First forged blade

S.Alexander

S.Alexander

Joined
Jul 7, 2013
Messages
2,614
Here is my very first attempt at forging a knife. I forged this from 1/2" W1 drill rod, with 1% carbon.

I know that some people jump right in to forging on their first knives, but I'm glad that I had the previous experience doing stock removal blades beforehand. It made the design process a little easier as I knew how to design a knife in the first place.

Overall it was a good learning experience, and I'll have to do a few more. On the next one I will try for a hamon.

Here are the specs:


Blade:
OAL: 7-5/8"
Blade length: 3-1/4"
Height: 11/16"
Thickness: .145 at the ricasso. Distally tapered.
Hand rubbed finish

Handle:
Curly Hawaiian Mango (there's an inclusion in the wood on the presentation side. Doesn't effect the knife at all).
Sculpted ergonomic handle
Nickel Silver guard
Stainless pin












 
Gorgeous blade. Just my style. I checked the marketplace quick to see if it was for sale and wouldn't ya know it, I was too late. Look forward to seeing more of your work sir.
 
Well thanks very much guys. I have a bunch of w1 rod that I still have to beat into submission!
 
Great job Shane. You did not have to put my initials on it, but I appreciate the thought :)

What strikes me first is how great the handle looks. Stunning wood and a well shaped guard/handle package.
The blade is perfectly made in its own right.

However, the blade seems dwarfed by the handle. The ricasso gap catches the eye as a "what's wrong here?" place. It looks like the blade should be either 25% larger or the handle 25% smaller. I would have gone for the larger blade. With the dropped edge from the ricasso, it seems that the edge should be lower than the finger guard....or at least even with it. I would have made the ricasso 1/8" wider, so it matched the handle height better, and dropped the blade 1/4" more below the guard tip. That would have given a more balanced "Bowie-esque" look. The final blade would have been 15/16" instead of 11/16"
 
Thanks for the comments and critiques Stacy. I wish I could have stretched the bar out a little bit more to make the blade wider.
 
That's a beautiful knife! Please forgive my ignorance, but what is the section of metal between the blade and the guard for? That mango is gorgeous, beautiful piece!!!!
 
Nic. said:
That's a beautiful knife! Please forgive my ignorance, but what is the section of metal between the blade and the guard for? That mango is gorgeous, beautiful piece!!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks Nic. That's just the style of knife. Similar to a modern Bowie style. It makes it easy to sharpen the edge too.
 
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