Hello fellow forum members!

[viral]

Hello everyone, my name is joe. I'm 24 and have been tinkering with the idea of making knives for a few years but lived in the dorms in college and couldn't afford it. I put scales on a few blanks but nothing too neat. I graduated college and got a job with Budweiser after a brief stint in Alaska. Now I've got a house with a shop and I have started actually making knives. Or at least attempting to. I do not have a grinder so all my bevels are cut in by hand with a file. I use a 1x30 but only on handles. I really like the laminating of different woods for the contrasting colors. Plus I really like native woods. But I've had a hard time finding dry enough stock. So most of my knife wood will be hanging out for a couple years drying. But I've finished a knife that I made for a friend. I would say it is my third complete knife. I didn't rush anything on this one. The knife is for a friend, he requested jimping and the finger grooves. God, those finger grooves make sanding a pain. But it's done now. I really like how it turned out. I have no idea what the wood is. I bought it from an exotic wood scrap bin at a hardwood lumber store. But it was a good size chunk for $5. When I dipped it in poly it went from a cream to the current color and I think it looks killer. On to the photos!


The last one is some quartersawn oak over osage that my neighbor gave me.
I'm glad to have blade forums on my side, without it... I'd still be using my angle grinder on some mild steel.

 

[ncrockclimb]

I am not a knife maker or even an aficionado of fixed blades, but I think that knife looks awesome!

 

[Lo/Rez]

Those are very nice looking knives.

 

[jwesthurl]

Very nice! What are the pins and lanyard tube on the first knife? Copper?

 

[i4Marc]

You're off to an excellent start!

 

[Frank Niro]

Nice doin's ! Keep it up.
Frank

 

[bronyblacksmith]

looks good. are you a fan of fiddleback Forge by chance if so I see a strong influence

 

[viral]

Thanks for the compliments. The first knife pictured has micarta pins and micarta lanyard tube.

Yes I am a fan of fiddleback forge. They make gorgeous knives that function well.

I etch my flats for two reasons, so I don't have to hand sand as much and also because I think it's cool. I've been trying different approaches to get something more unique and different but I havnt had luck.

 

[steve o]

Awesome knife. Great job. :thumbup:

 

[EyeDog]

Great looking knife. Keep it going.
Mike

 

[trestle]

Great start Joe, keep at it. :thumbup:

 

[viral]

So I have been working on a few blades and these two I finished in the last few days. The first one has bocote over Purple Heart and I love it. The bocote finished up really nice. The second one with the Scandi, which is at about 24.5 degrees inclusive. It has black walnut over osage. The scales are short because after glue up when I started finishing them, there was a crack in one the walnut scales. So i sanded past it and it came out a little short and I'm bummed about it. But I think overall they look good. My grinds are getting better and the Scandi turned out well. I'm learning s little bit more each time.

The most important thing I've learned so far is that harbor freight sand paper sucks so bad It makes me almost cry.

 

[Cactus Kid]

You do great work Viral, keep it up!!!

 

[AVigil]

Nice work

You are going great

 

[John Katt]

The most important thing I've learned so far is that harbor freight sand paper sucks so bad It makes me almost cry.

There seems to be a large vacuum surrounding most things from harbor freight