My FIRST! Finally!(pic heavy)

stingray4540

stingray4540

Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
2,798
Hi everyone. Thanks to all of the members here on BF I was able to learn how to and finally finish my first knife. Well, it still needs to be properly sharpened.

Steel: 1/8" 1080 that was generously given to my by pimp'n squee or as he is called now J.McDonald Knives.

Heat Treat: Done by me, not to sure how that came out so we'll see how it does during everyday use.

Handle: Cocobolo finished with tung oil

Pins: 3/32 nickle silver

Dimensions: 6" overall; 2 5/8" blade

Sheath: Haven't made one yet, that'l have to wait until I get a little more spare time.


Sorry about the lame pics, my cheapo camera sucks It refuses to focus on close objects, and I can't afford to build a light box right now.

Right after HT and 2 temper cycles:
IMAG0281.jpg


Handles epoxied on:
IMAG0315.jpg


Finished: (don't know why it looks like there is a big scratch on the blade in the first pic, cause there ain't one. Blade finish isn't perfect but there ain't any scratches that big. Blade is finished to 1000 grit then steel wool.)
IMAG0325.jpg

IMAG0326.jpg

IMAG0328.jpg

IMAG0327.jpg


Thanks for looking and thanks for all the help!
 
Great looking start! Looks very comfortable for the hand and nice overall design!
 
Great looking knife, Stingray. The pics will come out better if you back away a little so your camera can focus, then use the software on your computer to magnify the pictures.
 
Turned out great man. I'm glad to see you finished it finally. Can't wait to see what you do with the other 6" piece i sent you. One good piece of advice that Luke (swede2207) passed onto me was to make the same knife again to see how well you can duplicate it. If you are able to duplicate the knife and can hardly tell them apart or the second one turns out better then that shows a lot of skill.
 
Thanks for the comments guys.
Actually it does fit quite nicely in my hands. I can just get all four fingers around it and when holding it with your index finger on top of the spine, my finger goes almost to the tip, which makes it feel really controleable.

I'll have to try that with the camera, but I've never used photo editing software at all so, it may or may not turn out any better.

There you go again McDonald, giving me suggestions and screwing up my plans. I was thinking of doing a mini Nessemuk with the other piece you sent, I was inspired by fiddleback's work, but now I'm tempted to try and make this one better.
ETA: On second thought I think I might try and do the mini Nessie, cause when I order my own steel, I think I'm going to make like a half dozen of the same knife, a design I've been working on for a while trying to get right, but it's a bit too big for a 6" piece of steel.
 
Another thing I wanted to ask.

I finished the handle with Tung oil, two coats, but it still feels tacky. Will the tackyness go away on it's own? Or do I have to do something?

I followed the directions on the can of oil: put on generously then buff with a clean cloth after 5 to 10 minutes then wait 24 hours and do a second coat. Well, it's almost 24 hours after the second coat and it still feels tacky. So what's the deal?
 
Try letting it dry outside in the sun for half a day or a few hours. Also try going over it with some 1000 or 1500 grit. It may take a day or two for the tackyness to go away. Let us know how it goes.
 
In direct sun, your handle could change colors and such. I'm no expert, but I wouldn't follow that advice. No offense Jacob.

Alex
 
That's a nice looking skinner. Did you treat the blade? I am working on my first also, nice job. It's addicting isn't it!!
 
If memory serves, cocobolo is a pretty oily wood. I seem to recall Bob Flexner commenting that finishes have a hard time curing when they come in contact with the non-curing oils in the wood. Further, the remedy for this would be to flood the surface with a fast, aggressive solvent (e.g. acetone or lacquer thinner), wipe off the excess, allow the residual solvent to dry off for a minute or two, and apply a washcoat of shellac.

Of course, any method that would lock the natural oils into the wood would also lock tung oil out. However, a wiping varnish with a low gloss or satin sheen like Formby's Tung Oil Finish or Waterlox could duplicate the look of pure tung oil.

Also, that's a very good looking knife. It's very smooth and uncluttered. The scales definitely add a touch of class to what looks like a genuine, hardworking knife.
 
Wow, guys thanks agian for the compliments.

jmar: Treat the blade how? I heat treated it, but I haven't done anything other than that to it, other than sand it down.

DrThunder: thanks for the advise. I think I'll give it a couple of days and see what happens. I put tung oil on a sample scrap piece and it came out just fine, so I'm not sure what the problem is. What about wiping it down with acetone then putting the tung oil on? how do you think that would work?

Warrior: I haven't sharpened it yet, I need to get myself a proper set of hones, so it probably won't be cutting sharp for a couple of weeks.
 
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