First Knife (Pic Heavy) need Advice.

[Blue Sasquatch]

Started my first knife, sorta. Used some scrap shop steel, low carbon, the reason was to see if I enjoyed it and possessed a knack for it, before investing money into it. So This knife won't be going through heat treat. However after seeing how things have been going I am looking into ordering some 1080 to start with and plans for a firebrick forge.

I hope all photos are small enough, I halved them.

A second 'mistake' after using scrap steel instead of knife steel, was guesstimating the correct thickness, I went with 1/4 stock instead of 1/8th :banghead

The outline on scrap steel (Supposed to resemble Benchmade Adamas (Perhaps I was doomed from the start for choosing a complex blade for my first attempt)

For the outline cut, I will be using an Ellis Band Saw, stood up anyways.

Cutting the knife.

Rough Cut, happy with it so far.

Here it is after the holes have been drilled, in comparison to my paper cut out

Industrial drill used for drilling the holes and then beveling the holes.

Said bevels

Knife cleaned up, pre-grind

After dying the blade and scribing lines with a micrometer

This is where I started to become unhappy with my knife, I used a handheld grinder to rough out the bevel before going in with a file.

Below is pretty much what I'm stuck at right now, I cant get well defined edges on the bevel, and the lines themselves are not as straight as I wanted either. disappointed with it. Am I missing out on a step, doing something wrong? Alot of other first knifes have a much cleaner edge. Any help would be great

And since then I've came in and added little grip cuts, very quick and easy to do, not as fancy as some of the file work I've seen on here, but pretty cool I thought.

Some side notes/pictures
---------------------------------

Alot of old Osage Orange fence posts out here, took some from a pile, shaped them into future blocks for handles. The band saw takes forever to cut this wood, and I have a video of a two handed grinder creating sparks from the wood. Insane.

The wood has a nice yellow/orange hue to it

Half a wood fence post is giving me 13.6 pounds of Osage Orange, here are the blocks after a water dunk, to resemble what they could look like with a finish on them

Industrial Bench Grinder that we are reviving from the dead, It should come in handy

Any comments, questions, advice, and opinions are welcome. I would appreciate any and all help on how to get a nicer edge on my bevel, the top edge, I suppose there is some terminology I should brush up on.

My father and I are in the process of making a small(ish) firebrick forge :flame:, we have many bricks from an old chimney we are going to use. So far the only cost has been a jar of that dye.

 

[zachtateknives]

Welcome to knife making. Looks like a great start. I would personally round and smooth the lower finger guard. Enjoy.

 

[JustAFleshWound]

To get crisper grind lines, draw filing is your friend.

 

[Blue Sasquatch]

Draw filing, good to know! I was using the file as you would to sharpen, mistake on my part but good to know! Thank you!

Would this knife be to far gone to try draw filing on? I don't want a 1/4 thick handle and a 1/16th thick blade

 

[JustAFleshWound]

Draw filing, good to know! I was using the file as you would to sharpen, mistake on my part but good to know! Thank you!

Would this knife be to far gone to try draw filing on? I don't want a 1/4 thick handle and a 1/16th thick blade

Using it how you would for sharpening is good for major stock removal. A lot of people (myself included) do it that way until they are almost there, and then switch to draw filing to make everything flat and crisp. You're welcome. I couldn't tell you without seeing a few up close pictures. Maybe one up close looking at the edge with something in the photo as reference and one showing just the blade portion of the whole knife.
ETA- I can't condemn you for using mild steel, I did it to see if I could do it too.

 

[grizzled gizzard]

I didn't know Osage Orange came from your part of the world. How fortunate for you!

Osage orange fence posts are beautiful! Osage orange 1.25" dowels they use to turn on a lathe don't have anywhere near those colors or grain.

In fact, the stuff I have is so plain, I was going to do a little light singe-ing to liven it up.

I'll hold onto this knowledge until I head that way for Blade.

 

[kwakn]

Draw filing, good to know! I was using the file as you would to sharpen, mistake on my part but good to know! Thank you!
Would this knife be to far gone to try draw filing on? I don't want a 1/4 thick handle and a 1/16th thick blade

Here are some ideas on using 1/4" stock.

The nice thing about learning with something thick is it gives you lots of room for error correction. No one will know you started out making a bowie and ended up with a bird and trout.

Ed
Ed

 

[Blue Sasquatch]

I'm 6'6'' and 260 lbs, so the 1/4 stock just feels right, a bit heavy but reminds me of Ka-Bar knives. Those are some pretty stout knives Ed.

Osage Orange is located more In Oklahoma and Texas I believe, out here in Eastern Colorado we just have them for fence posts, the brush itself does not grow here, I recently made a hatchet handle out of some, and it is tricky to work with, also tricky to get a section of wood that doesn't knot or have a part that cracks, however for knife handles, Im sure it works much nicer.

If you are interested Grizz, I can always mail you a block or two, or even just a section of post, and you can clean and shape it as you want.

 

[tryppyr]

And since then I've came in and added little grip cuts, very quick and easy to do, not as fancy as some of the file work I've seen on here, but pretty cool I thought.

I don't understand the purpose of the "little grip cuts" (other than to put blisters on the user's palm).

 

[JustAFleshWound]

I don't understand the purpose of the "little grip cuts" (other than to put blisters on the user's palm).

I believe they are for aesthetics.

 

[Blue Sasquatch]

The grip cuts are on more of the handle than just where the photo shows them. Google Benchmade Adamas.

They work rather well for giving you a grip, I'm a large fan of them, most commonly I seem to see them on the top of the blade, where a thumb would/could go to assist pushing the knife, in something like carving.

Don't knock it til you've tried it!

Benchmade Snody Activator has it as well, both knives are some of my favorites

 

[JustAFleshWound]

I forgot something. You should probably just put this one in a drawer as a memento and order some 1084. It's not that expensive, and in the end you will have a knife that will actually work.

 

[grizzled gizzard]

I'm 6'6'' and 260 lbs, so the 1/4 stock just feels right, a bit heavy but reminds me of Ka-Bar knives. Those are some pretty stout knives Ed.

Osage Orange is located more In Oklahoma and Texas I believe, out here in Eastern Colorado we just have them for fence posts, the brush itself does not grow here, I recently made a hatchet handle out of some, and it is tricky to work with, also tricky to get a section of wood that doesn't knot or have a part that cracks, however for knife handles, Im sure it works much nicer.

If you are interested Grizz, I can always mail you a block or two, or even just a section of post, and you can clean and shape it as you want.

That is really super nice of you to offer! Thank you very much!

I really do think that wood is simply gorgeous. PM coming! (When I get home this evening)

 

[Blue Sasquatch]

I agree with you MontyPythonHolyGrailQuote, It'll be a good memento, but not much other than that, I have ordered some 1080 steel to work with, and in the meantime I am making railroad spike knives. I will attempt to make a Benchmade Activator replica next, I know that I should probably try to be original and create something new, but with the first few knives, it is nice to have a comparison mark. I have several drawings for future knives, but until I can make more basic knives, I don't feel like my complex designs would help my advancement much.

That is really super nice of you to offer! Thank you very much!

I really do think that wood is simply gorgeous. PM coming! (When I get home this evening)

It's tricky to work with, I have been using metal working tools to manipulate the wood, and some file work for more intricate work. It took quite a big chunk of wood to get a nice hatchet handle earlier, being used as fence posts, it's not the best wood right now. . We guesstimate the wood to be around 100 years old, the rings indicate 20ish years, they have been sitting in a pile at the farm for around 25 and to the best of our knowledge about 50 years in the field. I mean give or take 10 years, but pretty damn old. (to a 24 year old )

The wood has cracks that sometimes extends all the way to the core, sometimes not, and knots like to show up as you grind down the wood, tricky stuff. Also while putting the axe head on, hammering in the spacer, the wood decided to crack instead of just spreading. But still work-able.

Below is the axe hatchet made out of Osage Orange, it does not have a finish on it, I just dipped it in water to get an idea of what it could look like. (Also the grinder tends to really force the yellow into the wood, unless it is washed off)

I will be interested to see how it works out for you!