Convex neck knife

[FullyTorque]

Hey guys,
I've been reading a lot of information here on BF and have made handles for my Becker and a couple of pre-made blades. This week, I finally took the plunge and tried making my own blade from bar stock.

I ordered some 1080 along with some other supplies from an online store. I've come up with a design for a EDC tanto, but decided to start by making a neck knife from the extra steel. I made some scales and sheath for an Alabama Damascus neck knife for my brother and when I was wearing it around to test the sheath I really started digging it.

This knife is 5.5" OAL with an 2.75" convex ground blade and skeleton tang. The tang is painted and wrapped with gutted para cord. I welded the kydex sheath together to keep it thin and light. The knife and sheath with cord is only 2oz. Instead of jimping, I did some simple round file work on the spine. I also polished the blade to a mirror finish and electro-etched my signature.
I made quite a few mistakes along the way but managed to come out with, what I think is, a decent first knife. I did the heat treat myself; heated the blade to non-magnetic plus a little more then quenched in heated veg oil and tempered at 400F for 2hrs. I'll have to put it rigorous use to see how well it holds its edge.
Thanks guys for all the tips, tricks, information, and inspiration!

 

[65steve65]

Nice!!!

 

[Sgt John]

I really like what you have there. Simple design, great paracord wrap, nice basic filework, and a very steady hand with your signature. I think that is a terrific first knife. Great job!

 

[Perrin]

That is very cool. I don't usually like cord wrapped handles but in this case it is appropriate and beautifully done. The whole package is very nice and neat.

 

[chavez556]

The design is simple and useful. How did you remove the stock ?

 

[FullyTorque]

Thanks for all the kind words!
I started with a file and finished with a belt sander. The plan was for a full flat grind but I tried to free hand it and ended up getting convex. I decided to just go with it and use my 1x30 sander to smooth it out. I'm going to build a jig before I file the next one. The one mistake that still bugs me is the ricasso, I ended up sanding too far and it's little narrow.

 

[Perrin]

The minimal ricasso is part I like. So how did you remove the steel from the skeletonized handle area?

 

[FullyTorque]

Drill, Dremel cut off wheel, and a set of small files. I used a stepped bit to drill progressively smaller holes from the butt to choil, then used the Dremel to cut out between them, and filed everything smooth. I wish I had drill some extra holes for he ends of the paracord.
I think my heat treat was a success. I put a razor edge on it an have been using it for everything from food prep to cutting leather and wood. I even used it as a pry bar to lift some scales that were attached to a knife with unpeened pins. I ended the day stabbing and hacking at a fence post. The edge is still sharp with no chips.

 

[Perrin]

Thanks for the info. We have similar tools to work with evidently and I was curious. I don't know if or when I will ever make a skeletonized handle but now I know how to get it done if the occasion arises.