First real try, criticism welcome

J-siah

J-siah

Joined
Jan 28, 2008
Messages
1,876
Well for the past few months I have been trying to get into knife making but I have not had the time to do so seriously.

This last week I have been sick, so the other day I spent a few hours goofing aroud in the garage adn this is what I made. Feel free to criticise constructively on any thing but my photography, Im workin on it:).

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The blade is 1/8" 1095, OAL 8.5", the edge is 3.5" and it has 120 grit finish

handles are burl Maple and the dowels are Burch

This took me about 2.5 hrs. I did nick the blade near the spine with the dremel, you can see the little scuff in the first picture.

I plan to buy some kydex to make a sheath for it, I will also get some other supplies and start making more profesional looking knives.
 
Great overall look. A little more finishing would make that a great knife.
 
how did u heat treat the blade ? u may have a hidden hamon in there depending on how u did that part of the job. also i like my scratch pattern going the length of the blade, and i think maybe u should go to around 400-600ish on the blade for finish sanding looks a little scratchy as is. the handle is very nice shape job. thats were i struggle looks real comfortable in the hand
 
2.5 Hours? Takes me that long just to temper my blades after HT...and thats just the first tempering cycle
 
Dakota 11 said:
how did u heat treat the blade ? u may have a hidden hamon in there depending on how u did that part of the job. also i like my scratch pattern going the length of the blade, and i think maybe u should go to around 400-600ish on the blade for finish sanding looks a little scratchy as is. the handle is very nice shape job. thats were i struggle looks real comfortable in the hand
Click to expand...

well thanks for the input guys.

I heat treated the blade by heating it up in a forge until it was nonmagnetic then let is soak for four minutes, then I quenched the edge for a second and put the whole blade in. I also looked for a hamon but there isn't one.

The handle turned out very good, it fits in you hand like a glove. I used 1/8" plexi-glass to test the handle shape because it can be cut and worked really fast and inexpensively.
 
Good looking knife. What kind of tools did you use to make it? I like the blade shape and the handle looks comfy.

For what it's worth, at a 120 grit finish, you have a lot of deep scratches that moisture can get into and cause rust. I would recommend finishing at a higher grit for similar high carbon blades which will add a bit more protection from corrosion which can happen quite quickly on these steels, even with decent care. You can still take your blade to a higher finish with paper if you like. I usually finish on the grinder at a 400 grit and then work from 220 grit and up, going parallel to the length of the blade. It's a personal preference, but from what I've seen, most people prefer a parallel scratch pattern, which incidentally will help minimize the appearance of scratches from sheathing/unsheathing the blade.

--nathan
 
the tools I used were for the most part a 4.5" angle grinder, craftsman 2x42" belt sander, powermatic drillpress and a dremel I also used various files.
 
As the others have said - hand sanding (before you put it together) to at least 400 grit will make a great improvement in the looks of the steel ( 1000+ will be even nicer). Go up and down the blade, not across it. The handle looks nice, but you really have to be careful with thin downward projections like that finger guard. They can break off fairly easily in use. Sanding the handle to 800-1000 and buffing by hand with a cotton cloth will make the burl wood POP a lot more,too.

It is an excellent job for a new maker, and you should be proud of it. Use the critiques given here as guidance on the next one.
Stacy
 
I sure agree with Stacy on the fingerguard. However, to me it looks like the tang may be part of the fingerguard as well. I can see it (tang) going down the middle of the two halves, so I'm betting that thefingerguard is saftied with the tang as well.
How bout it???
The only other thing would be to start using copper, brass, nickle silver, or some of the other products availiable for the dowels. I just don't feel that wood is a good dowel material (for knives).
 
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rhrocker said:
I sure agree with Stacy on the fingerguard. However, to me it looks like the tang may be part of the fingerguard as well. I can see it (tang) going down the middle of the two halves, so I'm betting that thefingerguard is saftied with the tang as well.
How bout it???
The only other thing would be to start using copper, brass, nickle silver, or some of the other products availiable for the dowels. I just don't feel that wood is a good dowel material (for knives).
Click to expand...


Yes the tang is the middle of the handguard, I would be very supprised if the wood on the finger guard ever broke, that hard Maple is some tuff stuff.

As for the dowels, I used what I had laying, which in a wood shop happend to be wood. In fact I had to put a 3/8" dowel in the drillpress and sand it till it fit the 3/16" hole.

I want to thank everybody for their input. I have received some outstanding advice.
 
For the record...

It's guys like you who come out with a first knife looking like that that make me feel like I should sell my anvil and take up needlework!

Nice job!
 
I had a full tang knife that had somewhat smaller projections on the finger guard made from micarta. That's tough stuff by anyone's book, and while fitting a kydex sheath for it, one of the small projections broke off. I had to re-finish the handle. So just beware that Murphy will make sure that anything that can happen will happen eventually. It really is a great early effort. You should be proud.

--nathan
 
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Nathan is a witness. The wood can easily snap off....the tang won't save it. In use, the forward motion of the knife will let something bump/strike the wood and it will shear along the grain lines, which are running longitudinally . Maple is hard stuff, but splits easily.
Stacy
 
I like that knife, good job!

Just $0.02 cents worth, for the next one, since the guard is wood (harder to clean) to keep it away from the action, try to extend the the raccio further from the guard.

It also offers another grip/hold with a finger forward.

Again, just two-cents worth, your on a very good track!

Here is an example of the idea I have for you. (example borrowed/googled from Harrison Custom Knives)

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