2nd knife - Honest opinions and recommendations?

P

psiewert

Joined
Mar 23, 2015
Messages
18
This is the second knife I've ever made. 100% hand crafted except a drill press for the pins. Blade is O1 tool steel hardened and tempered and the handle is walnut. I put the blade through a couple of special surface treatments to achieve the "weathered" look. Let me know your honest opinions or recommendations. I'm here to improve.
image3.jpg


image1.jpg
 
2nd knife? wowzers. Do I feel like a dolt. My second knife was no where near that good, my friend. I say, "stick with it"!!! The only recommendation I see off the bat...the plunge lines could be a little cleaner, but they are hard to nail down right anyway. I think a NON weathered look would actually look better, but that's just me. Maybe the wood could be sanded to a bit finer grit, pores filled and all, but that is getting a little picky.

GREAT job, and keep making knives!
 
Thanks a ton for your kind words! I agree I was a little disappointed about the plunge line. I was getting some traveling with the file that rounded it off more than I wanted. I also only noticed the porosity of the wood after the pictures so I plan on going back with a finer grit and some walnut filler for a final poly finish.
 
Really nice 2nd knife! The plunge is a little soft which you called already.. Did you dye your epoxy to try to match the wood? I mean all over it looks like great attention to detail. You didn't continue the plunge into the spine as well which often happens early on.

The other item is how does the plunge match up when viewed from the edge of the knife? That's the first thing knife ppl commonly look for is the symmetry of that plunge line from side to side.

Great job. It's clear you did your homework and read the stickes!!!!

Stacy maybe we need a thread of just knives from those who read the stickies and those who didn't??!?!?! ;)
 
Thanks for the feedback :) I did add a little bit of dark walnut danish oil to the epoxy to keep it a little less obvious if I got any bleed. I actually intentionally left the plunge a little shy of the spine for aesthetics but after completing this one I think I'll continue it from the spine from now on. Symmetry wise I used a jig so I think it's a close as I can get by hand right now with a file. Obviously that will get better with practice.

Also I think in person the plunge line looks a bit better than in the pictures. The last step of the "weathered" finish was with a 2000 grit free hand sanding that left the edges polished slightly. I think those reflective edges wash out too much in the pictures and cause the plunge line to look a little uneven. Here's a couple of pictures with better lighting. Still not perfect obviously.

image1.jpg


image2.jpg
 
Just a quick follow up to your last post.......I think what Maelstrom was saying was that you did NOT continue the plunge line to the spine....and that is a GOOD thing. Totally agreed...my first knives I had the habit of actually taking the plunge line too high during grinding/filing. So when I did my finish sanding...the plunge line would actually blow thru the spine...NOT GOOD!!!! Looks bad. So in the future...continue to do what you are doing. Stop the plunge line before it hits the spine. Make sure you stop plenty ahead of time with your grind/file....because the finish sanding will continue to march that plunge line on up. I think where it terminates on your knife is PERFECT. Just work on making the plunge line itself more crisp. Great work, again. Keep em comin.
 
samuraistuart said:
Just a quick follow up to your last post.......I think what Maelstrom was saying was that you did NOT continue the plunge line to the spine....and that is a GOOD thing. Totally agreed...my first knives I had the habit of actually taking the plunge line too high during grinding/filing. So when I did my finish sanding...the plunge line would actually blow thru the spine...NOT GOOD!!!! Looks bad. So in the future...continue to do what you are doing. Stop the plunge line before it hits the spine. Make sure you stop plenty ahead of time with your grind/file....because the finish sanding will continue to march that plunge line on up. I think where it terminates on your knife is PERFECT. Just work on making the plunge line itself more crisp. Great work, again. Keep em comin.
Click to expand...

Yes indeedy!
 
This is so much better than the stuff folks used to post as a 2nd knife. You new folks have gotten really good at making knives. :thumbup:

My recommendation to you is make more. As you gain experience your eyes will become more critical and you'll see things you didn't notice before.

Your grind lines are a little washed out, there is an epoxy filled gap around your pins, your description "hardened and tempered" sounds a little sketchy, kinda like "this food was cleaned and cooked". But really that is a very impressive 2nd knife. Most folks don't make work that clean for quite a while. Some never do. There are a lot of things right about that. That looks sellable.
 
That is a very good looking knife. Exactly what your second knife should look like exept too good! Most folks try to make something way too complex. Learn to make simple yet nice knives like yours first. Crisp up the plunge lines and get the right sized bit for your pins and it will make all the difference.
 
Very much appreciated! I agree hardened and tempered doesn't mean anything without a Rockwell test but I heated, quenched, and tempered according to guidelines to achieve 58-60 HRC. Obviously that would require verification.
 
I'm actually pretty shocked I show some bleed through at the pins. They were a pretty tight press fit and peened. Either way that's something I'll focus on. Thanks for the feedback Matt.
 
Looks great for #2, echo on the above comments.
What was your process for the pins? If they were a snug fit beforehand and peened after the handle was shaped, is it possible that as you peened, your material moved forward leaving the crescent?
 
lessismore said:
Looks great for #2, echo on the above comments.
What was your process for the pins? If they were a snug fit beforehand and peened after the handle was shaped, is it possible that as you peened, your material moved forward leaving the crescent?
Click to expand...

That's a possibility. I looked at it closer tonight and it could even be some of the Danish oil that pooled there leaving a deeper stain. Not entirely sure.
 
Just wondering. I found a technique for peening and I wish I could remember where I saw it so I could give credit where its due, but I had problems with getting an even spread on the pin sometimes. This technique was chucking the pin in a drill and tapering the end of each pin 45ish degrees with a file. The pin seems to fill out the ream evenly when tapped. This works pretty well for me. I also clean out the epoxy around the pin after the first few taps. Just thought I'd share that, it's really hard to find info about peening as most use different mechanical fasteners or straight pins.
Once again, great job on #2.
 
Yes, peening pins it's an art itself and needs a lot of pratice especially with large bore pins. Could it be you buffed the scales w/o pins installed and washed one hole's side?
Looking at the neat design of your knife is evident you got talent and good taste, and so you already know exactly where are the improvement areas in your knife :)
Filling the pores of your walnut could be a good starting point and you could start it now if you wish.
here it is a nice thread where Michael Rader M.S. explain the technique to treat handles... then just google some of his knives, but wear sunglasses!! ;)
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-for-J-S-or-M-S-Any-questions?highlight=rader
 
stezann said:
Yes, peening pins it's an art itself and needs a lot of pratice especially with large bore pins. Could it be you buffed the scales w/o pins installed and washed one hole's side?
Looking at the neat design of your knife is evident you got talent and good taste, and so you already know exactly where are the improvement areas in your knife :)
Filling the pores of your walnut could be a good starting point and you could start it now if you wish.
here it is a nice thread where Michael Rader M.S. explain the technique to treat handles... then just google some of his knives, but wear sunglasses!! ;)
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-for-J-S-or-M-S-Any-questions?highlight=rader
Click to expand...

Thanks for the pore filling tips! That's a great resource. I think on my next set of wood scales I'll do a Cactus Juice resin under vacuum impregnation and then finish with that advice from Michael Rader.
 
For the couple of guys that asked here is a right side profile of the blade, a view of the spine, and a view of from the cutting edge. The light reflecting off the spine shows some J hooks so I'll be going back with some straight pull sanding tonight ;)

Right_Profile.jpg


Spine.jpg


IMG_3798.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top