Frustration mounting - S.O.S

[DustinY]

So, attached are some pictures of the current project. I'm going to list some pro's and cons and also give a run down of what's going on currently. Long story short - I will be visiting HSC knives here in a couple weeks to take some hands on lessons to hopefully remedy some of these struggles. Knife #2 btw - multiple failed attempts and to much frustration / unknowns to push myself to settle to create something half assed.

1. Design - my god, my tastes change before I can finish a knife. This knife handle is way to small, in both directions. Also, when you force that shape onto a handle (with it being full tang), it seems the material will always be too thick. I've been debating torching the handle to soften it and grinding it down to make it an integral. Also, you can tell by the pictures the plunges are an issue. One side had strong plunges and one side didn't. They both had them for sure, but on this most recent sanding escapade one side completely lost its plunge lines (which I prefer, multiple ways to remedy this, but I have a disk sander coming that i'll try to flatten the other side it maybe).

2. I got a radius spine & choil that I can be proud of. Not the best, but it's consistent, no highs or lows, no facets cut deeper anywhere, and that's something i'm excited about. I've also bought a buffer - so i'll be looking at figuring out the best buffs / compounds to produce the shine I want.

3. Hand sanding - this is where I need the most help. The finish seems to be taunting to get too, and I seem to be rounding off my tip (like more material is removed at the tip for some reason). You can tell what I mean by the way the light reflects off the tip. I can't believe people make knives thinner than this and manage to hand sand them, this knife has lost so much material in the hand sanding process - I'm either doing to much of it or I don't seem to get it. You can tell by the choil shot that i'm not winning any thin or TBE awards soon, but it barely seems robust enough.


Overall review, I went about this knife messed up. I ground it, and then started hand sanding - but realized it had a warp - so I stopped to shim temper it. I think I over tempered it and maybe wrecked the HT on it (it did change to a light bronze / straw color). I did this in my oven with it stuck in a very large casserole dish (sorry GF). I set the temperature to 400 and did it for 2 hours. I initially tried 1.5 hours and pulled it and took it off the jig before cool and it still had it - realized after you don't need to do it as hot or as long - just need to let it cool in the brace. Then I did all the radiuses (choil and spine) then back to hand sanding with multiple strays and having to repeat grits, etc. I'm excited to have a variable speed disk and a buffer in the shop - I just need to learn to use them and use them safe. The buffer terrifies me, so it will get respected but any advice would help or any comments. I have some smaller edc knives (one I plan to make for the kith) getting HT'ed right now, and i'll do them in batches of 5, so hopefully this will help me produce and practice things in repetition.

Choil

Rounded tip and losing material off it (check how light is bouncing off it)

Plunge line here.

Plunge line be gone.

 

[FredyCro]

I think you are to critical to your own work. Choil and the grind look even, finish looks good and the rounded tip is negligible. Don't sand over the tip, stop before you think you are there.

I understand the need to bring everything to perfection, but finish the knife and take the lessons learnt well. I would try to get rid of the plunge or leave it as is if you don't want to start sanding again.

We don't see the handle so I cant judge the length and proportion, but you could lengthen the handle by adding a piece of contrasting wood. Add the same wood on the front and it will look like it was intented. Would probably need to regrind the handle somewhat.

 

[daizee]

More pictures of the full profile?
I'd recommend against doing batches of 5 - you'll just reinforce bad habits/decisions. Instead, complete every blade in reasonable time, and put each one into use to learn from all your decisions along the way. Start the next one immediately, as you will have already learned things halfway through the process.
Quality will be iterative. Do your best with each, but recognize that your best isn't THE best yet, and that your degree of skill will increase with each successive blade. But until you complete the entire blade, you won't fully appreciate how early decisions shake out later in the process and also affect the final result.

Keep at it!

 

[Cushing H.]

Dustin - i am nube also, so take these two comments with the required grain of salt . but first, ad others ave said, there is a lot of good in this blade - you are being too hard on yourself!
1) it looks like the grind is not quite even from one side to the other. Do you scribe the centerline of the edge before you start grinding? I found doing so helped me a lot.
2) do you use a file guide? I have only done a couple blades with a plunge, but i found that the file guide made setting the plunge incredibly easy and accurate.

good work!

 

[Busto]

When I read about people that are hard on themselves I often think of friends that play GOLF. They constantly complain of how bad their game is and that with this "GADGET or New CLUB" it will Magically Improve their Game. Unfortunately when I ask how the new item worked out they scoff and say they need something else. Well when I hear about a "PRO Golfer" using a "Swing" coach to help improve their game I understand why my friends struggle. Sometimes it takes another "EYE" to see where you are missing the mark on your builds...Money spent on Technical Advice from Professional Sources with hands on training can be money well spent.

 

[Brock Cutlery]

esign - my god, my tastes change before I can finish a knife.

Hand sanding - this is where I need the most help. The finish seems to be taunting to get too, and I seem to be rounding off my tip (like more material is removed at the tip for some reason). You can tell what I mean by the way the light reflects off the tip. I can't believe people make knives thinner than this and manage to hand sand them, this knife has lost so much material in the hand sanding process - I'm either doing to much of it or I don't seem to get it. You can tell by the choil shot that i'm not winning any thin or TBE awards soon, but it barely seems robust enough.

As a new maker my 'taste' continually changed. This was largely due to just understanding more about knife configuration both for use and for beauty as I learned more. I wouldn't worry about that too much in the beginning.
Just make yourself push through, as others have suggested. Make the danged knife!
The next one will be better in most cases and you will improve with time.

There is a lot to learn about hand sanding, and it does start on the grinder. I remember lamenting my first hand sanding session took something like 16 hours. LOL. That was crazy.
Now it takes a few, and isn't so much intense sanding as it is refining the finish. If you ever want a sanding workshop let me know man.
Your tip is rounding my guess is because you are using pull strokes only and not push. Pull strokes can tend to end strong on the tip, which is already a lot less metal that the rest of the blade, so it rounds relatively quickly.
Push strokes can be learned and have several advantages over pull in several ways. I use both by the way, but tend to end on pull strokes for a refined finish.

 

[Brock Cutlery]

Also, Harbeer is a good talented maker and you should be able to learn a lot from him!

 

[DustinY]

Dustin - i am nube also, so take these two comments with the required grain of salt . but first, ad others ave said, there is a lot of good in this blade - you are being too hard on yourself!
1) it looks like the grind is not quite even from one side to the other. Do you scribe the centerline of the edge before you start grinding? I found doing so helped me a lot.
2) do you use a file guide? I have only done a couple blades with a plunge, but i found that the file guide made setting the plunge incredibly easy and accurate.

good work!

I do both of these