First from scratch knife. Feeling pretty happy.

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pipesnknives

Joined
Sep 13, 2012
Messages
15
Hi Guys

Long time lurker, first time poster. I have been browsing my way through this forum in a seriously unhealthy, mildly addicted way for a while now. I am amazed by the works of art and tools of utter beauty created by the amazing forum members around here. I would like to say, before I go too far, that it is always humbling to browse my way through the new posts every day and see what I can one day hope to be able to produce.

A little about me then. I made my first kit knife about a year and a half ago, just handling a blade I got at the local surplus store. I have since then made a few of these kit knives and purchased some blanks as I slowly acquired a decent set of tools to really give this a go on my own. Anyway, my birthday was a month ago and I picked up a nice order of 1084 as a present and thought I would at last give it a real go on my own.

I made this little creature, nothing like the stunning craftsmanship I have been drooling over, but something I am very proud of. It has taken a lot of work, and there are most definitely some imperfections, but you know, lessons learned.

http://i1316.photobucket.com/albums/t611/pipesnknives/IMG_5327_zpsb6f40121.jpg
http://i1316.photobucket.com/albums/t611/pipesnknives/IMG_5323_zps12da6254.jpg

It is, as I said, 1084, with a nice set of G10 scales, differential heat treat with hamon. Let me know what you guys think. Any advice on what I can do better next time would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
 
Man oh man, the more I see some of these first knife posts the more embarrassed I am becoming at my first try, granted it isn't finished yet. Nice work, and it looks pretty darn amazing for a first try!

The most important question is, how does she cut?
 
Thanks Stereo.pete. She cuts pretty darn nicely. Sharp enough that I have took a good size slab of skin off the tip of my right index finger yesterday when someone I was showing her too, dropped my poor baby and I instinctively reached out to grab her. I have a good cut but I know now that the edge will survive falling onto concrete without an issue.
 
Stereo.Pete: no need for embarrassment. Your knives are pretty good too. We all come into this obsession with certain skills. Some people have never held a tool before. Others have been machinists,welders, carpenters etc and have some background skill. I did my first four or five knives with nothing more than a few instructibles to guide me. If you start off following all of the stickies here, knife #1 will be a lot better than following the misguided garbage that is posted elsewhere.

Pipesnknives: looks very good for number 1. All I can suggest is keep going and take your time with the bevels, and finishing. There appear to be some scratches left over from the original grinding and profiling. For a first knife, one of the best I've seen, and you even used a known steel! :)
 
Willie71 thanks so much for the kind words. It means a lot to this new maker to get some positive feedback on my work. :) There definately are a few imperfections as I mentioned above, most of which were cause by slips while grinding (lessons learned). As all new makers do I am sure, I struggle to keep my patience when I am excited by seeing the end result and that has always been a step back from achieving something great. I try (though often fail) to stick to the doubling rule my grand dad taught me as a child. If it takes an hour to plan, it should take 2 to rough build, and 4 to finish, (not including those interminable waits for drying glue). I managed 1 and 2 but I think I let myself down on the 4 hours of finishing. As with anything I am going with the 10 000 hours of work before I really know what I am doing. :p
 
The 10k hour rule is well documented in psychology (my actual career.) Don't take me too seriously, I am quite new myself, just starting late last fall. You granddad sounds like a wise man.
 
Nice knife.

Can you tell us a bit about how you did the hamon? It should not run off the edge like that. As it is, it woulld indicate the tip area is soft steel.
 
Bladsmth - I did the hamon using my best impression of the clay techniques discussed on the forum. Following advise from one of the posts I started with a layer of fire cement over the spine of the blade and part way down the side of the knife. I believe that foolishly, I allowed a little too much of the cement too close to the end of the blade and this is what has led to the run off you mentioned. Quenched in canola oil and tempered. I have abused the tip some, and haven't seen appreciable bending or rolling of the edge, so I am still pretty darn happy with it as it has held up better than most of the knives I have owned in my life, but as you say, not perfect by a long shot. Lessons learned and for the next one I will be leaving a better margin around the tip during the heat treat.

Texas gun person - thanks a bunch, look forward to seeing your first go too.
 
Willie 71 - my grand dad was indeed a very smart man. We lost him a few years ago and his hard but fair assessments on anything I ever did and the things he taught me about life have been deeply missed by the entire family. I only hope that I can live up to the kind of work ethic and attention to detail he tried hard to teach me.
 
Yes, that happens sometimes.

Try and keep the clay on the spine from being too thick, and follow the edge curve as it approaches the tip. Then, wipe a little off the sipne at the tip. It should look a bit like a clip/swedge in the clay. This often makes the hamon turn back as it approaches the tip, called Boshi in Japanese.
 
Pipesnknives,

Very nice knife. I'm about to heat treat my first knife and would like to know about the heat treat method you used. I plan to go with the one brick forge. Just received the bricks today and am really excited about getting them ready for the first heat treat.
 
Bladsmth - thank you so much for the advice. It is people like you that make me love bladeforums so much. Now I cannot wait to get a-grindin on the second blade, and try out that idea. I always thought hamons were amazing on camera, but holding one in my hand now, I can only assume I have caught a fatal addiction. :D
 
Sgt John - Thank you for the compliment. Me and my new baby are feeling so much love from the community already. On heat treat, my methods are hardly the pure science and witchcraft used by some of the amazing artists on this forum, but as far as it goes, here is how I managed it. I built a small coffee can forge and, using MAPP gas brought her up to demag, then air cooled. Next I applied the fire cement (see above reply to bladsmth on where it went less than entirely perfect there) and brought her back up to demag, soaked for a bit and then quenched in canola oil. Three quick trips to the oven to temper and thats all she wrote.
 
Ya Zemapeli, I had never had a knife with a hamon present before, but I am now fully in love with them. Also first proper 1084 knife I have owned, God do they get sharp and hold an edge like a champ. Cannot wait to heat treat the second blade which is in progress now. Thanks so much for the compliment.
 
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