My first attempt (definitely not as good as the others!)

S

seiryu

Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
94
Hi Everyone,

This was my first attempt at making a knife. It's definitely not as good as the other "my first knife" threads, but I figured I'd post it anyway. I started working on this a few months back when the only tools I had were a dremel and an angle grinder which produced...interesting results :) Over the next few months I picked up a craftsman 2x42 and other miscellaneous tools and finished things up.

Overall, this knife has alot of flaws but I've learned quite a bit from this experience as well as the awesome advice from this forum. Thank you all!

 
I think it looks useful and not too ugly. I've seen worse first knives for sure. Keep it up.

What kind of steel did you use?
 
I think it looks pretty good for a first:thumbup: I like the design a lot. I thought my first design wasn't all that good when I finished my first knife. Then after making the same design four more times and refining my work a lot, I realized "Hey I like this a lot!". Try making the same design several more times. I think you'll find that each one gets a bit better.

Keep it up!
 
If you learned a lot in the process, then the knife is a success. Its gaining knowledge that counts; later perfection comes out of that learning.

Fred
 
I agree with the others, not bad at all for early work. In particular the proportions aren't all wacky or some crazy design that only made sense after five drinks. The real key is learning and since that goal was accomplished it's all good.

The only obvious flaws I see are the finish, scuffs and such. To me the finish is the hardest part to get right, but for a first attempt another way to look at it is that if you put that knife to use it won't matter after a while anyway and the overall quality as a tool is probably up there with rather expensive factory made knives.
 
I think you did fine, especially given the limited tools. I totally relate to trying to do something with limited tools.

One thing I'd do, though, is put a real handle on it. I know, paracord is easy and looks okay... but learning to make a handle is an important part of learning to make a knife. Besides, I think it will make the knife more useful in the long run, as it would help you grip it better.

Just a thought.

- Greg
 
Thank you all for the kind words.

The finish is definitely what I struggled with most. There were alot of deep scratch marks that I wasn't able to smooth out. I also heated up the blade too much when grinding, which caused some issues especially near the edge. Overall, I recognized most of my mistakes and I'm hoping my next one comes out better. I think I'm going to take jonnymac's advice and use the same pattern again and try to perfect it.

It is O1 steel by the way.
 
It definitely looks good for a first knife. Certainly better than my first knife.

When it comes down to it, where your knifemaking skills start really doesn't matter much, what matters is where you end up. Everyone who comes in here has a different background, some more conducive to learning knifemaking, and others not so much. Keep making them and you'll be making great knives in no time, assuming you always seek to improve.
 
Nice design and though it's not the prettiest one on the block you have done a lot more than many.
You have completed your first knife,now go make another one.
Stan
 
I like the way you left room for improvement. ;-)

It looks pretty darn good for your first wack at the cat. The polished blade doesn't seem to match the para-cord wrapped handle. I think a piece of nicely figured wood would go a long way to dressing it up. It doesn't have to be expensive, a piece of walnut or some other close grained hard wood.

Those scratches that you were unable to get out... tell people that they're "character marks" and that you carefully put them there. It's probably not a lie. After all, you DID put them there, and you were probably being as careful as you could be when it happened.

LonePine
AKA Paul Meske, Wisconsin
 
Not too shabby for a first knife. Now go make another, and another, and another.

Whatever you do, don't let this knife get away from you. Keep it. As you progress, you can always look back on where you were in the beginning.

Robert
 
Not bad for a first knife!

Getting an even finish and getting the bevel(s) right were the toughest things for me to do when I started out. Just keep doing it, and you'll naturally get better. : )

I got off to a slower start than I needed to because I really was too ambitious in my first projects; I tried to work with steel that was way too thick and hard to grind for my equipment/patience -- and I tried to make bigger knives than I could manage. Before I made my first knife I had bought and re-ground a number of Cold Steel GI tantos and 1055 Machetes -- and I erroneously believed that making something from scratch was going to be similar. False. It's a good thing you started off small. I think it's a lot easier to learn from the kind of project that you posted.

I don't know if you've got plans for a second knife yet -- but just a little suggestion on a material to think about using:

15n20. I know that you can get it in thin, fully annealed, flat stock from Alpha Knife Supply and The NJ Steel Baron at very reasonable prices (especially from the NJ Steel Baron...I think I just got four feet of the stuff for eight bucks). 15n20 is a European bandsaw steel that's basically a (slightly) downmarket version of L6. Something around ~.70 carbon and 2% nickel with some manganese, and silicon. People like it for the bright bands in Damascus steel -- but it tends to be overlooked as a material for mono steel blades. That's probably because it tends to only be available in under 3mm flat stock (I think the thickest I've ever seen is around .11") and (from what I've seen at least) the custom knife market tends to favor thicker blades. Anyhow -- if you were interested in making something like a home-built Mora style bushcraft knife, or some sort of kitchen knife I don't think the thickness of the stock would be inappropriate. It's a good blade material and it's simple and forgiving to heat treat. I dunno -- might be worth a look if you are interested. I'm really digging carbon and low alloy steels these days -- especially at high hardnesses...
 
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