First Completed Knife - Open for advice/critique

[Jacob Hays]

Long time lurker, first time poster so hopefully I get the pertinent details listed.

Like the title says, this is my first knife and I'm looking for advice for future builds and constructive criticism. This looks almost nothing like my initial sketch and template. You could say I either learned a lot or just made a bunch of mistakes. Made this for my wife, so the handle is a bit slimmer than what someone with bigger hands might prefer.

Steel: L6, 0.125 thickness.
Temper ~58 HRC (though I did my own heat treat and lack a tester, so take that with a grain of salt).

Blade Length: 5"
Overall Length: 10"
Handle Material: Pink and Black G10 scales
Pin and Lanyard Material: 410 Stainless
Finish: Cork belt w/ green polish

Photography is apparently an art form that I'm terrible at, especially with that reflective finish on the blade. Here is the best that I could manage.

 

[firebolt]

pritty , hats off,
normally a raised spine looks awkward ( personal opinion ) , but by letting the scales follow the line moving up , it becomes whole

nice job,
only worry the front tips off the scales will break/ come loose with heavy use

gr, martin

 

[Overmountain]

Looks good. Nice polish job. Grinds look nice and flat. Nice fit and finish overall.

If I'm honest, the design looks disconnected to me between handle and blade with them on different planes like that. And the leading edge treatment of the scales is a bit off my taste, but looks well done nonetheless.

58RC is a bit soft for a knife this size IMHO. But, should make a good user with good properties.

Overall really nice knife. I am sure your wife will like it.

-Cheers
Eric

 

[killharder]

Very Nice! Good Job. I especially like the G10 work.

 

[A Justice]

Looks very good! I usually dislike knives where the spine is raised, but you made this one work, and work well. I think a lot of people would like it even more if they got their hands on it - it's just right to act as a thumb ramp. It's refreshing to see a new design.

Also, 58 rc is a good hardness. Many people won't buy a knife over 58-59 because it can't be easily sharpened in the woods. A guy in a Facebook group I'm in is wanting to pass around a 5" knife that's 54-55rc to prove how adequate it is for wilderness survival - and how forgiving.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

As the others said, excellent knife.
The handle front would have been better with a simple curve and no fine tip.
Same for the drop on the butt. Slightly rounded would be better.

The one big thing that jumps out is the lack of pins/rivets. the thong tube and those two small pins will help, but are insufficient for good strength. It would have been better to use two larger pins and the thong tube in line to make a standard three pin handle construction.

 

[Jacob Hays]

Thanks for the feedback guys, really appreciate it.

The raised spine and sweep on the handle scales is a little different, and I would probably change it up a bit if I try it next time. I am a little worried about extending the scales like I did but the G10 seems to hold up well so far. Not sure I'd try that profile on the scales again, the contour on the leading edge of the scales sucked to get "right". Of course the only use its seen has been taking pictures and cutting a chunk off an apple when I was too lazy to find another knife in the kitchen.

Seems that the general consensus is to keep the spine on the same plane as the handle. I did take a bit of artistic license with this one and I really have no clue what I'm doing. If I were to do my first again I would have made of copy of someone's basic design just to get the feel of how to do things. Took me way to long to get this one done because I was worried about screwing up and trying to make it professional quality like you guys. I figure I need to kick out another 10 - 20 blades before I start to get a handle on the design and really the whole process. Then maybe another 50 - 100 before I start to get close to that professional quality.

Working on a Loveless drop point for my next one.

 

[Hengelo_77]

impressive for a first, I like it!
(now make more)

 

[Perrin]

I really like the simple and clean look of the pin/tube placement. Perhaps a couple hidden pins would provide adequate sheer strength for the scales with such a configuration.