Consider how thin those edges are, and how the steels they use are very heat sensitive, that isn't an ideal way to minimize edge damage from over heating.
Thousands of Bark River Knives have been produced. There are very few that have issues-especially with blade failures. Many other semi-custom and production knife makers grind post heat treat with no problem. There is a difference in the guy making one knife at a time in his garage who has all the time in the world and people making a living making excellent knives efficiently....
@@Glockenstein0869 actually, there is a ton of people who have had issues with exactly that. Not that the heat treatment is ruined completely, but the knifes often have a burned edge. Sometimes resharpening the blade once solves the problem, but sometimes you have to remove quite alot of material in order to have have good performing knife.
@@nils-ph3zs Like how many people are “a ton” exactly? Nothing man made is perfect and I’m willing to bet that almost every manufacturer has their fair share of QC issues.
@@PersonaN007Grata you can go ahead an take a look at some knife forums. There is quite alot of people there. I have bought and traded quite a few bark rivers over the years and i had these issues with a great deal of them. Its nothing that completely ruins the knife or anything, but its embarrasing at this pricepoint. We are talking about full custom knife prices here...
After watching this I must say I feel like a prowd owner of BRKT knives. Beautifull functional knives made by wonderfull people. All best from Sweden guys and girls at BRKT.
A lot of master bladesmiths here talking about how the heat treat is being ruined on the grinder. You have to heat the metal to the temperature it was annealed at to ruin a heat treat, which for most carbon steels is above 400 Fahrenheit and much higher for stainless. Notice how they don't wear gloves and are constantly checking the edge by hand as it's being ground? If it was 400F, twice the temp of boiling water, they'd be going home with 3rd degree burns on their hands every day.
Aaron, it is hard to tell if the HT is ruined or not. Even if the blade is barely warm, the very edge can be 500 degrees in no time and you will not feel it. It is impossible to know if the HT is ruined or not, except by chopping into a chop stick ;) I would hope that they have changed this habit with wet sanding of the edges as Bark River makes some of the most beautiful knives I have ever seen.
Grizzly Country that’s not true the edges are always left thick in heat treat to prevent cracking and warping plus they still grind off the scale and sharpen on belts for convexed knives
Just for the heck of it, I built a shelter using just my Bravo 1, I beat the heck out of it, because it was getting dark, after all the log splitting and carving, it still shaved my hair off my arm, I was so impressed, I bought the Golok, keep up the good work Bark River, and Thanx.
Great video!Now I understand why my Baie de Noc, Ptarmigan, bird and trout, and other BRKT blades are chipping just at looking at them...I wish I saw this years ago!
I am looking and have been looking and I thought that you want a good knife you go to Sweden. But now I have discovered Bark River. No need to go over seas. I'm keeping the money on this side of the globe. So now I have to find a place where they are selling them so I can lift one and get a feel for it. After watching the video as far as I'm concerned they are Hand Made !! Thanks for the tour
Loni, I own 3 B 1's, 2 in 3V, 1 in A-2., great knife, perhaps my favorite bushcraft/survival knife. and I do have other knives, but I do like my Barkit's.
Before watch this video i was thinking that BRKT was great... ...After this video... ...I still think the same :) 4:32 five coats... The first thing i did with all my BRKT is sand the handle down (with a 60 sand paper and re-oil it) because that finish is slippery but i like when you open the box and the shiny pop up (just the first time in my case lol) My preferred knife is the Aurora; thank you Mr. Stewart, thank you BRKT employers. Thank you for this video :)
My bravo 1 is like a piece of art I love it it's almost flawless. I just wish they did not spend so much time buffing the handles I like them with more grip. I guess I will just have to sand them.
Great knives and great crew. These guys are a great bunch that get little to no gratitude from their employers. If you ever get a chance to visit them, make sure you talk to the crew for how the knives are really made, and not deal with the BS that the owners will give you.
Thank you for such a great insight in the manufacturing of my favorite knives. For a short moment, I guess, I have seen a toxic green handle BRKT Gunny, was that mine during production? ;) Looking forward to many more future handmade/factory BRKT knives.
All this talk about destroying the heat treatment. If you actually study metallurgy, and the hardening / tempering process you would not be so quick to condemn their work practices. You always finish grind a blade after the tempering process. Depending on what steel is the blade is made of dictates what the the hardening temp and process is, and then immediately after there is a tempering process that removes some of the excess hardness from the blade so it is not so brittle. On simple carbon steels that tempering temperature will be in 300-450*F area, and on stainless steels that tempering temperature is much more higher. This is one of the many reasons why you don't wear gloves, so you can feel the temp of the blade. You would have to get the edge over the tempering temperature to destroy the hardness of the edge, but this will leave a visible discoloration that the person grinding would see, and hopefully not pass through as good. I'm not saying they do or do not overheat their blades, but you would need more info than just watching this video and criticizing their practice.
that post heat treat grinding they show is destroying the temper on the edge which will cause chipping and rolling of the edge. they run the belts way to fast and don't cool the blade enough. the belt should be run slower and dipped in water after every pass to avoid fucking the temper. this would probably take too long and they want to produce 200 blades per day. after all someone who spends $300 on a knive is not likely to actually use it for anything that would stress the edge. after seeing how they ruin the edge temper during finish grinding i would have to say you are better of buying a cheaper taiwan made saber ground knife and convex grind it yourself the proper way if you intend to actually use it.
barry soetoro look closer, he's get the convex even. Not really sharpening it. He's taking out the waves and imperfections. 90% of those sparks are coming of the blade when it's laying flat on the belt. That step you see, is done to every single knife made today. You get it shaped. Send it to heat treat. Get it back. Put the handles on. And grind it the last 10%. The sharpening is a separate step that involves a strop. They leave the factory with a super small micro bevel. That's from Stewart himself.
wow..... way to mangle a heat treatment. I came here to have a look before I purchased a bravo 1.5 . I like looking at shop videos like LT wright etc. But after this vid seen the work conditions and how the blades are made I will skip purchasing a BRKT knife. shame as I have been saving for quite a while to get one : (
Did you know that LT Wright uses sanding belts to grind and sharpen their knives? Oh, wait, and about just every other company. Sharpening knives on Japanese waterstones isn’t what any company does
what that guy is doimg to that blade man!!! he is destroying the heat treat on the edge!!! why after every pass that he does, doesn't he put the blade in the water? man I was about to buy my self a Brk Kalahari Hunter, but when I see what this guys do forget it!! îl go get a Tops knife
Lots of expert heat treatment nerds who can tell you amazing things without knowing what they're talking about making comments here. I have a bravo 2. I say it's as good as any of my Randall Made or Falkniven knives without the years long wait and price. Hey. Here's an idea, don't baton your knife over rocks and the edge won't chip or roll!
Unit 1058 haha exactly. That guy was doing the last 10% shaping. He wasn't sharpening. They do that on a wheel strop. It leaves with a micro bevel. Stewart said so himself.
Grinders are running way too fast. A shop of this level should be using water cooled belts at a much slower speed. There is simply no way properly heat treated blades can come out unscathed from the treatment they are getting in this video.
I don't see anything wrong in this video. Coarse paper far from the platen and grinding into the edge - nothing there creates much heat, and even if it did at the very edge, you'd hone it off fast. It's grinding on a platen or wheel that creates a lot of heat.
Abel Pisco thermodynamics? If someone buys a knife for $150 and they're upset that the edge has been overheated (but the knife behind it is so fine)....what can I do about that? Seems ridiculous to me - if it's that hard to grind off the decarb and set a bevel, then whoever is buying obviously doesn't actually need the knife in the first place. If you want a wet ground knife, buy japanese.
I got into Bark River knives through Wako, a Japanese hunter who posts some fantastic videos online. As I was going to purchase my first 2 Bark river knives I started doing my research, only to find all this negative feedback from users and how they were treated by BRKT. Then I found some really shady business dealings done by Mike Stewart, problems with a range of their knife steels, and the list goes on... I will no longer purchase anything from Bark River. Horrible online reputation.
Do they import their steel from Japan ? And why are some people so critical of BR ? Why do they use words like "Con" and stuff like that? I'm just trying to understand the basis for those assertions?
+Abel Pisco you should go to a grind in to get the real story. the blades are held by hand without using gloves or jigs. you can not hold a knife that is so hot it will ruin the temper. Eye glasses and respirators are issued to everybody including employees and grind in participants. employees can use them or can choose not too. the people who taught me to grind there showed me how to grind a convex grind. no employees advocated that i put a V-edge on the knife at any time nor did I see a knife in the entire shop. I had the chance to handle every bark river model made as well as a dull delivery of CDPH's that where being delivered that week. I did not see a single V-edge. lastly most of the people I have met at bark river had been there for a long time. people who hate their job don't work at the same place for 15 years. as for the edge damage. I have about 10 barkies and have not had any severe damage. every once and a while a micro chip or two but that comes with hard use and comes out over time with Stroping. I have seen the negative posts online but I have had a different experience. I can only speak for myself. as for the comments on mike. he was very kind to me and we had a few great conversations.
+Abel Pisco perhaps you have a point on the overheating and yes i have seen some chipped blades on the internet (however I've also seen it with Ka-Bar Beckers)but how can you say their warranty is shit when its lifetime repair no questions asked? That part seems a little unfair to say
@@seanb6986 no, but do the grinding befor the heat treatment. Then it just takes 5 min on a sharpmakes to get a hair popping knife. It just does not make any sense to me. The steel makers put so much effort in the development of the steels and heat treatment to get the best performance out of the steel and these guys just grind it to death. Poor craftsmanship. I better stay at my custom kives. They are much better and have the same price tag.
Bark river make some beautiful knives and practical designs, but I wouldn't trust my money on one and reading the comments from other people just seem to confirm my conclusion that they fuck up the heat treatment.
Really ridiculous that people think that the temper is being ruined while they are holding and touching the blades with their bare hands! Lol. I could leave my knife in the sun and would get hotter than they are showing..... plus they are dipping in water. People's stupidity really is showing on this comment thread
Their hands are on the blade....not on the edge. The heat treatment will never be completely ruined that way, but quite a few knifes get burned edges. I love bark river knifes but they put out some strange stuff once in a while. Generally the quality is dropping constantly.
Consider how thin those edges are, and how the steels they use are very heat sensitive, that isn't an ideal way to minimize edge damage from over heating.
Thousands of Bark River Knives have been produced. There are very few that have issues-especially with blade failures. Many other semi-custom and production knife makers grind post heat treat with no problem. There is a difference in the guy making one knife at a time in his garage who has all the time in the world and people making a living making excellent knives efficiently....
@@Glockenstein0869 actually, there is a ton of people who have had issues with exactly that.
Not that the heat treatment is ruined completely, but the knifes often have a burned edge.
Sometimes resharpening the blade once solves the problem, but sometimes you have to remove quite alot of material in order to have have good performing knife.
US Marines liked the performance
@@nils-ph3zs Like how many people are “a ton” exactly? Nothing man made is perfect and I’m willing to bet that almost every manufacturer has their fair share of QC issues.
@@PersonaN007Grata you can go ahead an take a look at some knife forums. There is quite alot of people there.
I have bought and traded quite a few bark rivers over the years and i had these issues with a great deal of them. Its nothing that completely ruins the knife or anything, but its embarrasing at this pricepoint. We are talking about full custom knife prices here...
seriously, those knives are just beautiful, crafted by skilled artists.
thanks for the vid.
After watching this I must say I feel like a prowd owner of BRKT knives. Beautifull functional knives made by wonderfull people. All best from Sweden guys and girls at BRKT.
Some of the best knives in the world come out of that place. Thanks for giving us a tour.
Great video and fun to see all the effort Bark River puts into their knives!
Just ordered a fox river recurve today which is my first bark river and I have to say seeing this video deff makes me even prouder of my purchase!
A lot of master bladesmiths here talking about how the heat treat is being ruined on the grinder. You have to heat the metal to the temperature it was annealed at to ruin a heat treat, which for most carbon steels is above 400 Fahrenheit and much higher for stainless. Notice how they don't wear gloves and are constantly checking the edge by hand as it's being ground? If it was 400F, twice the temp of boiling water, they'd be going home with 3rd degree burns on their hands every day.
Aaron, it is hard to tell if the HT is ruined or not. Even if the blade is barely warm, the very edge can be 500 degrees in no time and you will not feel it. It is impossible to know if the HT is ruined or not, except by chopping into a chop stick ;) I would hope that they have changed this habit with wet sanding of the edges as Bark River makes some of the most beautiful knives I have ever seen.
@James clark Actually most do the heat treat after all grinding is done before applying scales.
Grizzly Country that’s not true the edges are always left thick in heat treat to prevent cracking and warping plus they still grind off the scale and sharpen on belts for convexed knives
You folks make some incredible things too! I'm loving my Fallkniven. AND my Wetterlings axe.
Just for the heck of it, I built a shelter using just my Bravo 1, I beat the heck out of it, because it was getting dark, after all the log splitting and carving, it still shaved my hair off my arm, I was so impressed, I bought the Golok, keep up the good work Bark River, and Thanx.
If you can stop at "one" you're a stronger man than I! Bark Rivers are the most addictive knives I own...
Very cool vid! Mike and his crew are something else.
Great video!Now I understand why my Baie de Noc, Ptarmigan, bird and trout, and other BRKT blades are chipping just at looking at them...I wish I saw this years ago!
I am looking and have been looking and I thought that you want a good knife you go to Sweden. But now I have discovered Bark River. No need to go over seas. I'm keeping the money on this side of the globe. So now I have to find a place where they are selling them so I can lift one and get a feel for it. After watching the video as far as I'm concerned they are Hand Made !! Thanks for the tour
I know the guy who's doing the grinding. His name is Chip. His son is named Mike Rowe Chip.
Super cool! I went to the bark River factory to check out some knives and Mike Stewart greeted me and gave me a tour
I really love Bark River knives!
Loni, I own 3 B 1's, 2 in 3V, 1 in A-2., great knife, perhaps my favorite bushcraft/survival knife. and I do have other knives, but I do like my Barkit's.
did anyone else here that guy yell SHIT! at 18 seconds
I did hahahaha
00:45 too lol
Can't find a barvo 1 lt in wood scales anywhere right now. I really wish I could. They look like awesome knives.
The magnum. Great vid of my favorite knife company.
Before watch this video i was thinking that BRKT was great...
...After this video...
...I still think the same :)
4:32 five coats... The first thing i did with all my BRKT is sand the handle down (with a 60 sand paper and re-oil it) because that finish is slippery but i like when you open the box and the shiny pop up (just the first time in my case lol)
My preferred knife is the Aurora; thank you Mr. Stewart, thank you BRKT employers.
Thank you for this video :)
My bravo 1 is like a piece of art I love it it's almost flawless. I just wish they did not spend so much time buffing the handles I like them with more grip. I guess I will just have to sand them.
Is there a steel that lends itself well to the grinding/stock removal process that BR and many others use?
Great knives and great crew. These guys are a great bunch that get little to no gratitude from their employers. If you ever get a chance to visit them, make sure you talk to the crew for how the knives are really made, and not deal with the BS that the owners will give you.
Are you saying Mike Stewart is a dick, and doesnt care about his employee, or the people that buy his knives?
Great knives,Love my a2 Bravo1 and North star!!!!
Lon, I didn't understand your question, I thought you asked what kind of B 1 I had, I didn't see the original video, now I know, it was my A-2 Bravo1.
Seems like that backwards sharpening you do there could cause HT problems
So, I'm guessing those are all MI workers, rather than the Illinois workers that Mike did not pay?
WOW I knew those guys were classy rockers! I own 2 a blue and matte black brvo1
No Respirators? I'm sure OSHA would love to see this.
Thank you for such a great insight in the manufacturing of my favorite knives. For a short moment, I guess, I have seen a toxic green handle BRKT Gunny, was that mine during production? ;) Looking forward to many more future handmade/factory BRKT knives.
Got a black and white ebony beautiful little knife, quality +
All this talk about destroying the heat treatment. If you actually study metallurgy, and the hardening / tempering process you would not be so quick to condemn their work practices. You always finish grind a blade after the tempering process. Depending on what steel is the blade is made of dictates what the the hardening temp and process is, and then immediately after there is a tempering process that removes some of the excess hardness from the blade so it is not so brittle. On simple carbon steels that tempering temperature will be in 300-450*F area, and on stainless steels that tempering temperature is much more higher. This is one of the many reasons why you don't wear gloves, so you can feel the temp of the blade. You would have to get the edge over the tempering temperature to destroy the hardness of the edge, but this will leave a visible discoloration that the person grinding would see, and hopefully not pass through as good.
I'm not saying they do or do not overheat their blades, but you would need more info than just watching this video and criticizing their practice.
fulsircoal
Well said!!
that post heat treat grinding they show is destroying the temper on the edge which will cause chipping and rolling of the edge.
they run the belts way to fast and don't cool the blade enough. the belt should be run slower and dipped in water after every pass to avoid fucking the temper. this would probably take too long and they want to produce 200 blades per day.
after all someone who spends $300 on a knive is not likely to actually use it for anything that would stress the edge. after seeing how they ruin the edge temper during finish grinding i would have to say you are better of buying a cheaper taiwan made saber ground knife and convex grind it yourself the proper way if you intend to actually use it.
you are right man! pretty disappointing on how the sharpen those knifes
barry soetoro look closer, he's get the convex even. Not really sharpening it. He's taking out the waves and imperfections. 90% of those sparks are coming of the blade when it's laying flat on the belt. That step you see, is done to every single knife made today. You get it shaped. Send it to heat treat. Get it back. Put the handles on. And grind it the last 10%.
The sharpening is a separate step that involves a strop. They leave the factory with a super small micro bevel. That's from Stewart himself.
What is coating the handle of the knife?
I really want a 1909 Michigan Bowie from Bark River
Someone yells "SHIT" at 0:19 and it's hilarious. Must have been a sharp knife!
00:45 too
are those foxriver? that looks a bit bigger
Holy crap they need a wet belt set up!
What model was they making?
I'm sold, I want one now.
ive committed to buying 5 of your knives great go usa.
Just curious... is your B1 A2 or 3V? Thanks!
would you have a catalog that i can order from?
No dust masks. Oh you know bark river is gonna pay a fortune in lawsuits for lung damage in the future.
God I would love to work there.
wow..... way to mangle a heat treatment. I came here to have a look before I purchased a bravo 1.5 . I like looking at shop videos like LT wright etc. But after this vid seen the work conditions and how the blades are made I will skip purchasing a BRKT knife. shame as I have been saving for quite a while to get one : (
I used the money and went with a quickhatch by Brenton Good.
Did you know that LT Wright uses sanding belts to grind and sharpen their knives? Oh, wait, and about just every other company. Sharpening knives on Japanese waterstones isn’t what any company does
what that guy is doimg to that blade man!!! he is destroying the heat treat on the edge!!! why after every pass that he does, doesn't he put the blade in the water? man I was about to buy my self a Brk Kalahari Hunter, but when I see what this guys do forget it!! îl go get a Tops knife
I couldn't fight it any more. Got a Fox River today. I hang my head in shame.
Looks like the mag. Fox river
Dip that blade more often bud!
Lots of expert heat treatment nerds who can tell you amazing things without knowing what they're talking about making comments here. I have a bravo 2. I say it's as good as any of my Randall Made or Falkniven knives without the years long wait and price. Hey. Here's an idea, don't baton your knife over rocks and the edge won't chip or roll!
Unit 1058 if you take the time and look there are actually a few very knowledgeable people inn the comment section.
Unit 1058 haha exactly. That guy was doing the last 10% shaping. He wasn't sharpening. They do that on a wheel strop. It leaves with a micro bevel. Stewart said so himself.
I can't find a Gunny hunter in scandi 😭 like yours
Grinders are running way too fast. A shop of this level should be using water cooled belts at a much slower speed. There is simply no way properly heat treated blades can come out unscathed from the treatment they are getting in this video.
Cold steel master hunter 3v is 90 bucks
bark river similar size is 2-3x MORE cash
So...is BR way over priced or is CS fake/low quality 3v?
think this is when the heat treat gets @#$% and my blade in 3v is so chippy
I don't see anything wrong in this video. Coarse paper far from the platen and grinding into the edge - nothing there creates much heat, and even if it did at the very edge, you'd hone it off fast. It's grinding on a platen or wheel that creates a lot of heat.
Abel Pisco thermodynamics? If someone buys a knife for $150 and they're upset that the edge has been overheated (but the knife behind it is so fine)....what can I do about that? Seems ridiculous to me - if it's that hard to grind off the decarb and set a bevel, then whoever is buying obviously doesn't actually need the knife in the first place.
If you want a wet ground knife, buy japanese.
ginochipchip you are right, the over cook the edge from that speed of the grinder and not cooling the blade enough!!
The riddle of Steel
I got into Bark River knives through Wako, a Japanese hunter who posts some fantastic videos online. As I was going to purchase my first 2 Bark river knives I started doing my research, only to find all this negative feedback from users and how they were treated by BRKT. Then I found some really shady business dealings done by Mike Stewart, problems with a range of their knife steels, and the list goes on...
I will no longer purchase anything from Bark River. Horrible online reputation.
Great video! Put on a damn dust mask!😷
Do they import their steel from Japan ? And why are some people so critical of BR ? Why do they use words like "Con" and stuff like that? I'm just trying to understand the basis for those assertions?
+Abel Pisco you should go to a grind in to get the real story. the blades are held by hand without using gloves or jigs. you can not hold a knife that is so hot it will ruin the temper. Eye glasses and respirators are issued to everybody including employees and grind in participants. employees can use them or can choose not too. the people who taught me to grind there showed me how to grind a convex grind. no employees advocated that i put a V-edge on the knife at any time nor did I see a knife in the entire shop. I had the chance to handle every bark river model made as well as a dull delivery of CDPH's that where being delivered that week. I did not see a single V-edge. lastly most of the people I have met at bark river had been there for a long time. people who hate their job don't work at the same place for 15 years. as for the edge damage. I have about 10 barkies and have not had any severe damage. every once and a while a micro chip or two but that comes with hard use and comes out over time with Stroping. I have seen the negative posts online but I have had a different experience. I can only speak for myself. as for the comments on mike. he was very kind to me and we had a few great conversations.
+xxbryan715xx whole*
+xxbryan715xx you are not holding the blade exactly where you are grinding!!! why do people not see that?
+Abel Pisco perhaps you have a point on the overheating and yes i have seen some chipped blades on the internet (however I've also seen it with Ka-Bar Beckers)but how can you say their warranty is shit when its lifetime repair no questions asked? That part seems a little unfair to say
cutting into the sand paper belt scared me.
A Good way to destroy the heat treatment with a power grinder!
No Bark River comes into my house! Sorry!
Do you want them to sharpen the knife on waterstones sir?
@@seanb6986 no, but do the grinding befor the heat treatment. Then it just takes 5 min on a sharpmakes to get a hair popping knife.
It just does not make any sense to me. The steel makers put so much effort in the development of the steels and heat treatment to get the best performance out of the steel and these guys just grind it to death. Poor craftsmanship. I better stay at my custom kives. They are much better and have the same price tag.
Where is the safety gear? No safety aprons for the workers? If that belt grabs the blade it can throw it right into the guy's abdomen.
Wow way to destroy the heat treatment. No BRK for me!
the right stuff you are an idiot! looks like to me you don't know nothing about the temper of a knife
Im getting one (gunny)
Bark river make some beautiful knives and practical designs, but I wouldn't trust my money on one and reading the comments from other people just seem to confirm my conclusion that they fuck up the heat treatment.
they must wear ear protection!!
Grinding and sharpening knives on sanding belts is what every company does. Waterstones and Diamond plates aren’t an option here
Is a cutting fluid also not an option?
No one is wearing a respirator. This is not safe.
почему не защищают органы дыхания от пыли?
Please gring your knives befor heat treating them
Barkie's grrrrrrrr, spell check goofed
Really ridiculous that people think that the temper is being ruined while they are holding and touching the blades with their bare hands! Lol. I could leave my knife in the sun and would get hotter than they are showing..... plus they are dipping in water. People's stupidity really is showing on this comment thread
Their hands are on the blade....not on the edge. The heat treatment will never be completely ruined that way, but quite a few knifes get burned edges.
I love bark river knifes but they put out some strange stuff once in a while.
Generally the quality is dropping constantly.
Do these people know what gloves are? OSHA should pay them a visit.
No Gloves around rotating Equipment! Google hand degloving. Plus you need to feel the temp of the blade.
great way to trash the edge, too hard, too soft, nobody knows what kinda shit edge one will get after grinding the living shit out of it.
Гавноривер...