First time, cheers jeers and direction please.

W

watty

Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
18
So, ive built a few knifes that i have rushed thru and not paid attention to finish quality. Inspired by all the information here i have started to slow down and make a higher quality knife.

All of the work has been done with a 1x30 delta belt grinder i got at a garage sale. Hand files, hack saw, sand paper and a drill press i just recently purchased.

The steel is 1084 i purchased from aldo Its 3/16 thick and the knife was cut with a hacksaw from 5"x48" stock. (In retrospec buying that dimension of stock was a mistake. Makes for alot of work with a hacksaw)

I plan on finishing the knife with black micarta epoxied and pinned with stainless steel pins and tube for the lanyard hole. taking the finish to 600grit.

Cutting plunges on this 1x30 has been a learning experience but i am getting better at it.

Any advice would be welcomed.

http://1drv.ms/1ihdjtG/[IMG]
[IMG]http://1drv.ms/1VQHgPy
 
Maybe this will work better.

20150907_111318.jpg
[/URL]

20150907_122902.jpg
[/URL]
 
Last edited:
looks good.
I prefer to make the bevel line with a round chain saw file. I prefer that look
Only cut 2/3 the hight you want it to become
Keep it up
 
I used to use a chainsaw file also for my plunges back before building my 2x72. I like the profile. Keep at it!

Jay
 
Well, ive taken this one as far as i can. Next one i will pay more attention to finish.. better sanding on the blade.

20150915_170625.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

20150915_000738.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

20150915_170637.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

20150915_170656.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
That looks like a good knife to me - looks good, and should be very functional. Good job. How does it feel in hand?
 
It feels tang heavy. The next one im working on currently is going to have a tapered tang and im going to drill some holes under the handle.
Thanks for the kind words.
 
I like the shape of this one. It's an attractive design and it looks like a very useful knife.
 
Hengelo_77 said:
looks good.
I prefer to make the bevel line with a round chain saw file. I prefer that look
Only cut 2/3 the hight you want it to become
Keep it up
Click to expand...

I really like the crispness of his plunge line.
Are you saying that you like a less crisp, more flowing, plunge line?
 
My fiancée says I have to either quit knife making or find a different way to test sharpness... she says spotty shaved spots on my arm are "weird". Any ideas?
 
Cut paper and cardboard.

We mail out flyer cards for special sales events. They are stiff gloss cardstock. We always have a couple boxes of unmailed cards for each event. I take them home and keep a box by the grinder. As I sharpen, I check for smoothness of edge and keenness of cutting by slicing off 1/2" wide strips.

A ream of printer paper will do the same thing.



Lets go back to your statement earlier:
You said it feels tang heavy. That is because the handle is pretty fat and the steel is too thick for such a short knife. The handle is barely rounded at the corners. It suffers from the newbie disorder called BHS ( Blocky Handle Syndrome).

Make the handle an oval or egg shape cross section, and not too fat. Tapering the tang is a good feature, but get your handle shapes refined before you move to that stage. The actual tang adds very little to the heaviness, but the handle adds a lot.

Using .08" to .12" stock would help a lot. 3/16" stock is for big choppers. A knife this size actually cuts and feels best with 1/16" stock, IMHO. Putting distal taper in the blade is also very important for thicker blades. I put a distal taper in nearly every blade I grind.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the reply. It definitely confirms many things ive been thinking. Ill go back to work on my handles.
 
Great job watty , looks functional. What kind of set up do you have for a jig with that type of sander? Looks like an interesting set up!
 
Thank you. I am trying to learn the craft. The information on this forum has been of great help! Here is one i am about to finish up.
Still to do:
Final hand sanding and finishing of handle.
Make a sheath
Ill post some pictures of the final knife.

What i did different from ver 1.0 to ver 2.0
Tapered the tang.
Drilled some holes in the tang.
Included a hole at the end of the edge next to the ricasso. (I dont know what to call that.)
Filed some grip at the top of the spine where i like yo put my thumb.
I also went alot further in shaping the handle trying to think about stacey's advice.

Please let me know what you think and what i could do to improve the design, fit, finish and craftsmanship.



 
Overall profile is quite good.
Handle shape is much improved.
Taper on the tang is also good. Looks like the blade part could use more distal taper (next knife).
The semi-circle at the ricasso is called a "choil".

The attempt at jimping (the grooves you put in the spine and handle) did not work out so good, as I am sure you know. Taking them down on the handle was a bad idea. Jimping is only done on the spine, and should be neat, tight, and small. In reality, it does nothing much for grip and can create a hot spot to irritate your thumb. Most experienced makers leave it off.

It looks like the front pin didn't go all the way through and there is only epoxy showing in the hole?

Chamfer the thong hole inside edge just a tad to take the sharpness off.
 
Thanks for the reply! I agree. I dont think ill do jimping, as you call it on the next knife.
I still am not sure how to acheive the distel taper on the blade however. Is this something that is done prior to grinding bevels?

The pin is infact all the way thru, that is just an effect of my poor photography skills.

The chamfering of the rear tube will be done with final clean up.

Thank you for the tips. Happy to hear them!
 
Distal taper (meaning tapering away from) is simplest to do after the blade is profiled, and before the bevels. You file or grind the blade from the ricasso to the tip to thin it evenly. I use a large grinding magnet and the flat platen, and do the whole side at one time. I flip it over and repeat on the other side. Then I flatten the tang ( or taper it) and make the ricasso even. From there it is the bevels and the details.

With some skill, you can do the bevels and the taper at the same time, but it is much harder to keep things even that way.
 
A round plunge, such as the one you get from a chain saw file, is much stronger than one with a 90* angle. The sharp angled plunge is a stress riser so when you put a bending force on the blade it will snap there. It makes a huge difference.

Tim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top