First three done, Brutal honesty please

Redmeadow Knives

Redmeadow Knives

John Conner
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Aug 29, 2010
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The cord wrap and sgian dubh are 5/32 O1.
The larger one is 3/16 O1.
Forced patina by slicing a lime after coating with mustard.

Don't hold back please, all comments welcome. I'm trying to learn.

-Lim
 
bottom 2 are great, they will target a very large market. the top one if very particular. it looks front heavy. i like them all though. and for 3 first knives,,,A1
 
Good start for the first three!
sgian dubh has too much curve in the handle
 
Brutal honesty here we come.

I think the sgian dubh's handles, despite your intentions of making them ergonomic, have overly emphasized humps. The spine grip serrations look out of place.

I like the rustic look of the second and third one.
 
Thanks guys, keep them coming.

I agree about the Sgian Dubh, it was modeled after an ornamental knife that a good friend of mine had. He wanted the same design but a heavier "user" version of it. I would like to make another with more of a Dirk shape handle and lose the hump in the middle altogether (if that makes sense).
 
Tha craftsmanship looks nice on all three. For being your first three they look great. I think as the other guys that the first one needs the handle shaped more ergonomic. Great job all in all. Keep it going.
 
Brutally honest response? They're all really great for your first knives.

The only thing i would have to say is I would love the larger camp styled knife if the patina wasn't there. A bright machine/scotchbrite finish would look great IMO on that knife.
 
Brutally honest. First one does not work well for me, as noted by others, second and third are OK. Hard to tell a lot from pics but looks like you are on the right track. build ten more and these will embarrass you. Build 100 more and you will have a real good laugh over them. :D

Good start, keep it up.
Eric
 
Ditto on the sgian dubh, and I would add that these should never be made with a synthetic handle material -- there's just no point to it as it's a traditional knife that is just not very practical in the 21st Century; if you want one, it's due to some Scottish thing (spoken by a Scotsman, btw).

I don't care for the middle knife at all; the blade is much too wide for the handle size and blade length, unless you're after some mini-butcher knife look.

I like the bottom knife. You did a nice job for a creative look, blade grind and cord wrapping. It would be more practical at twice the size, IMO. I've seen much worse as early knives from makers who went on to be some of the very best, so I'm sure you're going to improve by leaps and bounds.
 
I really like the rustic look of the middle one and I like the cord wrapped one as well. But I'm going with the same opinion as everyone else on the first one.
 
I would say someone has been paying attention in class. The work is very well done, from what I can see. It's hard to judge fairly from pictures. Keep grindin'

Design is another element. The sgian dubh as others have mentioned needs attention to shape and proportion. You aren't that far off. The middle knife is ok. The blade strikes me as a bit wide. Again, that could be the picture. The wrapped dagger is nice. I found making the pointy triangle blade daggers to be a good way to learn control while grinding. Working down to the tip with out screwing it up can be a challenge.

Well done!
 
Great input, I'm listening. Already drawing up a sgian dubh based on the comments.
The middle knife is 1 1/4" in height, I think I'll go 1 or 1 1/16" on the next, it does feel a bit wide.

BowieBooster- yep, it's a Scottish thing, material suggestion?
Dirk-I really like the pocket scalpel on your site. Great Eli Wallach quote by the way.
 
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