My embarrassing first "completed" knife.

B

Blackfeather

Joined
Mar 3, 2010
Messages
543
I should start off by announcing who I am. My name is Robert Devey III, I'm 20. I live in Southern Oregon.

Well, I know everyone says not to use steel files for the blade, and definitely NEVER to make a dagger as a first attempt, but I had the idea and was too eager. I had no other choice in steel at the time but thanks to Ariborne Steel, I now have a peice of 1084 that is on it's way to becoming a very nice blade.

Now this was an idea I came up with while looking at some other knives, instead of a diamond cross section I went with the hexagon because I did this mostly by draw filing. (Yes I annealed it first:) ) The handle was done with a Japanese influence, same as the sheath. I used a brass pin instead of bamboo. The "Habaki" was done as an experiment, just an old coat hanger.:o

I heat treated it as best as I could with no real equipment, and treating it like 1095. Needless to say I was SHOCKED when after tempering it twice at 400 it came out and held an edge, a sharp one. There's a slight spiral going on at the tip. Overall it was more fun than serious. It was a test of my ingenuity with minimal tools.

Dagger1.jpg


Dagger3.jpg


DSC01646.jpg


The scratches will soon be gone, I've been busy with other things lately.
 
Thank you, but that's not entirely true. My first try ended up with a crack in it after the quench. I think it was too thin and too hot. It was a single edged tanto.
 
hey its really not too bad. what are your plans for finishing the wood. A nice shiny luster and darker color would really make it look better
 
I'm not sure yet. I'd really love to give it a nice polished lacquer finish but I have no clue on what to use for that. Obviously the wood is nothing special.
 
There is nothing wrong with that as a first try. Just mounting blades is something you have to do over and over before you get right. I'm not a fan of the coiled wire as a guard or bolster on this though.
 
I wanted to make it out of brass but the process involves sliding it off the tang and with the way it was made that would be impossible. I just wanted to see what would come of it.
 
Blackfeather said:
Overall it was more fun than serious.
Click to expand...

Huh? Why would you do it if it wasn't fun? The big bucks and fame? ;-)

My first knife was, well, hideous, so not unusual for a first time. While you did leave yourself some room for improvement, you made a pretty darn nice knife. Good job!

- LonePine
AKA Paul Meske, Wisconsin
 
That looks great, nothing embarrassing there. I like the sheath a lot too, keep up the good work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top