Found - Long Lost First Knife

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Tonight I went into the garage to get some tie-wraps. I have a great big machinists cabinet (Got it FREE years ago, for just hauling it off, weighs about 500 pounds.) that I keep all sorts of stuff in. The bottom four drawers are labeled "misc." In them are all the crap (mostly stuff that's just 'too good' to throw away,like it should be) that doesn't have a dedicated drawer. While getting the tie wraps, I browsed through the drawers and found the first knife I ever made.
I made it in 1959 or 1960. The blade was a piece of steel I found in Grandpa's garage. The handle was a deer antler from one of Dad's hunting trips.Rivets were nails.I heated it in a Hibachi and pounded it on a big block of steel Grandpa kept for such purposes.I used a ball peen hammer to do the work.When I was done,I just stuck it in a bucket of water to cool it off, not really a quench. I cut a slot in the antler with a Stanley cross-cut saw,and drilled two holes through it with a brace and bit ( I still have those tools,too).Drilled the blade to match. Good thing It was not quenched well,since I didn't drill the holes first. When done I used a Presto-Lite torch to darken (burn) the handle.
Tonight,I cleaned it up just a bit,gave the handle a quick buff, and hit the edge on a belt.Gave the rivets a few taps to tighten the handle up. Still takes a surprisingly good edge.I'm puting this on the shelf with my favorite knives.No more "misc." drawer for this one.

Here is the photo of a knife made before most of you forumites were born:

 

[rocketmann]

Stacy, I am glad that you found such a valuable link to the past!!! It really shows how far you have come in this craft!! (that really wasn't intended to rhyme ):thumbup:

 

[Justin.Mercier]

My dad has my first knife which I made a year ago this week I believe. It has horrid edge geometry (too wide an angle) but works great for cutting this cotton cloth that my dad uses when cleaning his guns, so he likes it. At least my first is someplace safe.

Very cool that you found your first, seeing what you make now and what you made back then gives a good insight into how hard work and dedication pays off.

 

[John R. Fraps]

That's Cool Stacy!
I couldn't find my first knife if I had to....

 

[Danbo]

I had to re-read the title. I thought it said, "found, long long Frost Knife"





Seriously, Very cool, to find something like that. :thumbup:

 

[sunshadow]

I know exactly where my first knife is, I haven't photographed most of the ones I have made, but this one is on my website

http://www.sunshadowdesign.com/knife/knife596.html

I haven't photographed the one I made revisiting the design except forged from a crowbar 10 years later, (some folks have seen that one at Ashokan 3 years ago), I really should photograph that one sometime, especially since I was a professional photographer for 20 years. <insert emoticon for !DUH! here>

Nice to get to look at your first.

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[jdm61]

Glad you found that little piece of personal history. :thumbup: However, I had no idea you were such a crusty OLD SOB

 

[deker]

That's extremely cool Stacy! Not a bad piece for a first knife either! You should be as proud of it as I know you are.

-d

 

[Mike Fennessy]

I like that antler color a LOT more than the best I've come up with staining them. I'm gonna try the burning for highlights. I'm sure a lot of how cool it looks is because of the patina, so I better get started