"First" Knives from a Perpetual Novice

T

ThePerpetualNovice

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Feb 3, 2013
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I am amazed at the quality the some of the "first knife" posts I've seen on this forum. I've been easing in to hobby knifemaking for the last six months or so and this is my first batch of knives I am relatively pleased with and am willing to show off here. If anyone is interested, I might add my earlier efforts later on in the thread to show what I thought worked and what didn't. As novice knifemaker, most of my designs are heavily influenced by existing patterns. I'll try to credit those when possible. All of the below knives are from 1/8" 1084. They all have a target hardness is 60 RC, except for the larger camp knife, which has a target of 56-58. However, considering I did the heat treat myself with a propane forge and a toaster oven, how close each knife is to that target is anybodies guess. Most of the blades are convex ground with a secondary bevel, also convex.

First up a 4" drop point (8 3/4" OAL) with tulipwood scales and green liners. This blade and coolibah burl below were inspired some of Backwoods Customs Knives blades, at least in terms of profile.

 
Next up is actually one from a previous batch, which I was able to rework into a usable knife. It actually began with the same profile as the above, but the blade snapped when I was trying to correct a warp post heat treat. Before the current batch, I used a brake drum forge to heat my blades to temp before the quench, but had some difficulty controlling the temperature and making sure the blades heated evenly. Things have gone more smoothly since I picked up the propane forge- a NC Tool Knifemaker. In any case, I hated to throw the broken blade away, so I reground it, triple normalized and triple quenched it along with my current batch. I've effectively made a "custom boxcutter," but it has actually proved to be a handy little thing. This is also one of my first attempts at Kydex work. Blade length 1 1/2", handle some thin off cuts of a heavily spalted mystery wood from the bargain bin at Woodcraft.



Here is a nicely contoured one with coolibah burl scales and red liners. 3 1/2" cutting edge, 8 1/2" overall:



Next up are two examples of my take on a classic, the Loveless Drop Point Hunter. I am sure the proportions are a little off, but I am pretty pleased by how the turned out: the handles are roomy and comfortable and the brass bolsters give them a nice weight in hand. The top one is desert ironwood, the lower in buffalo horn. Red liners on both. 4" blade length, 9" overall.



 
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My largest knife to date, this is the only one that isn't directly inspired by an existing pattern. I just felt like trying a larger knife capable of doing camp chores and batoning. I also wanted to include a substantial ricasso that could act as a forward finger choil. Also tried a bit of tooling on the sheath, with mixed results. 7 inches from tip to bolster, 11 3/4" overall.



Finally, here is another "happy accident." This one began with the same profile as the above camp knife, but like the "custom boxcutter," was from a previous batch in which I messed up the heat treat. It also snapped when trying to correct a warp, but this time I was able to salvage a decent sized blade. Brass bolsters, red liners and cocobolo handle. 4 1/2" from tip to bolster, 9 1/2" overall.

 
Very nice work!! I want to try the bolster work like yours next. I have some black buffalo horn also. Thanks for posting. May I suggest you develop a makers mark you like. I read somewhere a custom made knife needs a makers mark on it. (Going back through I noticed a couple of them have marks on them, sorry)
 
not bad man!
I wouldn't mind seeing your earlier efforts as well
 
Very nice. I am just putting together the tools I need and I can only hope my "novice" knives look as nice as yours
 
Dan you are farther along in the handle shaping department than a lot of newbies. Oh, and as you know from seeing my shop, probably farther along in the "finishing existing projects" department too. :D
 
I really dig your work. Love the wood handles and the blade shapes are right up my alley. I would love to take a class or something to be able to learn to make my own blades, its good to see someone taking that challenge. thanks for sharing and like the others, I wouldn't mind seeing the earlier efforts too
 
jdm61 said:
Dan you are farther along in the handle shaping department than a lot of newbies. Oh, and as you know from seeing my shop, probably farther along in the "finishing existing projects" department too. :D
Click to expand...

I agree.
Handles seem to be the hardest component for newer knifemakers to master and some never do.
 
Those look real good man. The handles look very professional and not like a novice to me. I am always extremely impressed with how good some peoples early efforts seem to be.
 
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