color Tan or O.D. Green and I will place you in the pending file and contact you with payment info when they come available spencer@sarglobaltool.com . I want to make some in Pink for the ladies as well so come on ladies and get some let me know please

Thanks
SAR

SAR Global Tool Titanium combs are in stock!

Folks,

I have combs in stock at the web store ready to ship. I also have a new version the "ACE" pocket comb in limited numbers ready to go as well. I also have put put three different finish versions of the pocket comb with clip up as well. Everything in in real time stock and when it says this item cannot be ordered it means I am out!

SAR GT Webstore

Back story on how the ACE pocket comb came to be. In 2011 a 3 letter agency came to me and wanted some pocket combs for field agents that worked in areas that they could not carry conventional weapons and needed items that would pass off as nothing but what it was....defensive in nature and sublime. Things like tactical pens, lightweight impact tools etc but even these could raise a eyebrow if seen. I often show people the comb and ask "What is it" they always reply "It's a comb" grinnnnnn ha ha.

So they bought a few of the original pocket combs with the clip. After some testing they conducted they like what the comb could achieve in terms as defensive tool and the fact that it was a very nice grooming tool. The downside was the "Pocket Clip" they got profiled and often asked what kind of knife they had or why where they carrying a "Knife".

Upon reading the report they sent me I told them to hang tight. I took a old school original plastic ACE pocket comb made a drwaing and then with some modifactions to the "Tine" spacing and length of tines I had a prototype cut, sent to the shop and finished in short order.

I tested it in various ways, in numerous situations in a attempt to replicate what someone in that capacity would encounter. Handed off to a friend who had business in Washington D.C. this person would be passing through numerous security checkpoints. Some of these checkpoints with have a level of scrutiny that borders insanity due to the level of secrecy involved in these AO's. Only one in as many as twenty checkpoints did the comb get retained and not allowed to pass, the security officer that took a interest only did so when he handed the comb back and felt the tines and commented that this item was considered duel purpose, my tester acknowledge that fact. The security guy asked him where is came from and he said it was a gift from his mother and he did not know were she ordered it from. It made it through security at a strip club that forbids any types of items except for crisp one dollar bills...ha ha. It really is in the end a COMB so there it is there?

SAR GT Webstore

Once my testing was complete I sent a report and the prototype to the agency. They put it through a battery of test and came back with a nice little order and a thanks for developing a much needed item that could prove to save the day. If it as ever been used by them I will never know, but just the thought of making a difference is reward alone.


The Hornet Comb modeled after one of my best knife designs (Not currently in stock but coming soon)

Also I hear people complain about the price and I will just say that I do my best to bring a honest price for a good tool. I have to have the comb water jetted which to begin with is not cheap, at the moment I am looking at a new water jet cutter but the place I go does such a good job paying the price they ask is worth it. The fact will always remain that 6LA4V MILSPEC Titanium is very expensive and extremely difficult to work with.  Also because I have to carry the overhead which sometimes is quite a bit I have to get the return to ensure I can keep them in stock. I assure you I am not getting rich selling pocket combs, I do it more as a service to my brothers in arms to keep the bad ass bearded guys looking good. In the end you will always get what you pay for! 

Here are some links to various write ups and a video done by a good friend Mark Davies that runs a company called Tactical Edge that specializes in using uncommon things to achieve surprising results.

The best review to date by Mark Davies from the UK

SAR Comb/Tactical Edge video

Great review by a fellow "Bearded brother" and member of the world famous TBOC facebook group!

MAX venom pocket comb with clip

A review by my long haired brother from down under

The Dead Ringer (Not in stock at this time but coming back soon)

This was they very first video I did to promote the SAR Global Tool pocket comb. Yes the background music is Said by Fred "I'm to sexy"...don't be a hater because you know its true....ha ha ha

The First Video by SAR Global Tool!

Look for some updates as I begin to popoulate my webstore with edge tools for the very first time since I started the web store. Its pretty exciting for this to happen and has taken quite a bit of time to get to this point.

SAR GT Webstore

Thanks to all the folks that trust the gear I make and to any new customers I am always humbled by the comments and encouragement I receive and continue to receive. I will always strive to provide the best in customer service and that is non negotible if you should ever and I mean ever have a problem with my product just reach out to me by email or phone and I assure you we can figure something out.

Thanks
SAR