First Knife

dogman

dogman

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Jul 26, 1999
Messages
1,102
I am bouncing this in the custom knife forum, as well. For the last few months, I have been apprenticing with a professional maker. I have finished my first knife (well, I killed a few, first).

The biggest thing I have learned is that anyone can cut a blank and rough a knife out. Fit and finish are everything, and that was hammered into my head repeatedly. My biggest worry turned out to be one of my better assets...I got a grasp on grinding right away. I feel the groove and I can keep my line straight. Reading much of the info here helped as well.

Anyway, here are the gritty details:

Blade length is 3 3/8", OAL is 7 5/8"
ATS-34 blade
416 Stainless Steel Bolsters and pins
Stag scales
Hand-rubbed satin finish on blade and bolsters(I went to 220 grit because I like a more textured satin look but it is no problem to go to a finer finish)

Here are some pics:

first14sm.jpg


first15sm.jpg


first08sm.jpg


Here is a link to a bunch more pics: http://web.tampabay.rr.com/bbdogg/doggettcustomknives/

I have a couple more styles I am working on, but I am so busy, it is slow going. I will post pics of the next one ASAP.


------------------
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
George Orwell
 
that sure is a sweet looking knife! i wish i could find a pro in south east mich to work with. that must have given you a heck of a head start. chris dark

------------------
 
Awesome! GREAT work! I wish I had someone around that could help me out, too! Finishing the knife certainly is the tough part. Takes so long, too. Makes attaching and finishing handles seem easy!
biggrin.gif
BTW, I'm curious about the reasoning behind the difference in width between bolsters and scales. Is this comfy?

------------------
My Custom Kydex Sheath page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/frames.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
agocs_s@dd.palmer.edu
Madpoet (Mel Sorg, Jr.) Tribute page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/madpoet/main.html

 
Thanks, guys. Input from my peers is important to me. I have been searching my whole life for a hobby-skill-vocation-whatever that I could get a serious degree of personal satisfaction out of. It was a weird chain of events (isn't it always?) that got me into knife making.

Chiro, to answer your question, and someone correct me if I am wrong, premium stag has a lot of peaks and valleys in the ridges. If you flatten it too much, it will just disappear. It is difficult to find good straight pieces as well, so you have a curve you are working against. You can compensate by ramping the edge of the stag down to the bolsters. Putting on fatter bolsters to match the stag makes the knife look very blocky. If you look at the pics, I kept the stag just a tad wider in the back than in the front. This makes for a very comfortable handling knife. The same principles apply to some dark mammoth bark...if you cut it down too much, you might lose the color. Wood, micarta, MOP, and white ivory can be kept even with the bolsters.
 
Have you found that the lines of the knife you made/are making, end up being influenced by the person you study under? Or are you putting out a style that you feel is your own. Most of the apprentice work I have seen, and not strictly knives by any means, seem influenced by the person doing the teaching. I think it is probably inevitable in a way as the style of work can be influenced by the mechanics of the production. For one example I would refer to Audra Draper's fine work and the obvious influence derived from her tutelage under Mr. Fowler. Form following function as learned from the master. Just a question as I was trying to guess who you were learning from.

-Sam.
 
Very very nice knife, dogman. You did it the right way. For the rest of you, you might be surprised to learn that there are professional knifemakers all over, who would be happy to have someone visit and learn. Just offer to sweep up and make the coffee; most of us like the company and welcome the opportunity to teach. I spend about an hour each day teaching via email to and from people on here. I would much rather do it in person.

Trust me on this. Look in the Knives Annual and find a knifemaker to help you out. It's just that easy.

------------------
Jerry Hossom
www.hossom.com
 
Outstanding, Dogman!!!!!!! Welcome to the club!!!
biggrin.gif


------------------
<A HREF="http://www.nebsnow.com/L6steel
"Always" TARGET=_blank>http://www.nebsnow.com/L6steel
"Always</A> think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!"
 
That's your FIRST knife??? Man, maybe I should give up now.
wink.gif


If you wanted to make the scales even with the bolsters, could material be removed from the other side of the scale (the side you fastened to the tang) so that you wouldn't have to affect the surface?

Ryan


------------------
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:23


 
dogman,
Great looking blade!!!! Feels good does'nt
it.

Later,
Sashcord
confused.gif




------------------
Be alert...the world needs more lerts.
 
That's no "first" knife. If it is, I will quit too! It is more likely thie first one posted on bladeforums.com. At least, that is what I keep telling myself.

[This message has been edited by samwereb (edited 02-23-2000).]
 
Ryan,
The stag was thinning in the center and then out toward the edges. I did all the grinding on the flat side, but any thinner and it would have become narrower than the tang. The only thing I did to the outside was highlight some of the ridges with a few strokes of 120, then 220, then finish on the buffer. I was also taught that you cannot just take it in a few mm here or there. The ridges tend to stay together and you take the chance of losing a complete ridge, thus losing too much material.

------------------
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
George Orwell
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top