Knife #1 finished - First Shop Talk post under real name

Erin Burke

Erin Burke

KnifeMaker...ish
Joined
May 19, 2003
Messages
1,330
I finally finished my first knife and thought that this would be an auspicious time to start posting under my real name. I have been posting for the past year (or so) under the name Hypocrite. In fact, a WIP thread for this particular knife can be found HERE.

Sorry for the photo quality... I am still experimenting with this light-box thing.

3567304071_ab1a5b26e4_o.jpg


I have a very fragile ego... so only positive comments please. :p:D
(Just kidding... tell me what you think.)

*EDIT*
Specs:
Length: 7-3/4"
Blade: 3" (tip to plunge)
Steel: 3/16" 1080 (from Kelly Cupples)
Flat-Ground w/ tapered-tang
Handle: stabilized black ash burl w/ 416ss pins

Erin Burke
(aka Hypocrite)
 
Last edited:
Erin Burke said:
I have a very fragile ego... so only positive comments please. :p:D
(Just kidding... tell me what you think.)
Click to expand...

Isn't Erin a girl's name :(

Just messin with you, the knife looks great. How does it feel in the hand? I would have figured the palm might feel strange since there isn't much handle there?
 
awesome work! looks like burl wood. very intricate incription of your name. can you tell me how you did it so precisely? what tool you used.

thanks a bunch
 
As others have said: way way way better than my first! Great job, Erin. You have an outstanding future ahead of you with solid work like that. Keep 'em coming!

--nathan
 
bradpierson26 said:
awesome work! looks like burl wood. very intricate incription of your name. can you tell me how you did it so precisely? what tool you used.

thanks a bunch
Click to expand...

Brad,

You're right, the handle scales are stabilized black ash BURL. I made the change to my original post. Good catch.:thumbup:

I put my name on the blade with an electro-etcher unit that I built using plans from the internet. I got my etching stencil from Ernie Grospitch.

Erin
 
Nice job !:thumbup: I really like black ash burl.

One thing I would look at and decide if you want to change on the next one is the direction of the name. Try one going the other way, and see which looks best.
Another is to possibly make the choil ( small round cut out in the blade edge) a tad smaller.
Stacy
 
Beautiful knife! Excellent work! Keep showing your work
The photo is quite good too. I really like the setting. The following is NOT a criticism, but only me having fun. If you edited your photo in Photoshop, you could change the overall color to more neutral, but I like and prefer the atmosphere as is. You could also use a graduated mask on the knife blade and slightly darken the point end of the knife, gradually fading to no darkening by your name which is just right; that way the blade would show up more. Or you could use "recover" in Adobe Lightroom (an excellent editor to use before transfering a photo to Photoshop) and bring back the highlights a little.
The same effect might come from pulling your light back a little to broaden it more, or making sure it is not directly over the blade, though you were able to get your name to stand out quite well. Next I'll post a photo that won't be close to as nice as yours :)
The main point: The knife is beautiful!
 
Amazing first knife! The photo is very cool and interesting, however I'd prefer to be able to see more detail on the knife (blade finish for example.)

Keep up the great work.
 
Erin,
That is a very good knife. Good style, fit and finish.
Considering that it is your first , I think you will very shortly be a force to be reckoned with.
Please continue doing what you are doing, and please post more photos as you finish.
Thanks,
Del
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback. :thumbup:

Stacy,

Concerning the orientation of the logo, I'm not exactly sure what you are saying. The orientation that I used (with the base of the text toward the handle) seems to be quite common, and makes sense if a person is holding the knife in their right hand and reading the logo. Turning it upside-down would seem awkward to me. Perhaps you mean that I should consider turning the logo 90 degrees and aligning with the spine? Sorry if I am confused.

I appreciate your recommendation concerning the choil. It's size was dictated by the diameter of the only round file in my toolbox. :D

EdgeCraft,

I did not edit my photo in Photoshop. I run Linux on my machine, so the minimal editing that was done was done in Gimp. The quality of the photo was due mostly to a good camera on a tripod, a light box, and a TON of photos taken with different exposures, shutter-speeds and aperatures. I did resize and crop the photo down in Gimp. I have no idea how to pull off a graduated mask. I did attempt to use a black reflector to darken the blade a bit, but I lost the logo in those photos so I didn't use them.

P J 234,

You are absolutely correct. I had a tough time getting a good shot showing blade finish. The ricasso and flats are finished to to 1200 grit perpendicular to the length of the blade. The blade bevels are only taken to 1000 grid parallel to the blade length.

Thanks again.

Erin
 
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