another "Knife #x" thread- tried to challenge myself a little on this one

phorizt

phorizt

Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
358
Just wanted to post my most recent knife and see if I could get some feedback. I especially appreciate brutally honest input about what is wrong with the knife fit, finish, overall design, choice of materials, aesthetics etc. Each knife I make I'm trying to do a lot of new things and learn as much as possible rather than just churning out a bunch of knives at this point. For me it's the learning how to do it that I enjoy. My wife tells me it looks great but i don't learn anything from that.

This is knife #4.5 for me. I broke the blade on knife #4 trying to straighten a very very slight bend in the blade. I trashed that and moved on to making this one instead.

I wanted to try a few new things on this one. It was my first hidden tang knife with a guard. That was the main challenge fitting everything up perfectly. It was my first time using any copper and I was curious how that would work because I've read it's hard to do because it gets so hot. It was my first machine grind after doing the others with a file jig. My first time trying to do some type of texturing of the wood on the handle. First time working with Blackwood. First time to use CA for liners/spacers, etc etc.

8" OAL
3.5" blade from plunge line to tip
guard is made from mild steel with fluting filed by hand
Spacers- copper, G10, Padauck, repeat...
Handle- Blackwood
T88 epoxy for the handle
JB weld for the guard to blade bond

I bought a high speed Craftsman 2x42 and that's what I used to do the bevels on this. I have that cheap 8" HF drill press so those are pretty much my only power tools and every thing else is done by hand.


So here's how she turned out. It's 95% finished but there are a few minor blemished I need to go back and fix and it doesn't have an edge yet. And my photography skills are terrible.

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http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k518/phorizt/IMG_2865_zps37023758.jpg


I'll post a follow up with a few more closeups
 
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This shows the blade a little better. The swedges were done by draw filing. I also did a 600 grit hand rubbed finish.

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and here is the fit of the guard before anything was glued up. I made a filing guide out of some O1 I had which helped immensely but it was still a beast for me to get a nice fit. I'm happy with how that turned out.

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One thing that really bugged me was the bare butt of the knife. It was just so plain so I decided to try at little texture inspired by some of the work I've seen John Doyle do. I initially thought of doing texture along the side of the handle but that was a big risk and the contour of the handle would have made it a bigger challenge than I was willing to take on this one. The picture doesn't do it justice but it actually looks like bone or the base of a deer antler when you look at the butt and it turned out pretty cool.
 
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Finally the handle contour. The handle didn't turn out quite as I had hoped but I should have known it wouldn't. The contour I think looks decent and it feels great in the hand. However, the piece of blackwood I used was basically a 1" x1" x4.5" pen black I found at Woodcraft for $6. I originally planned to cut it into scales and use on a smaller knife. It wasn't nearly big enough for this project and limited what I could do with the handle geometry. I wanted a more curved handle and more to work with on the back end. Instead I got a kind of straight handle with a big belly and a little butt.
 
I really don't feel comfortable giving advice but I feel like 97% of knife handle should be confined within these two lines


knife.jpg
 
I personally don't like the harpoon tip, but you did a good job on the blade and handle


I see the guard is a problem, too big, too wide, too flat, too straight, too high on top

It doesn't appear to match the rest of the package.
 
Thanks John. I hadn't seen it diagramed like that before. I'm strongly considering sanding down that swell in the handle some both the width and the height and that would make the handle look a little better and make the whole handle look a little better proportioned. A big problem is that the spacer is a little too big(not to mention a little busy) and I can't fix that with the guard on there.. I should have reduced the height of the spacer a little and then the handle could have tapered some from back to front.
 
12345678910 said:
I personally don't like the harpoon tip, but you did a good job on the blade and handle


I see the guard is a problem, too big, too wide, too flat, too straight, too high on top

It doesn't appear to match the rest of the package.
Click to expand...


Personally the harpoon tip is my favorite part but I know everyone has different tastes.

As for the guard you are right. The whole guard/spacer thing just doesn't work. What I actually was trying to do was make a knife with some of the challenges of making a bowie or fighter without making a really big package. I did the raised guard more as an experiment in making it that with an eye to how it would look when it got done. From a practical perspective I think it's more of an obstruction than anything and I might consider just grinding it down flat with the spacers. Also I maybe have used a thicker piece of steel for the guard and then shaped it but all I had was 3/16 so I just went ahead and made it with that.

Also the copper spacers don't seem to work with the steel guard for my tastes now that I'm done with it. The copper was actually some copper tubing I had and I just added it on there just to see what would happen.

I really appreciate the feedback.
 
I'm to new to give advice but I will say that I like the overall look of it and can tell a lot of hard work a went into it. Nice job.
 
A lot of "first times" on this knife. The overall package may seem a little awkward, but I think your objective was to prove out your skills and techniques, on things you have never done before, this you did. So I have a tendency to look at this type of project in pieces rather than the whole. Your "first times" were well executed, I really like the work on the butt.
 
Design is subjective, so we can only critique the level of workmanship. From what I can tell, the blade grind and swedge look symmetrical and very consistent on each side. The handle contouring is done very well including the finish, it looks smooth and I don't see burs or gaps between the various materials you used. The channel on your guard in nice and centered the guard fits the blade perfectly from what I can see.

As for design, I don't agree with the critique of the handle. My preference, especially in a fixed blade, is for large handles. I don't see why the handle should only be as wide as the narrowest part of the blade. Without holding it in the hand, the contouring looks comfortable. Remember, its not a pocket knife, it doesn't need to be slender and narrow, go ahead make the handle large enough for use and control.
 
You've done such a great job on this it's hard to pick at it. So many "mission accomplished" moments. The assembly/ fit and finish is very nice. Super nice fit up at the blade/guard joint. I like the raised clip. Also, very nice placement of the handle pin. The guard might feel better with more of an oval shape, not so square on the corners. It looks like it was originally wider and more round but you thought it was too wide and ground it down. As you have said, the handle could've benefited from a more curved handle with more swell at the butt. I also tried an experimental guard shape on my last one which I didn't like. I ground the top off and it looked much better. To MY eyes a knife that small looks better with a single guard. And I would have made the bottom lug just a bit longer. As you also pointed out a sculpted guard would have felt more at home there. If the guard stock you have on hand isn't thick enough you can always stack the material like spacers to get the width you need to sculpt. A couple of areas to take a closer look at next time are the plunge lines and the symmetry of the handle. When you look at where the plunge lines line up at the bottom of the ricasso they don't look to be symmetrical. A file guide will help there. Also as you look at the handle from the top you can see the contours of one side are slightly different from the other. While that kind of thing is hard to avoid in a hand-shaped handle, a tool that might help is something like a contour gage: http://www.amazon.com/General-Tools...8&qid=1397738958&sr=8-1&keywords=contour+tool . As you're working, press it into one side then flip it over to compare it to the other side. It will indicate where you need to remove more material to make the sides match. Overall it is very nice and something to reflect on with pride.
 
Wow a lot of great feedback. Thanks everyone. I've never seen that contour tool but really need to get one of those.
 
You can reshape the guard to make it flush with the handle on top, and tear drop it on bottom. I am impressed with fit and finish. It is possible to do good work with the craftsman. I have one, and with a file guide, I can get even plunges. Other than that, use it, and make two more with what you learned on this one! There is a thread here somewhere on making a light box for pictures. I need to make one too. My pics always turn out overexposed looking like there are 36g scratches all over them.
 
Thanks Willie. I used to have a lightbox that I made and my wife does part time portrait photography for people so we have all the gear. Just need to make the new lightbox and set up with her camera stuff but that takes away from my knifemaking time;) I've been using my point and shoot which I have synced with my laptop so it makes it real easy to click a pic and put it on photobucket but the pics don't turn out very well that way.

The plunge lines really bother me and it annoys me thinking about the fact that they aren't even. As I tried to get the height of the two bevels even I ended up grinding higher than I wanted to. I was afraid if I went back and tried to even up the plunge lines I might break the spine with the plunge line so I just left it uneven. The Craftsman is so fast that one little mishap makes a big mark and I was afraid I ruin the whole thing when trying to fix the plunge. If nothing else I should have put the file guide on it and used hand files to even it up. Also the edge thickness at the plunge is a little thicker than it should be. I needed to take a little more time in that whole area to get it right.
 
I have made a lot of knives that don't have even plunges!! :) :grumpy: I wasn't meaning to criticize yours, just relating it can be done with care. I usually leave the plunges a little underground with the craftsman, and clean them up with files and sandpaper. Its interesting that plunges have little to do with how well a knife cuts, but is the standard quality assurance of maker attention to detail. I have a GIB in the mail with a motor , VFD, and wheels waiting. I was going to make my own, but I am so pressed for time that I decided to just order the kit.
 
You can adjust some things on this knife if you want but just use it and enjoy it. Keep some of the comments you feel are valid in mind for your next one and keep making great knives. You should be able to find that contour tool at your local hardware store.
 
Does anyone know of a cheap source of the carbide stuff you put on the file guides so I'd doesn't grind away the steel? I've seen it on some of the nicer guides and I think it's called c2 or something like that.
 
I made a file guide out of some O1 and hardened it with only a 200f temper. It has held up reasonably well. I looked into making a carbide file guide, and the materials would cost almost as much as buying one of the two commonly recommended guides on the market. I have one of the Bump guards on order.
 
C2 is a grade of cemented carbide. There are a lot of different grades, C2 is just one of them, it would work fine as a file guide if you decide to use it.
 
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