Made My First Knife!

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dl351

Gold Member
Joined
May 5, 2006
Messages
717
Hello everyone. I'm a long time BF member, and have been lurking in this forum for a while. There is a wealth of information here! I have long had an interest in making knives. After accumulating the tools I felt necessary to really try my hand at knife making, I finally made my first knife! It is made from stock removal of a laser cut 1095 blank, using an OBM grinder. I heat treated in an Atlas Forge, which for now I will call a success! The handles are brown canvas micarta with red liners and stainless pins/lanyard tube. I know my satin finish needs some work, but I am quite pleased with it. Any comments/critiques are welcome!

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You can see the red liners a little better here:
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Awesome!! That coke bottle handle shape is very well done. All around cool looking piece. Congrats!
 
Much better than my first knives. Great work. Now push yourself to make each successive knife better and cleaner than the last.
 
That’s very good for a first knife. And better than my 5th knife.
perhaps try thinner stock next time. It looks a bit thick.
 
That is a really thick knife. 1/8" is thick for all but heavy use blades. Try .010" or .006" and see how much lighter and easier cutting a thin blade is.

But, that said, the one you made is a really great first knife ... or fiftieth knife. The handle is better than we see on folks who have been makers for many years.
 
Yes, great effort for your first! Very nice blade shape with nice grinds, comfy handle with radiused forward edge as well as fantastic fit up with tang, nice proportions overall. If I had to pick a nit, which I don't, I would just mention a couple of things. First, your plunge lines look very good, especially for your first. I might try to blend it in to the spine with a larger radius curve at the top just because it looks a bit more graceful (opinion) and it helps with the visual flow of the knife. It also helps to distribute stresses there. A plunge that runs straight up the side and off the top tends to stop the eye there as you look over the knife. The other item is that the plunge lines appear to be uneven (3rd picture). Not a big deal, nobody ticks all the boxes on their first try, but something to work towards. Super result.
 
Thanks for the kind words and the pointers! I agree, the stock is a bit thick for the size of the knife. I went with a laser cut blank, so choices were limited. Also, I’m pretty happy with the plunge lines, but do see where it can improve. I think this is a hobby I will really enjoy
 
dl351 said:
I think this is a hobby I will really enjoy
Click to expand...

I think if you have an eye for detail (which you obviously do) and have patience (again, you do) this is the kind of hobby you can do for a very long time. I've also just started and wish I had started this years ago. So much to learn. I love it.
 
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