2nd knife completed

R

RHess

Joined
Feb 18, 2015
Messages
31
Hey all,

Finally got my second knife complete and wanted you guys to take a look, and give me any feedback you can for improvements and refinements. I did another hidden tang because for some reason I am drawn to this style due to the guards and freedom of shaping the handle.

I guess I feel this is like a small bowie style knife at least that was what I was trying for. This one is out of 1/8" 1080 steel and heat treated in a homemade forge. I used brass for the guard with black spacers and one leather spacer. The wood was a block of desert ironwood which I sanded up to 1500.

This handle kicked my butt every which way. First I have never worked with ironwood and I have learned that this stuff is no joke. Due to my modest tool selection I at one time had the angle grinder out with a grinding wheel trying to get the profile rouged out on the handle with the ironwood being barely phased by it. I wanted a more bowie style contoured style handle but really messed that up from the get go and could not get the lines I wanted. I definitely learned a lot again from this one and I now know ironwood is not to be taken lightly. Thanks for taking a look.
march 2015 090 by rayhess54, march 2015 093 by rayhess54,
march 2015 116 by rayhess54,march 2015 119 by rayhess54, march 2015 117 by rayhess54, on Flickr
 
I think you did an excellent job, I can see how the more countoured handle is what you were wanting. I have yet to make a stick tang. And would like to.
My one critique is that I don't think your handle to blade proportions are right. The blade looks just a little small. But otherwise. All your cosmetics look great!
 
Thanks viral for the feedback and you are spot on about the handle and blade dimensions. I am finding that with this one as well as my first I am having a hard time trying to dial in the correct dimensions so the blade and handle tie in together. I guess it just takes more experience and a keener eye which I am currently lacking.
 
Exceptional job for a 2nd knife. I'm sure you have an idea what aspects of this knife you feel were successful and which you'd do differently. Nobody makes a perfect 2nd knife. But anything you would change would be a minor detail.
 
Thanks guys for the nice comments. I can see where this hobby can become very addicting. I am already trying to convince my wife that I need a 2x72 grinder which would make life a whole lot easier then my cheapo harbor freight.
 
When you say cheapo harbor freight, are you talking about the little 1X30 belt sander? Those little sanders are great for doing work on the handles, but will barely suffice for grinding blades. Good luck with your new endeavor. It is addicting. Convincing my wife to let me buy things for the shop was only a matter of showing her I could make money with it. Your work looks like it is well on its way to doing that. Excellent job for only your second blade. One word of advice though, before you invest all kinds of time finishing up the blade and handle that nice, make some test blades and make sure your heat treat is as good as it can be. The heat treat is what's at the heart of any good blade.
 
Thanks guys for the feedback. I really appreciate it. rjfm I was talking about my little 1x30. I agree it works great for handles but even with good ceramic belts this bevel on the second one took me forever to grind in. It just does not have enough juice for what I am asking it to do. I will surely take your advice though and make my next two or three blades into beater blades so I can test them. Ultimately I would like to send out for heat treat or get an oven once I get more experience. But it is a great idea to see how my simple heat treating set up is actually working and will save me a huge amount of time not having to hand sand a beater. I could live without handsanding for awhile after completing this one.
 
Very nice.

The handle is gorgeous.

I would prefer the blade be finished to a higher grit and straighter sand lines. I fully sympathize with you about handsanding. Been there, done that, hated it. ;)
 
Thanks Travis for the feedback. Yeah I need to work on my handsanding and buffing to get cleaner lines. I think I screwed it up a little by taking it to the buffer with red compound. I only have red and white compound at this point and a make shift buffer made out of an old bench grinder. I think maybe pink no scratch compound might work better but I have never tried it yet.
 
Rhess, I use a 10x30 harbor freight grinder to shape my handles. Try 80 grit and keep the handle moving and spinning to get your basic shape and then go to 120, 220, 320, and 400 grit belts. Hand sand after that. I have two 2x72 professional grinders but still use the 10 x30 for shaping. Wear a respirator and run a fan close to the grinder. Larry

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