Made my first knife.

[yessahmassah]

I decided to give the whole knife making thing a shot a while back. This is my first one and it took me probably about 20 hours over the span of 2 months. I think it came out pretty good for a first knife. I could do with some improvement on the plunge line and the top of the grips that get finished before epoxy arent perfectly even. But I know what I did wrong and will be working on it for my next one. I thought I could speed up the sanding process with an orbital sander and ended up rounding off the plunge line, but you live and learn.

3/16 O1 tool steel
1/4" corby fasteners (probably just going to use plain rod from now on.)
Zebrawood scales
And I made a kydex sheath for it with some OD green kydex and nickel rivets.

What do you guys think?

Ive polished up the pins and did a little more finishing work since the pics.

 

[Matt Rochester]

Looks pretty good! Only critique I have is to keep the pins flat. I wouldn't take that notch a the way to the pin. Looks great though!

 

[yessahmassah]

Looks pretty good! Only critique I have is to keep the pins flat. I wouldn't take that notch a the way to the pin. Looks great though!

That was actually on purpose. I had seen one done like that and liked it. Everyone has their own taste. Appreciate the input though.

 

[Zemapeli]

Beautiful work! For a first knife, I am very impressed! Keep it up. Maybe some mosaic pins for your next? You also may want to put a finish sanding on that handle and give it a coat of an oil or poly or Sno-Seal the handle. Try Flitz metal polish....

For polishing up metal to satin:
Cut a flat section of a hard wood (should be 2-3 inches wide and 6-7 inches long)
Use gorilla glue or epoxy to glue a strip of rawhide or leather to the top of the block. Be careful not to get the glue or epoxy on the top of the leather. It is okay if a bit gets pushed out the side during the gluing process.
Allow the polishing "strop" to dry for 24 hours...
Now, load the leather strop with Flitz metal polish. Two dime sized drops on either end should do, then use a Q tip to spread the medium across the strop.
Be careful to keep the lines of the knife sharp. Use a Q tip to get the lines of the knife. Now, use the strop to polish the flats of the blade to satin. The polish will create a mirror polish. Wipe the blade with a clean rag with some oil to remove the leftover polish after wiping clean with dry cloth or rag. I think that knife looks great the way it is, but just a helpful tip.. :thumbup:

 

[yessahmassah]

Beautiful work! For a first knife, I am very impressed! Keep it up. Maybe some mosaic pins for your next? You also may want to put a finish sanding on that handle and give it a coat of an oil or poly or Sno-Seal the handle. Try Flitz metal polish....

For polishing up metal to satin:
Cut a flat section of a hard wood (should be 2-3 inches wide and 6-7 inches long)
Use gorilla glue or epoxy to glue a strip of rawhide or leather to the top of the block. Be careful not to get the glue or epoxy on the top of the leather. It is okay if a bit gets pushed out the side during the gluing process.
Allow the polishing "strop" to dry for 24 hours...
Now, load the leather strop with Flitz metal polish. Two dime sized drops on either end should do, then use a Q tip to spread the medium across the strop.
Be careful to keep the lines of the knife sharp. Use a Q tip to get the lines of the knife. Now, use the strop to polish the flats of the blade to satin. The polish will create a mirror polish. Wipe the blade with a clean rag with some oil to remove the leftover polish after wiping clean with dry cloth or rag. I think that knife looks great the way it is, but just a helpful tip.. :thumbup:

Ive been looking for an easy way to polish it up. That sounds like a pretty good idea. I was considering coating it since O1 isn't that corrosion resistant. But I decided to just polish it up, or maybe let it patina.

And I need to go find some tung oil for the handle.

My grandfather wanted to buy this one from me, and he offered me a really good price, but Im going to just make him one for christmas, so I need to get started on that. I plan on using some mosaic pins and Im going to attempt making a knife with some brass bolsters.