Completed small dagger

G

Ghostman3

Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
192
My brother wanted a small, thin, blunt nosed dagger for skinning animals. Not what I would use but he wanted both sides so that's what I made. I used .0625" 15N20, black canvas micarta, parked the blade, left ~.012 BTE and sharpened at 20° per side. I don't have anything to make a sheath so I made one out of some wood I had for now.

The stupid lansky sharpener marred up the finish when I clamped he blade. [emoji53]

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This is my 2nd successful knife to date. My success rate is finally getting a little better lol. Still have many things to learn and practice though.



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Looks good, like the sheath (or would that be considered a saya?).
My only suggestion would be to make the tip rounded a bit more to help prevent the knife piercing the skin while skinning.
keep up the good work
~billyO
 
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Looks pretty nice! I see you have .012" BTE but I don't see any bevels. Did you grind any or is it convexed?
 
Matt R said:
Looks pretty nice! I see you have .012" BTE but I don't see any bevels. Did you grind any or is it convexed?
Click to expand...

Yes it does have bevels ground in it. It's very hard to see in the photo because of the matte finish, but it is also very subtle.


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That is nice, too bad the finish is marred, but if he uses it as a working knife soon it will blend together. Very nice work.
 
Just a personal comment:
There is no guard or ricasso to the dagger, and thus no non-sharp area at the heel. This places your fingers against the sharp heel. Adding a tiny guard/bolster would have made it much safer and easier to use.
I'll try and post a photo later.

A satin finish is far better than a forced patina on a field knife. There is no way that the black will last long in use and sharpening.

Also, your brothers idea of a double edged skinner is a bad idea. You only want to be cutting in one direction. Accidental cuts on your fingers/hands and on tissues you want to stay whole could easily happen. A small sharpened clip may be of use, but not an entire sharp spine.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Just a personal comment:
There is no guard or ricasso to the dagger, and thus no non-sharp area at the heel. This places your fingers against the sharp heel. Adding a tiny guard/bolster would have made it much safer and easier to use.
I'll try and post a photo later.

A satin finish is far better than a forced patina on a field knife. There is no way that the black will last long in use and sharpening.

Also, your brothers idea of a double edged skinner is a bad idea. You only want to be cutting in one direction. Accidental cuts on your fingers/hands and on tissues you want to stay whole could easily happen. A small sharpened clip may be of use, but not an entire sharp spine.
Click to expand...

Yes I think a little guard would have been a good idea. The black is parkerized finish. I'm sure if it gets use like he says it will wear off. I was actually able to get the marrs out of it by lightly sanding in down the knife with a scour pad, so basically very fine scratches in one direction and it made it a little more matte finished.

I told him I didn't like the double edge idea skinner either but he insisted. Some things you just have to learn on your own.

Thanks for feedback guys.
 
I love this dagger. Please make more.
No guard is needed. A palm grip prevents the hand from sliding forward.
And fwiw, I'd round the front of the handle slabs.
rolf
 
Lycosa said:
I love this dagger. Please make more.
No guard is needed. A palm grip prevents the hand from sliding forward.
And fwiw, I'd round the front of the handle slabs.
rolf
Click to expand...

Thanks, yes I need to do a better job of finishing the front of the micarta before attaching the scales. That was something I didn't does very well the first time.


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A bit of electrical tape on the jaws of your Lansky clamp will protect the blade from scratches.
 
So after some heavy use he's been pretty happy with it but the handle he says took blood on it like glue and won't come off to easily. If I remember right I sanded the handle to around 600 grit and then a 1000 grit cork belt. This is black canvas micarta. Should I need to do something else to make it more impervious to blood?

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That looks more like animal fat (from the deer!) than blood. A cold water rinse only serves to congeal the 'grease' even more and no knife blade or handle is immune. A scrub brush and warm soapy water will take that off easy enough.
 
Ok so no different process I should do to the micarta to make it better?


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When I read your post the first thing that popped into my head was "beaver knife". It has a rounded and sharpened point and is used to skin beavers (duhhh). It's sort of like a Green River skinner with a rounded point. Dexter is the big name in beaver knives.

Obviously your brother wants what he wants, and it seems to serve him well. It looks like you nailed it for him.

- Paul Meske, Chippewa Falls, WI
 
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the finer the finish, the less it will absorb. with 400-600 grit finish the ends of the fibers are still fairly porous. most people go up to 1000 grit by hand then buff with white or green compound. it will shine if your sanding is consistent. wipe the dust off the micarta and check it before buffing. any whiteish or foggy/cloudy patches remaining after sanding to 1000 mean the sanding is inconsistent there, and needs more work. i read you used a cork belt, but it still looks like a 600 grit finish judging by the shine on it in the photo.
 
I found out just recently 1000 grit cork is a world apart from 1000 grit hand sanding with regular paper on 'micarta'. Hand sand it. It will be much tighter.
 
The dagger looks pretty darned good for limited experience.





















E.Carlson said:
A bit of electrical tape on the jaws of your Lansky clamp will protect the blade from scratches.
Click to expand...

Indeed.

I've also used a small bit of paper, or even paper towel in a pinch.
 
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