Made my very first knife! Pictures inside.

SkagSig40

SkagSig40

Joined
Feb 1, 2001
Messages
2,671
After dreaming of making my own knives for years I finally got started! I met a talented local knife maker and he took me under his wing and is showing me the ropes! I ground this blade from 1/4" A2 tool steel on a 15" wheel. I profiled some the shape and ground the bevels all free hand. The plunge cuts are a little uneven which drive me nuts looking at them but the top on the grinds on both sides are very close to being symmetrical! You can see when I lost my steady hand and bumped the grinder and it put some nasty scratches on the blade near the top, rear grind lines and near the plunge cuts. I will perfect this as I get better but overall I'm very happy with how it came out for my very first blade! Not sure what style I was trying for...guess a skinner or small cleaver style? The edge was left thick so is doesn't warp in heat treat. Then I'll decide what handle to attach and do the final sharpening and add a small sharpening choil I think. Blade goes off to Peters Heat Treat soon. I'm investing is a Northridge Pro Grinder next week and really looking forward to it! I'll post follow pictures as I finish her up!
So to the experienced knife makers: What can I do better on or focus on improving to make future blades better? Thanks for any input!



 
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Congratulations! I'm always excited to hear more people joining this world.

I'm not an experienced maker, but thought I'd chime in.
The grind lines are overall quite good for a first knife. Well done. You're certainly not the first to have issues with plunge lines. Practice on mild steel or other junk steel to get used to it.
Before you send it off to heat treat, make sure you figure out your handle design. If you want to do pins or anything else that goes through the handle, definitely drill those holes now. Trying to do it after heat treat may make you crazy.
I suspect that the edge could be thinner, even before heat treat. Some people say 0.020" thick at the edge is fine. Yours looks like 0.060" ??? It saves time on the grinder by doing it now.

As to what you should focus on next, I would pass the buck back to you. Once you finish this knife, be honest with yourself and see what makes you cringe about it, and improve on that. That said, most beginners can benefit from practice at the grinder.
 
I agree to bring that edge thinner. 0.020 is perfect. You don't want to have a bunch of grinding to do after heat treat. You can ruin the heat treat and your day! Just food for thought. Congrats and have fun buddy!
 
I agree to bring that edge thinner. 0.020 is perfect. You don't want to have a bunch of grinding to do after heat treat. You can ruin the heat treat and your day! Just food for thought. Congrats and have fun buddy!
 
Blades are made up of many curved lines intersecting. The curves may be subtle but they will be there.

A2 can be taken very thin and makes an excellent blade. A blade of this size would be better if made using 1/8 inch material.

There is a great deal to learn in knife making, enjoy the trip.

Fred

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i think .020 is cutting it too close. i have gotten warped edges at .018. most people go from .025 up to around the thickness of a dime.
 
Cool blade!
I'm kind of a sucker for wide blades, even if it's only for aesthetic reasons.
It took me some time to get my blades thinner.
 
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