Latest one

[Hesparus]

Hi Everyone,

I haven't posted in a while because I haven't had much worth showing off. Here's one I just finished on saturday that I'm pretty pleased with.
1075/1080 steel
27.6cm overall
15cm blade
5.6mm thick
26.2mm wide at base
paracord wrap
under the paracord is cow leather with a snakeskin veneer
the menuki are fiberoptic cabochons
hand-rubbed to 1500 grit.

detail of the handle

detail of the spine

Despite a few issues, I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I had intended for it to be a more typical osoraku-zukuri tanto shape, but it developed a little bit of recurve while I was forging it. This happens to my knives quite a bit, but I usually like it so I haven't really tried to figure out how to make it stop. I liked it in this case so I left it. A little jog developed in the middle of the kissaki while I was sanding it (probably due to uneven edge thickness), which I'm pretty unhappy about. I don't think it looks terrible, but it takes away from the look I was going for.
I had always intended for the natural leather to be visible underneath the snakeskin where the blade meets the handle and at the pommel, but I don't really like the look of it. Next time I'll dye the cow leather black.
The fiberoptic menuki are pretty cool. They change color from a silvery white to almost black depending on the angle you see them from. It's a lot like white-lipped pearl but even more pearlescent.
I quenched in canola oil with a few ounces of liquid dish soap added. I think the soap improved it a lot.
It's worth mentioning that the only electricity I used to make this either powered the blower of my forge or the oven I tempered it in.
Thanks for looking.

- Chris

 

[Darrin Sanders]

It may not be the look you had in your mind when you started (and I know how that is) but I really like how it turned out.

 

[wnease]

interesting, do the bevels carry right through the tang or do they terminate under the wrap?

 

[Hesparus]

Thanks, Darrin, that means a lot to me!
wnease: The bevel runs the whole length. I do this for three reasons: (1) I hate cleaning up plunge lines, so it's worth it to me to spend a little more time beveling the tang. (2) it reduces weight in the tang, so the blade isn't so handle-heavy. (3) I think of this as basically just a full-tang version of traditional japanese construction, which continues the blade bevels through the tang.
If anyone has any critiques or suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I'm still trying to find my stride (getting closer, though).

- Chris