First Knife, what do you think?

J

Jeephat

Joined
Aug 11, 2010
Messages
126
Here is my first knife.
spine1small.jpg

knife2small.jpg

knife1small.jpg

It has a semi temp handle I did just for practice. Its cedar so its not hard enough for a real handle. Its not 100% done still needs some finish/polish. It is 5160 spring steel. It is currently sanded to 400 grit other than a few flaws that I may or may not remove. I am just going to use this as a utility/shop knife so I'm not too worked about the finish. My 2nd knife is under construction too and is almost ready for HT.

Please tell me what you think. I'm not sure I really like the whole in the back now that its done. My second knife is a chopper 10in blade 1/4 thick. I am going to be working on a hunter and a bushcraft knife for my 3rd/4th. I will be posting pictures as I make some progress.
 
I like that ring at the end. I was thinking about trying that instead of a lanyard tube, but haven't gotten around to it.

The blade is a good design and solidly executed. The larger scratches aren't a big deal to me because I use my knives and expect them to get a beaten-up look after awhile. But, if you want to clean it up, go back to 220 and then move up slowly making sure to remove all of the scratches from the previous grit. I use cutting oil to lube the sandpaper, but WD40 also works very well.

For the handle, my opinion only, way too funky a shape. For practice, it's okay, but you could have accomplished that same practice on a handle with better ergonomics. Personally, I look for a handle that is comfortable in any grip, for any duration. What you've come up with will create hotspots and interrupts the flowing lines of the overall design.
 
Looks better than my first attempt. Blade shape is good general purpose design. Keep it up and you will find your niche.
 
Any hidden pins or anything keeping the scales on? Looks like it might fall off if it were to freeze and crack the epoxy. Also, the notch between the handle and the plunge line, not sure that I like it. The grind job looks good, though.
 
Mitchell Knives said:
Looks good, especially the flat grind.
Click to expand...

Its flat ground with a convex edge. I love my convex!! I'm working on shaping my bushcraft knife now and I'm playing with the idea of doing a skanti grind, but I don't know, I might just break down and put another flat ground/convex primary again.
 
zaph1 said:
Any hidden pins or anything keeping the scales on? Looks like it might fall off if it were to freeze and crack the epoxy. Also, the notch between the handle and the plunge line, not sure that I like it. The grind job looks good, though.
Click to expand...

No there are not hidden pins. Like I said its kind of a temporary/practice handle. I will be redoing it in a hardwood (or possibly micarta) with solid pins.

Here is a pic of the spine, I haven't measured it since I finished, but it started at 1/4 in. and is probably around 3/16 +/-
spine1small.jpg
 
Very good 1st knife. My 1st looked much worse. It was made from a large hacksaw blade and I ground it on a grinding wheel.

You designed and executed through completion.

You did good.
 
Thank you! What can I say I'm already an addict, I have 3 more almost ready for HT (different design) and more steel waiting!!
 
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