Finished my first freehand ground blade

kuraki

kuraki

Fimbulvetr Knifeworks
Joined
Jun 17, 2016
Messages
4,679
Really happy with how this has turned out and my progression over the last 6 months. Couldn't have done it without everything I'd learned here, so thank you. I'll be giving this away to one of my employees in a drawing as a "thanks for what you do" kind of thing. 80CRV2, .140" thick, 61 RC. Guard is soldered and spacers are linen micarta. Handle is buckeye burl from Greenberg. Now that I've taken some photos I see a couple things I want to touch up but for the most part with the exception of a sheath I'm calling it done.

Tang
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Oh hell I forgot the pin. :confused:

ETA: Also, I learned something else with this. As I was fitting up the burl I decided the tang was a bit too long. So I cut a groove where I wanted to cut it off and put it in my vise and smacked it with a hammer. And it went *bong* and the hammer just rebounded. Holy crap, I thought, this stuff is tough. So I got a bigger hammer (this is my default solution to life's problems) and hit it again, and it broke nice and clean. Then I got to study the grain, of the knife itself rather than a coupon. I'm thinking on hidden tang knives I might make this my standard practice - that is, leave the tang long until after heat treat, so I can get a good read on how my HT turned out. At least when it's the first time I'm using a particular steel.
 
Looks awesome man! My only suggestion would be on the wood. It's a pretty cool wood, but it's very dull. More of a personal reference, but if you can get another finisher that soaks in there it could brighten up that grain, and look really impressive. Anything from lacquer to a good finishing wax. I'm sure who ever gets it will be quiet happy!
 
Athenas Edge said:
Looks awesome man! My only suggestion would be on the wood. It's a pretty cool wood, but it's very dull. More of a personal reference, but if you can get another finisher that soaks in there it could brighten up that grain, and look really impressive. Anything from lacquer to a good finishing wax. I'm sure who ever gets it will be quiet happy!
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Thank you. I have not applied any finish. I just sanded it to 600 grit and hit it with the buffer. I'm not sure how to finish stabilized wood, maybe I just need to go up a couple more grits and buff again? Otherwise I could try waxing it.
 
kuraki said:
Thank you. I have not applied any finish. I just sanded it to 600 grit and hit it with the buffer. I'm not sure how to finish stabilized wood, maybe I just need to go up a couple more grits and buff again? Otherwise I could try waxing it.
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What compound are you buffing with?
 
kuraki said:
. . . maybe I just need to go up a couple more grits and buff again? Otherwise I could try waxing it.
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Looks good, and my rookie suggestion would be go finer, here's a pic of my stabilized maple that I sanded to either 2000 or 5000 grit that I then wiped with a light past wax, still looks about the same after many months of regular use.

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kuraki said:
Thank you. I have not applied any finish. I just sanded it to 600 grit and hit it with the buffer. I'm not sure how to finish stabilized wood, maybe I just need to go up a couple more grits and buff again? Otherwise I could try waxing it.
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Athenas Edge said:
What compound are you buffing with?
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Totally missed the part where you mentioned it's stabilized. You shouldn't have to use Lacquer or wax, just make sure it's buffed out after you get it to atleast 800 grit. You just have to use the proper compound. I'll link a vid for clarity, this guy uses the white compound and then the Pink. Everyone has their preference, but this should get you in the right direction.

[video=youtube;G3a1Mxd5NlA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3a1Mxd5NlA[/video]
 
Looks good bud! Wet sand to 1500 or higher and buff. I wouldn't try to drill for a pin at this point although you could heat to 225 or 250 and probably pull the handle off. The only critique I have is more preference but I like for the plunge line and guard/front of the scales to be at the same angle. Slanted guard and slanted plunge or straight guard and straight plunge. Nice job on the grind.
 
Matt R said:
Looks good bud! Wet sand to 1500 or higher and buff. I wouldn't try to drill for a pin at this point although you could heat to 225 or 250 and probably pull the handle off. The only critique I have is more preference but I like for the plunge line and guard/front of the scales to be at the same angle. Slanted guard and slanted plunge or straight guard and straight plunge. Nice job on the grind.
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You know it never occurred to me to match the plunge and the guard/spacers and I fussed around making sure they were square to the spine haha. I will definitely give that a go next time.
 
Good looking knife, looks like it'd be comfortable to hold and use. I'd add that I haven't messed with 80CRV2 much yet, got some test blades in the works, but on most knives I do a differential quench, meaning the blade is hard and the spine and tang are left soft or springy, occasionally I do a soft back draw as I don't want any brittleness on the tang or spine, but unless it's thick enough I don't want it dead soft either.
 
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