4th knife/feedback and critique encouraged

[josh81]

So this is knife number four for me. I really poured myself into this one and made myself slow down and spend more time on every step throughout the process. I think on my previous knives I was bouncing ahead too fast, doing unnecessary steps, and having to go backwards because of skipped steps. I don't have any friends really into knives and family members don't offer critique, especially the ones getting free knives lol. I'm hoping to get a lot of feedback from here because I think this knife is a good representation of where my skills are at this point. Thanks for looking and for any feedback!

Overall length: 8 3/4"
Sharpened edge length: 4 1/4"
Blade height: 1 1/4" at heel
Blade material: .070" o-1 tool steel
Flats hand sanded to 1500 grit and then hit on the fine scotch Brite belt
Spine is mirror polished as well as ricasso
Full flat grind .015" behind the edge
Handle material: stabilized maple burl
G10 liners (black,orange, black)
1/8" mosaic pins
Acraglas epoxy
Handles hand sanded to 1200 grit and then sewn buffing wheel with white compound /loose wheel with green compound

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[JG Custom Metal Works]

Nice knife. Pin placement on the lower two pin holes look a little off/too close to the spine. You can use a punch or dremel bit to start the hole and then step up to a small drill bit, and finally the bit of the size hole you want. Also helps to have the blade locked down when drilling.

 

[josh81]

Nice knife. Pin placement on the lower two pin holes look a little off/too close to the spine. You can use a punch or dremel bit to start the hole and then step up to a small drill bit, and finally the bit of the size hole you want. Also helps to have the blade locked down when drilling.

I noticed that as well. I center punch and clamp. I seem to struggle with pin placement for some reason. I keep them the same distance from the spine but they look odd because they don't change in relation to the handle contour. Any advice on choosing the placement? Thanks for the input!

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[JG Custom Metal Works]

Measure and Mark the holes first with a circle(the size of the pin you're going to use), then see how it looks. Be careful not to grind too much off of one side as it will throw off the center

 

[Drew Riley]

Looks like a great little user; nice job. I agree with the pin placement looking a little off. Typically, I just center ever pin with the width of the handle at that point, and normally it looks pretty good. They may not be in a perfect line, but they'll at least look proportioned.

Keep up the good work.

 

[josh81]

Looks like a great little user; nice job. I agree with the pin placement looking a little off. Typically, I just center ever pin with the width of the handle at that point, and normally it looks pretty good. They may not be in a perfect line, but they'll at least look proportioned.

Keep up the good work.

Ya I guess I've always been obsessed with keeping them in a straight line. I'll try it out. Thanks!

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[Drew Riley]

Ya I guess I've always been obsessed with keeping them in a straight line. I'll try it out. Thanks!

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With certain handles you can more/less get away with that, and from the looks of your knife, if you'd have centered the pins, they'd have probably been pretty close to a straight line. Looks like you measured each one from the spine, however, which is relatively straight. Being that your opposite side is a little more curvy, it makes it look like your pins are leaning back, if that makes sense.

 

[josh81]

With certain handles you can more/less get away with that, and from the looks of your knife, if you'd have centered the pins, they'd have probably been pretty close to a straight line. Looks like you measured each one from the spine, however, which is relatively straight. Being that your opposite side is a little more curvy, it makes it look like your pins are leaning back, if that makes sense.

Yep makes perfect sense. Thank you

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[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Excellent knife!

The only thing I spotted immediately is you forgot to "clock" your pins. With mosaic rivets you want to have them turned exactly the same way. The end two are matching, but the center one is rotated about 100° and thus displays a different orientation. On your pins, this difference is minor. If the pins had a square or star pattern, it would show badly.

TIP:
Decide which way you want the pins oriented and saw a shallow slot that will fit a screwdriver between the 12:00-6:00 position. When installing the pins, turn them with a screwdriver and make sure all the slots are identically aligned. Stars look best with a point up. Squares look best with a corner up, making a diamond. With your rivets on this knife, the difference between having a round at 12:00 or having a valley at 12:00 makes the rivet look different, so pick which you like.

 

[josh81]

Excellent knife!

The only thing I spotted immediately is you forgot to "clock" your pins. With mosaic rivets you want to have them turned exactly the same way. The end two are matching, but the center one is rotated about 100° and thus displays a different orientation. On your pins, this difference is minor. If the pins had a square or star pattern, it would show badly.

TIP:
Decide which way you want the pins oriented and saw a shallow slot that will fit a screwdriver between the 12:00-6:00 position. When installing the pins, turn them with a screwdriver and make sure all the slots are identically aligned. Stars look best with a point up. Squares look best with a corner up, making a diamond. With your rivets on this knife, the difference between having a round at 12:00 or having a valley at 12:00 makes the rivet look different, so pick which you like.

Great tip thank you!

 

[Offlines]

Very nice work.. much better than my 4th knife.. I really like your symmetry on your handle finish.

I've started using a caliper to center punch the pin holes. measure the width of the handle at the location for the pin and 1/2 it. use the tip of the caliper to scribe the center.. YMMV

 

[S.Alexander]

Very nice one! I like how you rounded and bevelled the front of your scales.

The thing that sticks out to me is that the handle looks a little bit small. That may be desired in a paring knife though, so it's just a matter of opinion.

 

[josh81]

Very nice one! I like how you rounded and bevelled the front of your scales.

The thing that sticks out to me is that the handle looks a little bit small. That may be desired in a paring knife though, so it's just a matter of opinion.

Thanks for the feedback. Are you thinking it is short in length or just small in general?

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[Offlines]

Do you free-hand your plunge cuts? I could never get them symmetric until I got a file guide from Brian Bump.

 

[josh81]

Do you free-hand your plunge cuts? I could never get them symmetric until I got a file guide from Brian Bump.

No they're not freehand. I made sort of a makeshift guide. Do they look bad? I need to buy one but I'm sort of getting tapped out trying to get started. Trying to do a little at a time.

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[S.Alexander]

Thanks for the feedback. Are you thinking it is short in length or just small in general?

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Not tall enough is what I meant.

 

[josh81]

Not tall enough is what I meant.

OK gotcha. It seems comfortable for me but I haven't actually used it. Her hands are pretty small so I think it will fit her well. I'll keep it in mind though. I'm paranoid about making them too big but I also don't want to go too far the other way. Thanks again

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[Offlines]

No they're not freehand. I made sort of a makeshift guide. Do they look bad? I need to buy one but I'm sort of getting tapped out trying to get started. Trying to do a little at a time.

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NO! not bad at all...

in the 8th pic. (the one with the cutting edge up) its hard to tell.. it could be funny angle to the pic but kinda looks like the right side plunge is slightly more toward the tip than the left.. and the edge itself looks slightly off-center. since both look to be 'to the right' It probably is just random weirdness in the picture.

 

[josh81]

NO! not bad at all...

in the 8th pic. (the one with the cutting edge up) its hard to tell.. it could be funny angle to the pic but kinda looks like the right side plunge is slightly more toward the tip than the left.. and the edge itself looks slightly off-center. since both look to be 'to the right' It probably is just random weirdness in the picture.

Ya I see what you're seeing. I'm sure they're off a little. Definitely one of the things I need to improve on.

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[Offlines]

Ya I see what you're seeing. I'm sure they're off a little. Definitely one of the things I need to improve on.

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heh.. its one of the things i'm still struggling with myself..