Help me get better please

[dfbest7]

This is one of the first knives i have made. The blade is made from stainless This is one of a few handmade knives i have made. The blade is made from stainless steel, shaped with a angle grinder, then hand sharpened on a sharpening stone. The handle is made from poplar and oak, shaped and covered in a clear gloss stain. This knife is 8 inches long with a weight of 5.5 ounces. The handle being 4 inches. Thank you

 

[dfbest7]

Double post.

 

[milesofalaska]

Always goods to see what others are up to and sharing the thrill of knife making! Looks like it was fun to make!

 

[rycen]

You need to update your usergroup.

To do this

Click on Settings (top right) -> Permissions Groups and update your group display

 

[1066vik]

what kind of stainless, how thick, how did you heat treat it, can you give a description of the thought process you used in designing the blade shape and the handles?

 

[Brian.Evans]

Do you want help improving or pats on the head? If you want real help, let us know and we will give you honest feedback. I have some, but I will withhold until I hear/see your response.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

That is pretty close to a KSO - a Knife Shaped Object. Lots of first knives are that way, so you are in a big group. How do you improve that? Start by reading up on how to make a knife, and then look at lots of knife building tutorials and WIPs. There are many on this forum.

Some areas to work on;
The blade shape isn't user friendly. A simple drop point hunter would be a good choice for your next knife.
The finish is not there at all. You just ground away some metal and called it a day. You should file the bevels in fully, sand it smooth, and finish things crisply.
Fit...well, I think you can see how poorly the blade fits the handle. It appears you glued two pieces of wood on and roughly shaped them. Look at some photos of knives on this forum and you will see how it should be attached and shaped.
The handle is very blocky and uncomfortable looking, again, look at some WIP builds by other new makers and see how a handle should be shaped.
You didn't say what kind of steel it is, but from the looks and your description, you just took a piece of steel and shaped it into a sorta-knife. To make a knife you have to use a steel that can be hardened ( most stainless won't harden), and it has to be heat treated to harden it after the preliminary shaping and sanding are done. After HT it is sanded and finished the rest of the way.


Keep at and make another using a little more time and planning. Posting a thread with sketches and you build plan is a good way to get input before you start, and guidance as you build the knife.

Take a look at this first knife build:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1087024-First-knife-done!

 

[milesofalaska]

Your age and skill level, potential ability are factors in helping. Possibly you spent as long painstakingly getting this project done as any of us spend using more tools. So another suggestion would be to get some basic tools. This can depend on your budget, and space. A belt sander and drill press might make a world of difference. If angle cutter and sharpening stone are your only tools, a knife could take years to complete. Sending a worked blade out for heat treat is a good way to handle first knives, till you get equipment. Also building kit knives at first, to get the hang of all the parts, how they go together. Much of the rough work has already been done.
Yes it’s an interesting shape you got. But I could see it being a specialty knife for single purpose, like swinging and cutting branches, like a mini cycle. Or a style used to cut bamboo or cane, or draw knife like a spoke shave. Or something futuristic in a sombie wrist cutter. Hard to find in the store or as a kit. The hint that beginning with stainless is not a best first choice was a good suggestion and agree with that. You may even have worked with already hard steel. That could be time consuming and frustrating. If so it is good to know what anneal is. All the advice might be a lot to take in. So if you enjoyed doing it, try not to give up.

 

[Patrickknives]

I don't comment on shape and use I feel that is up to you, if you like it, its perfect. The finish is pretty rough, on the blade I suggest taking a little more time and look at some of the other work on this site, or even a production knife you may own and see if you can improve your shaping and sanding. Use a solid backing for your paper, and sand carefully to get a nice finish. Try to prevent rounding of edges.

The handle needs some work, I would just take some easy to shape wood, pine? and make a few handles, once again be careful with removing material and have a shape and finish in mind. You do have a good start so don't get discouraged but you may not understand the amount of work doing a nice knife, especially by hand, requires.

Good Luck

 

[M forge]

These guys are all giving you good advise. Patrickknives has some good advise. Get a picture of a knife you like. Chosse a pretty simple one to start. Hang it up in your work area and work on your knife until it looks as close as you can get to the picture. Just my experience getting the knife to 90% finished only takes 10% of the time. It's that last 10% that seems like it takes 200% of the time.

 

[Hankins]

What MForge said!
Loose the angle grinder you will get hurt... see above thread
Visualise one knife design
Practice read practice read practice read practice read practice read the stickies above
Keep making the same blade until it reaches your vision or the picture you have of it
By the time you get there you will have learned way more than you thought you could only Then move on to the next design it will be much easier
Had I listened to this advice when starting out my learning curve would have been cut in half

 

[Hankins]

Actually a lot less expensive and harder to do is to make some out of 1/4" thick poplar hobby wood.
I still do this for designs that are new and don't "Feel" right in cardboard or posterboard. Have one on the bench right now.
It is cheap practice and HD carries it by the trim section $2 a sheet
OK so I'm high jacking the thread
This is a build I’m doing for a local gentlemen who wanted a big blade
To be certain he understood just how big the blade he wanted was I made a profile in wood… This gives you a much better feel and visual before spending all the time and money experimenting with steel
Shaping wood is far easier to screw up so you have to be careful and get your moves down pretty fast

 

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