- Joined
- Oct 15, 2007
- Messages
- 72
Ok guys, seems like I've looked forward to this post for weeks. Here is my finished first knife. This is the linerlock folder I have been building for over a month now. You may have seen some of the previous posts with pictures along the way as I was building it. I have learned alot about making knives through this, and I think I did a pretty good job. But I still wrote down about 20 things I didn't like, or would have done differently. I will use those things I learned in the knives I build in the future.
I also want to hear you guy's opinions on it. I am not afraid of criticism, and I want the good and the bad. Tell me what you really think.
One of the guys here at work told me that I would never be able to make anyone believe that I made it. I thought that was funny. Sure I took it as a compliment, but I just don't see why I wouldn't be able to make people believe it. I had a moment yesterday when I sat back and just looked at this thing, and I could not believe I had actually pulled this off. I wish I had kept up with the hours it took to make this knife, because then I would know how long it took to make it. I drew the design on a piece of paper with a pencil and a ruler and went from there. Every single piece is made, except for the screws, which are small stainless 4-40 size, cut to fit in their locations, and the detent ball, which is a 1/16 440C stainless ball from MSC. I also ordered the teflon material to make the gaskets out of from MSC.
overall length is 7.25", Blade length is 3". Handle is about 9/16 thick. Blade is 1/8" thick.
The materials are as follows:
>Handle scales and spacer: Alminum alloy. They were Anodized satin black by a local company. The pockets for the inserts were cut with a manual mill, and finished up by hand with lots of sandpaper. The inserts are eucalyptus wood, cut from a stabilzed piece from Alpha Knife Supply.
>Liner/pocket clip: .050" thick tempered 410 stainless from Alpha Knife Supply.
>Pivot Bolt and nut, thumb studs, little spacer nuts that go between the handle spacer: All cut from stainless bolts here in the shop. I'm guessing some type of 300 series, cause a magnet will not stick to them.
>Blade: Cru-wear form Crucible Specialty Metals. Heat treated to 58 Rc. I used progressively finer sandpaper to get out the scratches..(most of them lol). I polished it afterwards by hand. The design I came up with for a logo is a half moon with a star inside of it. I etched it on the blade after polishing it. Tape was applied and then I cut the design out with a razor. A felt tip etching marker was then applied to mark it, and the tape removed. it doesn't look as good as I wanted it to; the edges aren't very crisp, but you can tell what it is. Blade metal chemistry is as follows:
Carbon 1.10%
Manganese 0.35%
Silicon 1.10%
Chromium 7.50%
Vanadium 2.40%
Tungsten 1.15%
Molybdenum 1.60%
I had to draw the blade at over 1000 degrees 4 times to get it back down from 62.5-63 Rc.
It did not want to draw, but I finally got it down. I have to say one of the most rewarding experiences was when I finally got the edge on this thing after like 2 hours of sharpening. I'm not too proud to admit it, but I cut myself a total of 5 times so far just from handling it lol, since the edge was achieved yesterday. I cannot believe how sharp this thing is, for some reason I don't feel like my old stainless walmart knife had an edge like this one.
This knife is not for sale, as it is my first knife, and I want to keep it from now on. But I was wondering what you guys might pay for a knife like this. If I were making these knives to sell, and all the wrinkles were ironed out, what would you be willing to pay? Be honest. I know one thing, I won't take less than $300 to even think about starting another one.
I want to also take this opurtunity to thank you guys for the guidance and advice, because I couldn't have don it without yall. I now have a tremendous amount of respect for what all of you do. I thought this would be a challenge, but I never thought it would turn out to be this tough. This really tested my patience, my skill, and my determination to finish it.
The first pic is some of my drawings and templates. The pics after that are the finished knife. The last one has my Leo Damascus beside it as a reference to it's size. Thanks again for looking.
I also want to hear you guy's opinions on it. I am not afraid of criticism, and I want the good and the bad. Tell me what you really think.
One of the guys here at work told me that I would never be able to make anyone believe that I made it. I thought that was funny. Sure I took it as a compliment, but I just don't see why I wouldn't be able to make people believe it. I had a moment yesterday when I sat back and just looked at this thing, and I could not believe I had actually pulled this off. I wish I had kept up with the hours it took to make this knife, because then I would know how long it took to make it. I drew the design on a piece of paper with a pencil and a ruler and went from there. Every single piece is made, except for the screws, which are small stainless 4-40 size, cut to fit in their locations, and the detent ball, which is a 1/16 440C stainless ball from MSC. I also ordered the teflon material to make the gaskets out of from MSC.
overall length is 7.25", Blade length is 3". Handle is about 9/16 thick. Blade is 1/8" thick.
The materials are as follows:
>Handle scales and spacer: Alminum alloy. They were Anodized satin black by a local company. The pockets for the inserts were cut with a manual mill, and finished up by hand with lots of sandpaper. The inserts are eucalyptus wood, cut from a stabilzed piece from Alpha Knife Supply.
>Liner/pocket clip: .050" thick tempered 410 stainless from Alpha Knife Supply.
>Pivot Bolt and nut, thumb studs, little spacer nuts that go between the handle spacer: All cut from stainless bolts here in the shop. I'm guessing some type of 300 series, cause a magnet will not stick to them.
>Blade: Cru-wear form Crucible Specialty Metals. Heat treated to 58 Rc. I used progressively finer sandpaper to get out the scratches..(most of them lol). I polished it afterwards by hand. The design I came up with for a logo is a half moon with a star inside of it. I etched it on the blade after polishing it. Tape was applied and then I cut the design out with a razor. A felt tip etching marker was then applied to mark it, and the tape removed. it doesn't look as good as I wanted it to; the edges aren't very crisp, but you can tell what it is. Blade metal chemistry is as follows:
Carbon 1.10%
Manganese 0.35%
Silicon 1.10%
Chromium 7.50%
Vanadium 2.40%
Tungsten 1.15%
Molybdenum 1.60%
I had to draw the blade at over 1000 degrees 4 times to get it back down from 62.5-63 Rc.
It did not want to draw, but I finally got it down. I have to say one of the most rewarding experiences was when I finally got the edge on this thing after like 2 hours of sharpening. I'm not too proud to admit it, but I cut myself a total of 5 times so far just from handling it lol, since the edge was achieved yesterday. I cannot believe how sharp this thing is, for some reason I don't feel like my old stainless walmart knife had an edge like this one.
This knife is not for sale, as it is my first knife, and I want to keep it from now on. But I was wondering what you guys might pay for a knife like this. If I were making these knives to sell, and all the wrinkles were ironed out, what would you be willing to pay? Be honest. I know one thing, I won't take less than $300 to even think about starting another one.
I want to also take this opurtunity to thank you guys for the guidance and advice, because I couldn't have don it without yall. I now have a tremendous amount of respect for what all of you do. I thought this would be a challenge, but I never thought it would turn out to be this tough. This really tested my patience, my skill, and my determination to finish it.
The first pic is some of my drawings and templates. The pics after that are the finished knife. The last one has my Leo Damascus beside it as a reference to it's size. Thanks again for looking.
But anyway, very good looking knife, the only thing that really catches my eye constructive critiscism wise is around some of the screws, there seems to be a bit of roughness of something. Other than that extremely good for a first knife.
