First knife design critique / WIP (Almost Finished)

That is a really nice blade.
Take a look at the "Python" micarta USA Knifemakers has now. It is really nice on a hunter.
 
I do hope you keep it, I still have my first ones,they are still my faves. even after 30 years. You just can't beat a drop point with some belly, keep up the good work. wayne
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
That is a really nice blade.
Take a look at the "Python" micarta USA Knifemakers has now. It is really nice on a hunter.
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Thanks Stacy, I appreciate it. I'll check it out for sure, I plan on branching out on the handle materials. I think in the future I might go with CPM-154 on this design as well, I wanted to get a baseline with this in 440C first though and see how I like it and then experiment with different options later.
 
here is what it looks like:
https://usaknifemaker.com/canvas-python-canvas-1-4-knife-handle-material.html
python-can---web-ds_1.jpg
 
I really need to send this thing out for heat treating, but then I keep rethinking things trying to make sure I have it close to how I want it before it's 60 RC and much harder to work with. I added another hole in the handle to help some with balance and I ground the edge down slightly more to .04. I felt like maybe I left too much before.

I bought some more G10 liners, vulcanized fiber spacers and Trizact belts to try as well. I'm going to try to get the post office early this week to send it out.

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Oh and I have two surface plates because I bought the smaller one first, then when telling an older machinist at work about it he told me he had a surface plate in his basement he hadn't used in 20 years so he decided to give it to me. Now I just use one for sanding on, might use it for tooling leather too and then the other just for measurements and layout. He gave me a 12 inch vernier height gauge as well, really nice guy.
 
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Maybe tape up handle material an liners to the blade to judge a little better were the balance point will be. Try an allow for how much material will be removed when shapeing them. I think it is going to be a great one,can't wait to see it finished!!! Wayne
 
wayneblocker5369 said:
An was wondering what type of vice liners those were an wear can u get them? Thanks
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I think they're Yost brand, same as the vice. Though I'm sure they're just generic chinese stuff. They work pretty good though, I wrap the blade in a paper towel and then use them and I haven't had any scratches.

https://www.amazon.com/Yost-MU360-U...ost+soft+jaws&qid=1556493370&s=gateway&sr=8-2

I have some mock up handle scales I made for that earlier template they don't fit totally right on this one since I changed the pin location some, but it helps give an idea of weight. Thanks for all the kind words and advice as well!
 
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I will pass on some advice that Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith has posted. (If I got this wrong please correct me) That is to oversize the holes for the bolts. It makes it easier to fit the final scales on the knife and let's the epoxy connect to both sides.

Just my 2 cents on the sharpening choil. I love them. I have been using knives as long as I can remember so even as a newer maker I can pretty much state that is a opinion thing. I have never had problems with them in use either. I can tell you that it breaks up the lines of your knife. I have been pretty pissed at myself for screwing up the lines on a large knife when I added a small sharpening choil. In my humble opinion they are subjective. There are a few Youtubers making videos where they add them to production knifes that didn't come with one. I think it depends on the knife and the end user.

Great looking knife. If that's some of your first grinds you are doing awesome. Please follow up and let us see the finished product.
 
Storm W said:
I will pass on some advice that Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith has posted. (If I got this wrong please correct me) That is to oversize the holes for the bolts. It makes it easier to fit the final scales on the knife and let's the epoxy connect to both sides.

Just my 2 cents on the sharpening choil. I love them. I have been using knives as long as I can remember so even as a newer maker I can pretty much state that is a opinion thing. I have never had problems with them in use either. I can tell you that it breaks up the lines of your knife. I have been pretty pissed at myself for screwing up the lines on a large knife when I added a small sharpening choil. In my humble opinion they are subjective. There are a few Youtubers making videos where they add them to production knifes that didn't come with one. I think it depends on the knife and the end user.

Great looking knife. If that's some of your first grinds you are doing awesome. Please follow up and let us see the finished product.
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I personally like a sharpening notch / choil on all of my knives or some sort of separation from the ricasso. It drives me crazy when I'm sharpening and the grind get's wider toward the ricasso and I can't fully sharpen the edge without doing some major grinding.

This is my first knife, and design but I've done a few regrinds of production knives and I've been sharpening and using knives for around 25 years. I've also had the benefit of reading this forum most of my adult life, as well as youtube videos and books so I'm lucky there. I've saved and spent a lot of money on this craft so far, and I figure I've still got a lot of spending to do as well so I'm hoping to do the best I can and hopefully be able to sell enough in the future to keep going.

Appreciate the feed back and kind words!
 
Ok, knife was sent to Peters today. It's been many years waiting to get to this point, so to have it out of my control is somewhat nerve wracking.

Here's some pictures at 220 grit before she left.

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While it's out I'll be cutting out more blanks, I'll make sure to send @Larrin the end cut after I surface grind it. I haven't forgot!

Also I'm working on some sanding blocks, I surface ground some pieces at work and I bought some SBR (Styrene Butalliane Rubber) in both .062 and .125 thickness at a 70A Durometer firmness. Slightly firmer than my contact wheel so I don't believe it'll wash out the crisp lines but perhaps should help with higher grit finishes. I modeled the sanding block loosely off of @NickWheeler designs from his hand sanding videos so if you see this thanks Nick! I'll post some pictures of the next blanks and the sanding blocks while the current blade is out.

Thanks for following guys!
 
Very clean an crisp, Peters is the best imho. You should be very proud, like I dont know that already. Keep up the good work!!! Btw orders two sets of the vice liners today thanks for the tip. wayne
 
wayneblocker5369 said:
Very clean an crisp, Peters is the best imho. You should be very proud, like I dont know that already. Keep up the good work!!! Btw orders two sets of the vice liners today thanks for the tip. wayne
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Thanks Wayne, appreciate it. I'll be all nerves until it get's back from heat treat hah. Yeah those magnetic vise liners are nice, the Yost vise that swivels with the locking pin is nice too good for positioning the knife.
 
So the first blade is at Peter's now, I spoke with Brad Stallsmith via e-mail and he was very professional and informative. I feel like I made the right choice so far choosing them. In the mean time I went out in the shop tonight and decided to lay out and cut out 7 more blanks.


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15focpl.jpg


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Here is the start of one of my sanding blocks, I've only surface ground the block and got to grinding one chamfer so far to make it easier to wrap sand paper. The SBR is very firm, I can barely compress it when pinching it I think it should make a good backing material. It's supposedly abrasion and solvent resistant as well.

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I'll keep occupying myself with these projects until the original blade get's back, I'll keep the thread updated as I go. Thanks for following!
 
Lookin good! Have you purchased any scale material yet?

Just a personal preference, but I like to do my hand sanding with a hard back and then merely do the last grit or two (depend on geometry) with a "soft" backing like you showed above. I just use a piece of paper micarta (about 1 1/4" x 5") for the main sanding backing and then the opposite side of it has a thin piece of high duro gasket material super glued on it, which was just some left over cut-offs from the "soft" back disc I made for my disc grinder for higher grits. That material you have above sounds perfect for especially the finishing grits and passes.

I've found the hard(er) backing helps keep everything crisp while going up through the grits and then soft helps to blend and smooth the scratch pattern. The hard backing is nice for for sanding the ricasso and the start of the tang without rounding over the edge of plunge or rounding over the top and bottom edges (spine) of the tang, as well as for sanding clips or swedges without washing out the transitions from clip to bevel. You'll probably find yourself making at least a couple of different sanding sticks in various shapes, sizes, and/or materials after a while.

Another thing, which honestly may not matter much to you, is that it looks like you can save at least an extra 1/2" of steel per blade by moving the tips closer in to the blade's belly and just make the cut at an angle, which may leave you with enough extra steel at the end to make a smaller knife. Like I said, it probably doesn't matter much, but I'm cheap like that lol, so I like to as much extra length as I can. You might have enough for something like a smaller kiridashi that you can sell off to use the cash for an extra bar of steel or some belts etc.

Anyway, this may or may not be helpful so take it for what it's worth. :)


~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (Just some older videos of some knives I've made in the past)
 
DevinT said:
Dude, what we actually make as knife makers is dirt. After you sweep up, there should be a knife left. Let’s have a pic with some dirt.

Hoss
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Hoss, I'm sure that when profiling and beveling the next 7+ knives at the sametime it will make plenty of dirt I'll be sure to take some pictures before I clean up for you heh.
 
coldsteelburns said:
Lookin good! Have you purchased any scale material yet?

Just a personal preference, but I like to do my hand sanding with a hard back and then merely do the last grit or two (depend on geometry) with a "soft" backing like you showed above. I just use a piece of paper micarta (about 1 1/4" x 5") for the main sanding backing and then the opposite side of it has a thin piece of high duro gasket material super glued on it, which was just some left over cut-offs from the "soft" back disc I made for my disc grinder for higher grits. That material you have above sounds perfect for especially the finishing grits and passes.

I've found the hard(er) backing helps keep everything crisp while going up through the grits and then soft helps to blend and smooth the scratch pattern. The hard backing is nice for for sanding the ricasso and the start of the tang without rounding over the edge of plunge or rounding over the top and bottom edges (spine) of the tang, as well as for sanding clips or swedges without washing out the transitions from clip to bevel. You'll probably find yourself making at least a couple of different sanding sticks in various shapes, sizes, and/or materials after a while.

Another thing, which honestly may not matter much to you, is that it looks like you can save at least an extra 1/2" of steel per blade by moving the tips closer in to the blade's belly and just make the cut at an angle, which may leave you with enough extra steel at the end to make a smaller knife. Like I said, it probably doesn't matter much, but I'm cheap like that lol, so I like to as much extra length as I can. You might have enough for something like a smaller kiridashi that you can sell off to use the cash for an extra bar of steel or some belts etc.

Anyway, this may or may not be helpful so take it for what it's worth. :)


~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (Just some older videos of some knives I've made in the past)
Click to expand...

As far as the sanding blocks go I plan on making a few different ones. I've just been using a piece of flat steel stock for rough sanding and it's worked out well so far. I'm going to experiment with this SBR in different thickness's and hardness levels for finish sanding.

I can't really get anything more out of the bar by moving the pattern closer together and my saw blade wanders a lot since I can't get the guide to go down any more so I leave a little extra space in between for that. I rather waste a little bit more steel than cut into the pattern by accident.

I bought some black, olive green, and tan canvas Micarta so far. I also got multiple different colors of G10 and vulcanized fiber spacer material to go with it. I'm looking at a few different colors of Micarta and G10 though still, and I might buy some cocobolo wood off of a local maker I've been talking with as well.

Thanks for the advice and for following the thread Paul, appreciate it!
 
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