first two knives (warning pics of terribly ugly micarta)

legato1

legato1

Joined
Sep 8, 2006
Messages
1,188
My first knife was out of an old rail road spike and the second one is 5160 with homemade denim micarta handle scales.

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i was wondering what yall think of my first two knives, i used a bar-b-q put with a shopvac and a pipe for the forge and this...
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for an anvil its a piece of metal i found at the junk yard imbedded in a log. i still need to finish polishing the knives but other than that theyre pretty much done. hope i get some good input/advice/tips for next time.... thanks
 
What's with the pins? First knife aside, it's important to make sure this stuff is straight before you call it finished. Especially for something where a relitively simple solution like re-drilling the handle/handle material will fix it. Make every knife more perfect than the last (Unless it's gonna be a "rough" knife, but don't make every one a rough knife).

Also, if you're pressed for money, a good flat file will flatten your bevels up real nicely if you take your time with it.
 
Welcome to BF
looks like you have a good start, although I have to agree with Blue Dragon about the pins etc. Don't let that scare you away from posting. You will get honest critique here, but you will also get good advice. First, have you read the stickies entitled Newbies Good info here? if not, do it.
second, for laying out your pinholes, get some marking fluid (I use Dychem blue, you can also use chinese white) coat your handle area, and when it dries use a compass or a caliper to scribe a line that is parallel to your top of the handle, and centerpunch equidistant spots starting half of your spacing distance from the blade end of the handle, drill those, then use those holes for a drill guide for your scales

-Page
 
that sounds good, i have another one in the works and il use that drilling method, i sorta did this one with a hand drill and no vice or clamps, just holding it down on the table.
 
Yeah, I figured that might have been a hand drill's doing. :p A good used drill press would be a great investment.
 
Take heart and understand that everyone on here only wants to help you become better....also rest easy knowing that your first knife is about three times better than my first one. I stand corrected...about five times better...I used an old rusted M-16 bayonet blade for mine.

Welcome to Bladeforums!
 
im gonna use a drill press next time, are there any other things i can work on? i was wondering how to make the grind look even, the back required alot more metal removal to make an edge cause it was thicker than the tip i can get that even edge with stock removal but i forged this one and i made the edge thin with the hammer.. am i supposed to make the blade shape uniform thickness and then remove stock or do something else? thanks
 
Practice practice practice. Whether draw filing or grinding. You learn to feel/see if your at the right angle better, and learn to stay at the angel more easily...
 
Mate I have to give you points for the excitement and determination on those knives. Anybody can make a knife in a fully decked out work shop with a tutor helping them through it.

Grab an old bit of steel and smash a few out that is top of the heap with me.

To help you along there are a million tip on this forum. If you don't already know about annealing that is making the metal soft enough so you can file it.
Bassically when you have finished forging get the balde back up to a good red heat. If you have an old magnet the steel will become non magnetic when hot enough and then you let the metal cool slowly. SOme put the blade in a bucket of old dry ash, or lime or a dozen other things.

Remember the blade will need to be re hardened and tempered when finished.
Also the surface scale straight out of the fire will destroy your files in no time. Clean it off before filling.

I love your knife and the initiative I look forward to seeing you improve.
 
thanks, every one around me thinks im crazy for stayin up late makin all kinds of noise outside to make knives, you wont believe how may "just buy one" 's i get. but i truly love it and from what ive read its pretty good im starting early (still a student).
 
Honestly,

Coming from a rank beginner myself, I think you're off to a smashing start!

As already said, working with a mentor and a fully equipped workshop kinda takes some of the magic out of the equation, and any fool can turn out professional looking results with a true professional guiding their every move.

You have already shown that you have both the tenacisty to see a project through to completion and the creativity / flexibility to make the most of the tools and materials you have available on your current budget and education level.

Both of these are what I have found to be truly key traits in a would be bladesmith.

As you gain experience and education, the use to which you will put the tools you already have will become even more effective, and you will also learn how to select the right "next toy" for making your knives even that much better.

The best thing I can say at this point would be to keep at it. You have a very promising start there. I especially love the rustic feel of the first one you made, the rail spike knife. I've seen rail spike knives made by full time professional smiths that failed to capture the ambiance of a rail spike knife as well as you have done so.
 
Practice Practice Practice and Read all you can on this site. Look at what others are doing and go tot he How to Threads they are full of good info. and depending on where you live find some of the guys who are willing to let you visit and learn from them. They are good at what they do and unlike most other things in life these guys want to share what they know with all of us newbies So far this is the only hobie I have gotten into with this much advice and support for somone new. Enjoy.
 
"you wont believe how may "just buy one" 's i get. but i truly love it"

I know what you mean. I started out cause I saw a really cool knife that I couldn't afford. Now, thousands of dollars later and who knows how many hours... :)

WELL worth it! Keep it up.
 
Welcome!!!

I'm a newbie also!!!! Your off to a much better start then I was and currently am!!!!!!!!!

Yep, I suck!!
I wish I was able to make knives as good as yours!
I'll keep hammering and grinding and trying (just have to learn patience among many other things).
 
i hope to one day be confident enough in my skills to have my name displayed in those orange "knife maker" letters... im slowly upgrading my equiptment as well. i got a belt sander from harbor freight this week. and am hopeing to get a propane forge made before my 17th birthday.
 
legato1 said:
i hope to one day be confident enough in my skills to have my name displayed in those orange "knife maker" letters... im slowly upgrading my equiptment as well. i got a belt sander from harbor freight this week. and am hopeing to get a propane forge made before my 17th birthday.
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You can get equipment from Ellis to make a forge. I used a weed burner as the burner to forge with which isn't very efficient. I am making a homemade jerry rig forced air burner from a shopvac, a valve and some pipe! When I get it working and try forging with it I'll postup how it does and get some pictures up. It's not as high speed as a lot of the guys setup here.
 
thats what im using right now coal and a pipe with a shop vac, but it gives me an uneven heat sometimes and gets kinda frustration when you put the steel in wait 10 minutes and find out it was sitting under the white coal... cold... and sad.
 
legato1 said:
and am hoping to get a propane forge made before my 17th birthday.
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Now thats what I'm talking about, another 16 year old knife maker. :D You're off to a good start, and I think you'll find a good belt grinder can make a heck of a difference. For your first two knives, and for forging them as primitively as you did, I think you did a good job of it. Precision (Pins) and uniformity (Bevels) are two of the harder things to get when you are first starting, but they are worth working for. Keep Smashing away at the metal,
Jeff W. (Another 16 year old maker)
 
Man... I really am a late bloomer (34 in June)... just been into all this for about a year. I just did my first six sock removal blades and am sending them off for heat treat tomorrow... (I can't really run a furnace or forge while I'm renting....but I think my neighbors hate my bandsaws and ginders just the same) never even swung a forging hammer, so props to you for having the heart to jump in to all this... on the bright side, I'm hoping to buy a house outside of town soon, so maybe I'll get my forge up :-)
 
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