A few projects near completion.

Willie71

Willie71

Warren J. Krywko
Joined
Feb 23, 2013
Messages
12,214
I am just finishing these up. I sent my friend/customer the progress shot, which is a louse cell phone picture as my camera died. I'm researching options for a new camera, any suggestions?


Comments/ critiques welcome.

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[/url]photo (2) by Wjkrywko, on Flickr[/IMG]

The dagger is 1075 (Rc58) which developed a natural hamon. Frame handle construction with ebony scales. The guard and frame handle were forged, and blued.

The boning knife is a prototype to test concept. Its 15n20 (Rc 60) with homemade burlap mycarta handle.

The Chef's knife is 15n20 (Rc62) and is my first attempt at a scotchbrite belt finish.

The EDC is S35VN (Rc60) with natural G10 handle.
 
I'm particularly drawn to the chef's knife and really like everything about the EDC. What are the dimensions of the EDC and the handle material on the chef?
 
The EDC is 3/32" S35vn. It is .010 behind the edge. Blade is 3 7/8". The blade and tang are fully tapered.

The handle material on the chef's knife is deer antler that ha been stabilized. I use amber and ebony analine dye, and the profiling leaves the sanded spots white. The pins are stabilized 1/8" hard maple dowel.
 
It is very difficult to see much detail in your finishes from the picture quality. That said, what is visible looks good.
 
Ah, there's the dagger. Nice!
Yup, better a dagger vs. a bear than nothing at all.
See what Nick made me do? (see below) I have to use that line now - ha ha.
 
Michael, the dagger is pretty rough compared to the JS and MS work, but I had to start somewhere. Its been a pretty amazing learning experience. I am planning the next one already! I love the sig BTW!!! My wife had a good chuckle out of that conversation. I might get by with a new memory card for the camera. I'll have to check it out. I followed your suggestion on the grind on the kitchen knife, and it releases potatoes way better! Thank you for that. I thought of putting the dagger in your thread as part of that conversation, but that felt wrong to me.
 
Michael- I'm feeling very persuasive right now. ;) LOL

Warren- I'd love to get a better look at them... they look nice from the very tiny bit that I can see here. :p

My first knife was a dagger. So don't worry about your first one not being an Ms level piece. Some guys only ever make THE one. I love them, I just never seemed to have the market for them that I do for other knives.

It kind'a looks like that boning knife is 20 years old and has been sharpened 1,973.5 times. ;)
 
I'll sort out the camera and get better pics! _The dagger is embarrassing to me.
 
Look, don't be so hard on yourself. The dagger is what it is: it's for your buddy and you know what he wants it for, and it's not to put over his mantel and show off to his billionaire brother. Sometimes a knife is just a knife, you know?

You got things right on the small carry knife. Build on that.
And, on your next dagger, you will do twice as good of a job because now you respect how difficult it truly is to get the quillions even and the pins in a line on the handle. It's all good.

And yes, Nick, I have a strange feeling that if I lived on a glacier - I would buy a freezer from you :-)
 
Michael, thanks for the encouragement. There are 6 pins on the dagger as its a frame handle. It looks odd in the picture, but that is something I did OK on. There is one blued steel pin through the tang to hold it all together. The ebony is 30 years old, and I haven't worked with ebony in 20 years now, and the pin holes tore a bit. I forgot how easily that happens with Ebony. We use Ebony in guitar building a lot, so I was pretty good with it 20 years ago. I was able to "mostly" fix that. The symmetry is off in the quillions, and a bit in the handle. The scales aren't even along the edge of the steel frame. I think I might have mixed the up when gluing, as I took a lot of time fitting them. The fuller isn't symmetrical on both sides. The plunges are close but not perfect. I have started another dagger already. I have never made a file knife, and have a big old dull Nicholson file that has an almost perfect profile.

Nick, the boning knife my friend is using is an old butchering knife that had been sharpened beyond use. He really liked the blade profile and asked me to duplicate it but longer.It looks odd, but its what he says works. We'll see when he tries it out.
 
Well, the new owner picked up the knives. He was thrilled with them all. He didn't like the brushed finish on the chef's knife, as his preference is for mirror polishing. He was impressed with the balance and cutting performance. We didn't discuss the finish ahead of time, as he told me to surprise him. Once he tried it out, he was smiling ear to ear.

I did OK on the dagger. I showed my friend some of the amazing work done by the smiths I look up to, and he commented that they are beautiful, but he would never carry something that beautiful hunting. He wanted to make sure it was a "user." He plans to display it, as he thinks it is pretty slick (he doesn't compare my work to the makers here like I do.) I asked him about the handgun, and he commented he doesn't always have one with him, and he hikes outside of hunting season as well. he agreed it was mostly because he really wanted one! He commented the dagger feels great in hand, the balance is right at the ricasso, and the sheath construction was perfect for his intended use.

While the boning knife looks funny, he smiled ear to ear and said it is perfect. He explained his process, and his knife design makes perfect sense. He knew what he needed, and I was able to make it for him.

The edc was the first non natural handle material he has seen other than cheap plastic. He was really impressed with the G10. The knife is a tester to compare performance with the carbon steel knives I have made him previously. I think he will like the S35VN.

All in all, a good experience, and other than missing the mark with the scotch bright finish on one of the knives, a very happy customer/friend. I offered to refinish the knife, but he declined the offer.
 
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