First Post

[Salolan]

First post, I apologize if this is the wrong place, but it would not allow me to start a thread in the gallery.

I'll start by saying I wish to thank you all for your teachings and advice, as I have been trolling this forum since I started dabbling in knife making as a hobby about a year ago. The information gained here has been invaluable and I can't even fathom the work and skill sets some of you show. I have now made about 20 knives in small batches(3 or 4 normally) and can personally see my skills improve exponentially each time I finish up a batch.

Here are some photos of the last 2 batches I finished. Everything I have made is full tang save the 4 pictured antler handles. All the blade steel is from old recycled saw blades about .125 in thickness(I know, I know... Bladsmth please be gentle with the tongue lashings for using unknown materials) and ground down (sometimes considerably) to remove the pitting/scratches.

Pictured here are all made with the same pattern, 4 1/2" blade, 9" overall, from left to right... #1 blued blade handled with black/orange home made mycarta, #2 satin finish handled in oak with green spacers, #3 handled in osage orange, and #4 handled in locust with green/yellow spacers.

Pictured here left to right, #1- 4 1/2" blade, 11 1/2" overall, handled with antler, corion and denim mycarta and #2- 4 1/2" blade, 9 1/2" overall, handled with antler, corion and black/orange mycarta.

#1- 7" blade, 12" overall, "wire" file work and engraving, handled with antler, orange spacers and corion and #2- 7" blade, 11 1/2" overall, same file work and engraving, handled in antler, maroon spacers and corion.
*Note- If I had it to do again, I would have left out the engraving as I feel it looks kind of sloppy or at least made a stencil and etched it in.

Thank you,
Chris

 

[Frank Niro]

I believe your efforts have been good ones, and certainly your work keeps improving as you go ,along. I myself started with saw blades abot 35 years ago.
I believe a huge improvement in your knives will happen when you start grinding the bevel much higher. You7r knives will perform much better as well.
Stay with it ! You are getting along well and the idea to make each better than the last is a super way to see improvement in your work. Frank

 

[P. McKinley]

Well with 20 knives under your belt, let's take stock:
-Eye for form and design
-Full tang and hidden tang designs
-Heat treating/tempering(properly executed I'm going to assume)
-Grinding, hand sanding, polishing, and sharpening
-File worked spines(pretty nicely done at that)
-Sheath making, both pouch and pancake(again, pretty nicely done)
-More than "beginner level" fit and finish
-A properly formatted post with clear photos, good grammar, punctuation, and spelling on the worlds most influential knife forum

Judging by the above list, I'd say your "work and skill set" are both coming along just fine!

As Fran said above, I think a higher grind on your .125 stock will result in much better performance and look. As well, you may find that cutting your pouch(and pancake style shown in photo #1) sheaths just a tad higher on the handles will give you better retention over time.

On your pouch sheaths for the antler handled knives, why the small slice off the tip of the spine side? Just a mistake on the one shown?

All in all, VERY nicely done!!

-Peter

 

[Willie71]

Looking good. Functional designs. I am new at this, and see how each one progresses from the last. Its nice to see isn't it?

 

[Robert Dark]

Pretty slick work. I agree with Frank and Peter........... Learn to bring those grind lines WAY on up. You will thank yourself once you have learned to do that properly.

Keep up the good work.

Robert

 

[12345678910]

Learn to bring those grind lines WAY on up. You will thank yourself once you have learned to do that properly.

I agree with that, otherwise, you could just make the blades 1/2" wide and save all that stock.

The thinner those bevels get the better it will work.
Even a "real traditional" scandi has much higher bevels

Buffing
I see you have done some buffing, but I think I see longitudinal scratches under the buffing.

Buffers are not a shortcut to fine grit finishing.
I think you should concentrate on a nice find grit finish and leave the buffer for the handle material.

 

[Salolan]

Thank you fellas for your incite, compliments and constructive criticism.

Frank(and everyone else), I completely agree that I need to bring my grind lines a lot further up. I promise to concentrate on that with my coming projects. Peter, I will also agree I needed to make the front slab of the sheaths in the first picture higher. If I understand your question, that is where the welt comes through and it seems to be over exaggerated by the sheath laying at a slight angle. 1234567890, you are correct sir, there is some scratching left. I use a belt sander up to 400 grit, then start hand sanding with 320 grit and go up to 800 or 1000 grit. When I am sanding, I don't feel as I have rushed myself and missed scratches, but it appears I have. I guess I need to start focusing more on changing directions every time I switch grits.

One thing I recently discovered, is that it is not often the one you think will be your favorite that ends up being so. During the design and fabrication stages of the antler handled knives, the knife on the right in the 2nd photo was always my least favorite. However, after completion, I think it is my favorite to date. It is far superior to the other 3 in function and usability.

Thanks again,
Chris