Knifemakers , what knives have you made for personal use?

This is the only one I've kept for personal use since I started making production quality work.

IMG_7555.jpg


IMG_7749.jpg


IMG_7750.jpg


It was made from a blank from 1095 that another forumite gave me in favor of some heat treating help. I modified it, ground it, and finished it out. I've got another couple of the workbench that will be keepers for me as well.

--nathan
 
I made this one for me. It´s a small and thin substitute of a folding knife:

dsc0464bep.jpg


dsc0465hs.jpg


dsc0468bv.jpg


dsc0469tn.jpg


dsc0470io.jpg


dsc0472a.jpg



PS: I love also the folding knifes, this one showed up of the page is beautiful.

Pablo.
 
I carry a folder everyday but at work I carry one I finished around the new year. I took a couple on board with me to test the carry out and picked one. Apparently I only have one picture of it and it's not finished. Guess I have to get some better shots. Its 1084 (Aldo of course) with Amboyna. The bottom one is my first attempt at damascus, 1084/15n20 with a bamboo handle.
DSC_0306_zps2726e3c1.jpg
 

Attachments

  • DSC_0306_zps2726e3c1.jpg
    DSC_0306_zps2726e3c1.jpg
    52.9 KB · Views: 6
Every knife I thought about keeping I ended up selling. So last Fall, I made it a point to make me a hunting knife. Don't know why I settled on a Sharfinger design, but I did. I just made the tip thicker. I fell in love with this knife! I like micarta on my knives. Don't care for G10 and I'll save the exotic wood for customers. But for my purposes, I like knives that perform and I don't have to worry about micarta getting damaged or wet.

So here's the first knife I made for myself. So far, I haven't sold it yet!

IMG_0021.jpg

And here it is getting its first work out....

IMG_0080.jpg
 
I've kept a small chef and an early camp knife. At work, I carry a USA Ken Onion Kershaw folder, but one day will carry a Laconico folder.
 
All of these are great! And I need to buy a knife from Marchand. I also like that small one a lot.
 
Rick Marchand said:
These are the blades that have managed to stay with me for "testing"(that is what craftsman say to their wives, when they wanna keep stuff).
Click to expand...

Rick this cracked me up! And I really like that little dagger looking one 3rd down probably the best, but I really like the look of your knives, I am definitely going to have to get something from you, now to figure out what.....

Fred, that knife of yours is beautiful!
 
Last edited:
There are some great looking blades here, I'm almost weary about showing my EDC... :)

1084 (From Aldo) and Maple Burl (From Faron Moore)
The sheath is an unfinished but working impromptu 15 minute venture into leather working.

DSC_0014.JPG



DSC_0016.JPG
 
Here's the only two I made from scratch with the intention of keeping. To be honest, I didn't make the right hand knife's blade specifically for myself, but when I decided I wanted one for myself and to beat up on for testing I grabbed a heat treated profile from the pile and went from there. The kitchen knife is V2 and I guess technically I made the first for myself too. That one was less kitchen knifey and had a more bulky but rounded handle shape with a thicker and shorter blade.

The kitchen knife is Aldo's 1084 and has patina'd nicely, despite the pic quality. The handles are thin and fairly flat paper micarta with stainless pins. The steel is distal tapered right from the butt and gives you the choice of a reasonably stiff and sturdy blade for the rear inch or so and then an almost laser like style near the tip. I use it for almost all my kitchen tasks.
The Lycaon is CPM154 in a light satin finish with a rough canvas micarta handle. I tried out a few things on the handle, including the ripple pattern. It's not perfect and I really don't think it actually helps my grip at all but I had wanted to try it out. I also put a sort of scallop pattern along the top edges of the handle in another attempt to provide a more secure grip. Once again, I don't think they really add much. They're just not aggressive enough and the shape of the handle provides plenty of holding power in most positions where you'd have contact with the additions anyway. It was worth a try though. One reason I made it with canvas micarta, and didn't sand to a super fine finish or buff it very much is so the canvas can get grippy when wet. I don't much care for the look of canvas micarta in general, but it does have good points. There are no pins in that handle, one of the things I want to test is just how much abuse my adhesive method can take without support. So far the answer is "more than I've been willing to give to a knife without my life in the balance."
DSC_6122.JPG
 
These are my beater knives, they were protos Both CPM D-2 blade steel .200 thick and O.D. Green / Black G-10 with Anso pattern.
The framelock is my EDC 3.8" blade.
DSCN0320.jpgDSCN0321.jpgDSCN0322.jpgDSCN0323.jpg
DSCN0319.jpg
 
Last edited:
First knife I made. I have another sitting on my bench which, now that it's getting warmer and I have most of my stuff moved into my shop (albeit all over the place) I have another I plan on using as well. We'll see what happens from there. I'm not good enough to start selling them so I might start quite the collection lol.

Knife024.jpg
 
I haven't made many knives but I do feel satisfaction using what I have made myself.
This one I use in the kitchen. The shape doesn't work out the way I thought it would but the steel holds a good edge and it sees good use. The cocobolo darkend in the 6months it's seen use.
appell25.jpg


And this one I use in the shop. Same steel and I like the shape.
But it would have been a far better knife if the bevellines would have been higher.
A (almost) flat grind would have been better.
P1011903.JPG


I think using your own knives is a good learning experience.
It gives good feedback on what works and design alterations to concider.

I'm working on a zombie slayer at the moment. Never know when you need one of those :D
One of my projects after that will be an idea I have on a "perfect shop knive" to try out.
I know perfect doesn't exist but I'm looking forewards to just try it out.
 
I've only made one knife with the intention of keeping it and it's a tiny (3" overall) fixed blade made of O1 that doubles as a firesteel scraper. That was the first "knife" I made. I do have the first real knife I made, one of my Rangers in A2, but that's only because I let my brother in law show it to some potential customers and it came back covered in rust. I don't use it and honestly I get mad whenever I look at it because I warned him it'd rust. I am sort of happy I'm keeping it since it was the prototype and my first real knife. I'll clean it up one day.

When people ask me what knives I use I tell them my Spyderco Native and Fallkniven F1. They ask me why I don't use one I made and usually reply its because I can't afford to. One day I'll make a nice one just for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top