Knife #4 - Wish I was a better photographer

Erin Burke

Erin Burke

KnifeMaker...ish
Joined
May 19, 2003
Messages
1,330
So I finished my fourth knife... still have no sheath-making skills though.

I tried a few new things with this knife. This is my first knife with a clipped blade (false edge... or whatever you call it:confused:). This was tricky to do, and I think I will take a different approach next time. This is also my first successful clay-treated blade. Finally, this is the first time that I used hidden pins on a knife with dovetailed bolsters. This can be tricky to do, because I had to attach the scales before affixing the bolsters.:o

Some Stats:
Length: 9-1/4"
Blade: 4-3/16" (tip to plunge)
Steel: 3/16" 1080 (from Kelly Cupples)
Clay-Treated, Flat-Ground w/ tapered-tang
Handle: Stabilized {curly?} Maple Burl w/ hidden pins and 416ss bolsters

3663494727_20acb95836_o.jpg


I tried really hard to get a good photograph of this knife. These scales turned out amazing. When I pulled them from my stack of handle material I though they looked sort of plain... but they ended up having an amazing depth to them.:)

Anyway, what do y'all think?

Erin
(aka Hypocrite)
 
Very Very nice job on that one,can't wait to see your next one,the wood has a lot of depth-:thumbup::thumbup:--Keep it up---Regards Butch
 
Very nice! Wish I could do that kind of stuff yet. I am picking up my new grinder tomorrow! Hope to have something to show in a few weeks...
 
I seem to remember you waited a long time building up your tools before starting, and now you're doing it man, you're doing it! And well! Nice work. That KMG ain't wasted on you. Can we see a shot of the spine/bolster/tang taper from above? At least I think it's tapered...
 
Thanks for the complements.

The German said:
Very nice! Wish I could do that kind of stuff yet. I am picking up my new grinder tomorrow! Hope to have something to show in a few weeks...
Click to expand...

Please post progress shots when you start working. :thumbup: As a very new maker, I can say that there are volumes of valuable info in this forum to get you started. There are also a lot of great folks willing to fill your head with useful tips and tricks. Good luck.


Will52100 said:
Very nice, love the overall shape, bet it's very comfortable. That wood looks great.
Click to expand...

The blade turned out really nice... but you're right, the handle is the high-point for me on this knife. It is comfortable and looks amazing... my crummy camera skills just don't do it justice.


vorpalknives said:
I seem to remember you waited a long time building up your tools before starting, and now you're doing it man, you're doing it! And well! Nice work. That KMG ain't wasted on you. Can we see a shot of the spine/bolster/tang taper from above? At least I think it's tapered...
Click to expand...

Vorpal,

The KMG has been an awesome addition to my shop... not just for knives. I find myself grinding everything these days :D... including my knuckles and fingernails.

Concerning tang-taper; you are correct, the tang is tapered on this knife... though not so dramatically tapered as on my other knives. I try to balance the tang's taper with the distal-taper in the blade. This blade has a very broad/strong shape to the blade spine, so my tang taper is similarly slight. Does this make sense?

Anyway... I just happen to have a couple "box o' knifes" shots" that I took recently. No light-box this time, but the second photo shows the tang-tapers pretty well.

3663629357_9a3046d3bc.jpg


3665569910_e579d6a04b.jpg

{note: the scales are not really lop-sided on this knife... it is just an artifact of expedited camera-work.}
Erin
 
That's a fine knife; it's even finer since it's your fourth!

I'll be starting on my first next week, maybe, when my materials get here.
 
Beautiful knife. Clean lines and great attention to detail. The photos aren't bad either.

Sometimes the figure will pop more if you use point-source lights. Then blend the shadows with soft light.

There's something weird about the background blur. Maybe it's just a computer artifact, I can't tell.
 
wulfshrunting,

Thanks, and good luck on your first.


Phillip,

I took a look at your flickr page. You definitely have some photography skills that I am missing :thumbup:. I would be interested in hearing more about your methods, particularly about the use of point lighting as mentioned below.
Phillip Dobson said:
Sometimes the figure will pop more if you use point-source lights. Then blend the shadows with soft light.
Click to expand...

Erin
 
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