Fourth Knife

[WaltE99]

Fourth knife...sort of. Been putting handles on kit blades off and on for a few years, so I guess I should say it's my fourth blade. O1 heat treated by Peters Heat Treat. Deer antler is stabilized. All crtiques welcome.

Thanks for looking.

Walt E.

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[Overmountain]

Right up my alley with a traditional hunter design. I like it. Is that stacked leather behind the guard? Good looking shape, good looking grinds and fit and finish from what I can see. Looks to be flat ground? Will make a good solid hunting blade for years to come.

I like the plunge back a bit from the heel of the blade. Sort of a partial choil, with the entirety of the blade accessible to the work. And will allow sharpening for years to come.

Putting handles on a blade is a great way to start. Honestly I wish I had started that way. I did it the old fashioned way, and then jumped back to handles only for about a year. If you are absent a belt grinder, it can change the number of knives you can complete in a season dramatically...

Peter's does great HT work, and I'm sure it will be an heirloom for you or whomever recieves it!

Nice work!

-Eric
Overmountain Knife and Tool
Overmountain.us.com

 

[rustyrazor]

right up my alley as well... started out with the exact same combo and still do one now and then. If you want to get a better shine on that leather next time, i got a pretty good system i've worked out over the years. i only use vegetable tanned leather. soak it in thompsons water seal for a few weeks... i often leave it in there for months just to soak. then when it's ready to be used, i take it and stack it in a vice then press it till it's as tight as i can get it. this ends up giving it almost the texture and feel of linolium floor tiles so it's hard, solid and waterproof, then you can work it almost like a hard plastic. once the knife is complete i use light heat and melt wax into the leather until it won't take anymore... once it cools and hardens, it'll polish up as nice as the antler and brass it's paired with.

keep on grinding

Royce

 

[WaltE99]

Thanks guys. I'm pretty happy with it overall since it's my first hidden tang ever. Only did full tang blades up to now. My biggest issue is the washed out grind lines. I'll spare the long story, but I was given coarse and medium scotchbrite type belts and that's what I used to finish this blade.

Eric, it is stacked leather behind the guard and a flat grind although the finishing belts may have convexed it a little. I have not put any finish on the leather yet because it "weeped" a bit while I was grinding it. I dyed the washers with Fiebings 2x before putting it all together. (Didn't like the color the first time.) Honestly I'm not really sure what to do next. Just gonna let it dry a few more days for now.

Royce, thanks for the idea. I have a gallon of Thompsons in my shop right now for future use. Did you dye the leather at any point?

Anyone have any ideas for what to do with the leather now?

Thanks again,

Walt

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[Craig Daniel]

I really like the look of your knife, I also make a lot of deer antler handle knives for guys around here. All you need to do is keep making knives and you will make leaps and bounds in no time.