First Knife Project

A

ak650

Joined
Feb 22, 2024
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I'm new here. Couldn't find a DIY/Home Shop area, so not sure where to post this.

Having a go at my first knife, and some constructive criticism from experienced knife makers would be helpful. I bought the blank on a whim, while placing an order with SWAG Offroad. I had just purchased a heat treat oven not long ago( mainly for tooling/machine shop use ), so when I saw this item figured hell for 20 bucks, why not give it a try.

Bottle Opener/knife blank from SWAG​

I wasn't wild about the bottle opener sticking out, so that was the first thing to go. Also put a little more drop in the point. The blank was 3/16"thick, which seemed kinda clunky for it's size, so it spent a few sessions on the surface grinder, until it looked and felt right, which ended up being .160". Wasn't sure of the state of the 1095 steel, and there was no info with it, so I normalized and annealed it before starting to shape the blade, and drill holes.

Just did a straight bevel grind on the blade( using a jig, I did not hand hold it ), keeping it simple. Right off the bat started the plunge line too far back, so that's kinda permanently screwed up....oh well. Swiss cheesed the handle a bit to lighten it up, and balance it better. Rough ground the blade bevel, and then quenched and tempered. It hardened fairly well, somewhere between 60-65 RC. I think the temper was a bit too warm, as it was on the darker side of straw, and the hardess files show it between 55-60 RC. Finished grinding the bevel, and its at the 400 grit belt stage, as shown in the photo. Also dusted off the flats on the surface grinder.

Trying to decide to what level of finish to take the metal to. As ground, hand sand smooth, high polish, tumbled, etc......Not sure yet. Handle scales will be basic black canvas Micarta. Waiting on some epoxy to arrive for them. It'll likely sit idle for a few days, until the glue gets here, and then I'll post up the finished knife.

Thanks in advance for any critiquing.

TbBYd0m.jpg
 
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ak650 said:
I'm new here. Couldn't find a DIY/Home Shop area, so not sure where to post this.

Having a go at my first knife, and some constructive criticism from experienced knife makers would be helpful. I bought the blank on a whim, while placing an order with SWAG Offroad. I had just purchased a heat treat oven not long ago( mainly for tooling/machine shop use ), so when I saw this item figured hell for 20 bucks, why not give it a try.

Bottle Opener/knife blank from SWAG​

I wasn't wild about the bottle opener sticking out, so that was the first thing to go. Also put a little more drop in the point. The blank was 3/16"thick, which seemed kinda clunky for it's size, so it spent a few sessions on the surface grinder, until it looked and felt right, which ended up being .160". Wasn't sure of the state of the 1095 steel, and there was no info with it, so I normalized and annealed it before starting to shape the blade, and drill holes.

Just did a straight bevel grind on the blade( using a jig, I did not hand hold it ), keeping it simple. Right off the bat started the plunge line too far back, so that's kinda permanently screwed up....oh well. Swiss cheesed the handle a bit to lighten it up, and balance it better. Rough ground the blade bevel, and then quenched and tempered. It hardened fairly well, somewhere between 60-65 RC. I think the temper was a bit too warm, as it was on the darker side of straw, and the hardess files show it between 55-60 RC. Finished grinding the bevel, and its at the 400 grit belt stage, as shown in the photo. Also dusted off the flats on the surface grinder.

Trying to decide to what level of finish to take the metal to. As ground, hand sand smooth, high polish, tumbled, etc......Not sure yet. Handle scales will be basic black canvas Micarta. Waiting on some epoxy to arrive for them. It'll likely sit idle for a few days, until the glue gets here, and then I'll post up the finished knife.

Thanks in advance for any critiquing.

TbBYd0m.jpg
Click to expand...
I'm no maker, but I like it. Clean and simple. Looks like it should cut well. I would leave the finish on the blade as is. Since the plunge line isn't perfect, I see no advantage to putting a lot of work into polishing the blade. It will cut just as well the way it is. I think you should have stamped some sort of makers mark on it, after you annealed it, and before you heat treated the blade. Half a century from now, somebody is going to come on here saying. "I found this great old blade, anybody know who made it?"

O.B.
 
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Again, not a maker. But I like the overall profile of the blade. I'd feel plenty proud to have it in my kit. I concur re: putting a maker's mark on it.

55-60 Rockwell is pretty standard for lots of knives and can be a sweet spot between edge retention and toughness. As for level of finish on the bevels, 600 grit satin is commonly seen. Diffuse enough that scratches can blend in if not too deep. If you decide you want higher polish, you can add that later.

Great first effort and I'm looking forward to pics of the finished knife.
 
Thanks guys. The lack of a maker mark was another brain fart on my part. I meant to do so, as I have a small punch with my initials for marking tooling....but forgot. Could laser or chemical etch it later on perhaps. If it turns out to not hold an edge, it'll remain anonymous! :)
 
Welcome to Shop Talk AK,
Fill out your profile so we know where you live and a bit about you.

Posting links to sales sites is not allowed in Bladeforums. I edited the link to show what you used. A google search will find that for anyone wanting to see the source photo. Posting photos of your project is the best way to show us what you are doing.

The knife looks good as-is. Put on some handles and enjoy it.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Welcome to Shop Talk AK,
Fill out your profile so we know where you live and a bit about you.

Posting links to sales sites is not allowed in Bladeforums. I edited the link to show what you used. A google search will find that for anyone wanting to see the source photo. Posting photos of your project is the best way to show us what you are doing.

The knife looks good as-is. Put on some handles and enjoy it.
Click to expand...
Thanks Stacy, and thanks to whomever moved the post to this area. Wasn't sure if it was reserved for pro's, so I didn't know if it was appropriate for it to be here. Also updated my profile.

Discovered another possible screw up on the knife. I did not temper it immediately after hardening. It was a couple of days later actually. After quench, I stuck it in our -10F deep freeze for 6 hours, and then soaked it in vinegar overnight to remove the scale. Tempered it the following day. Not sure what effect that'll have, but have now seen a couple of procedures that say to temper immediately after it's cooled off from quenching. Should I normalize and re-heat treat?
 
Lot better than my first knife! It’s a very useful shape for a knife. I’m a pretty new maker, but I concur with what Stacy said; it looks just fine at 400 grit. Well done!
 
Welcome to the neighborhood A ak650 .

I agree with everybody else. Looks great. Just finish up the handle and enjoy.

Oh wait. Make sure the edge is around 0.005" to 0.010" (my preference on a handy knife that size). The most common issue on first knives is being too thick on the edge after sharpening.
 
Sando said:
Welcome to the neighborhood A ak650 .

I agree with everybody else. Looks great. Just finish up the handle and enjoy.

Oh wait. Make sure the edge is around 0.005" to 0.010" (my preference on a handy knife that size). The most common issue on first knives is being too thick on the edge after sharpening.
Click to expand...
Thanks. My edge thickness is .020", so I'll thin it down a bit more when my finer belt gets here this week. Appreciate the tip. I've got a 600 grit and some surface conditioning belts coming.
 
ak650 said:
Thanks. My edge thickness is .020", so I'll thin it down a bit more when my finer belt gets here this week. Appreciate the tip. I've got a 600 grit and some surface conditioning belts coming.
Click to expand...

I don't know Anything about finishing blades to make them look Nice....
But, imo. You don't want to thin an edge with 600 grit. Use a coarser grit.

Id use a fresh 80 if you have it. Coarser won't heat up that as much.
Dip in water Every pass. Light pressure, med/quick feed rate
 
Crag the Brewer said:
I don't know Anything about finishing blades to make them look Nice....
But, imo. You don't want to thin an edge with 600 grit. Use a coarser grit.

Id use a fresh 80 if you have it. Coarser won't heat up that as much.
Dip in water Every pass. Light pressure, med/quick feed rate
Click to expand...
I agree with you on the heat, I was dunking( or wiping with a wet rag ) after every swipe once I got to the finer grits....they build heat really fast! I'm afraid I don't have the touch to go back to 80 and thin, then back to 400-600 and only remove 5 thou per side. If it's still a little thick after the finishing passes, then I'll just know to take it further before going to the finer grits on the next blade.
 
I sharpen many knives on a 120grit belt. On kitchen slicers, I use a 220 grit belt. Grinder set on slow speed (20%), quick even passes. Done in 60 seconds.
I give the edge a quick buff with matchless white and then cut posterboard for a few cuts to remove any remaining wire. If you are not trained on how to use a buffer DO NOT use it on a sharpened knife. It can take a couple fingers off in a split second.

Things like a yanagi-ba are different. They get water stones and take 10-15 minutes to sharpen.
 
Lots of good advice already as you would expect here. :)
In an attempt to illustrate how far ahead of the game you already are shown is an image of my first knife, forged with a Norwegian blacksmith, forget his name but thanks all the same, at a game fair.
80crv2 quenched dull red and tempered in the fire took about a half hour all told, and a handle made from a piece of Cherry tree that was felled from my garden drilled and burned through with a hot tang. Still hard and still gets sharp.
first knife.jpg
A patronizing bit, will all you wonderful smiths please get out there and encourage every day folks to have a go swinging that hammer on hot steel.

Well done so far AK650. it only gets better. I hope you get the bug!
 
Great seeing you guys' first knives, and that you still have them! Also a big thanks for sharing your wisdom. The advent of the internet, YouTube, forums like this, etc....have certainly made the learning curve a lot less steep for folks getting started today. It was also a big help having a fair bit of machining/welding/fabricating experience first, so the info sinks in a little easier. This will definitely not be the last one, as the bug has bitten!
 
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