Critique first blade

T

Taqtaq

Joined
Jun 10, 2018
Messages
70
Afternoon gents,

Please provide critical feedback of my first blade. It will be a large skinner for muskox and caribou. It is extremely rough and will need to be cleaned up (especially plunge lines) but free handing my first blade was tough. It is .118 Aeb-l and should theoretically have tempered out to 60.5-61. It’ll go to my brother in law so I’m thinking Purple Heart scales itll be.

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It will look good if you sand it properly. I'm personally not a fan of the design but otherwise looks good:thumbsup:
 
Straighten the spine or better yet give it a rounded spine like you find in a loveless hunter. And just keep at it. 1 down about 50 to go until they start to count ;):D
 
Keep in mind, most all North American game can be skinned using a 3" working edge. You didn't post a size so thought I would through this in. 75 percent of the work will be done using the tip and the inch and a half behind the tip.

Enjoy, Fred
 
I agree with Fred. I used the items around it to gauge size and that knife is really big, looks to be 10-12" OA.
Don't worry about it though, most all first knives are too big. You did choose a good metal and a good thickness.

I know there are folks who like those Nesmuk type blades, but I never found them practical. I much prefer the spine to arch slightly downward, not upward. Just like the "classic" skinner, the upward curved blades were almost surely the result of untrained people making knives. If you just hammer out a blade, it will curve up like a banana. The reply to, "Why is it curved like that?" is, "It was made that way on purpose."

Next knife, try to make a drop point hunter. That will be the most useful knife you ever carry when hunting. 3" to 3.5" blade 4.5" handle. Look at some photos and see if the shape and style appeal to you (there appears to be one on the table in a photo).

One thing that looks like a concern is the lines in the post HT shot. How was the HT done?
 
You have a long and slow curve from the narrowest part of the handle towards the edge.
That pushes your indexfinger away from the edge.
If you have a more acute curve you can get your indexfinger closer to the edge. That feels better
 
Thanks for the feedback.

There is some rationale for the size and design. Having skinned and butchered a few hundred caribou I have a pretty good idea what works. Mostly the knife will be held upside down if that makes any sense?
And it’s larger than usual for the butchering aspect of harvesting caribou. When I go out, I’m typically using a grohman bird and trout or something similar to get the skin off and a kitchen knife for butchering so this design is a compromise. We’ll see where it goes and what the guys say but I’m pumped about it. If all works out I am hoping to have a bunch of these out for the local market (Nunavut).
 
That would have been good information for your first post :)

If butchering large game then a "butcher" style blade like yours will work.

Remember that size and shape are only useful if the HT and edge geometry are correct.

How was the HT done?

BTW, as a registered user, avoid talking about selling your knives.
 
Used hoss’s recipe. 1750 for 30 to plate quench, 1965 for 15 to plate quench than immediately into a dry ice slurry and than a double temper at 400f.
 
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