My first finished knife turned out to be a letter opener ;-)

R

Rody

Joined
Nov 3, 2007
Messages
153
Hi All,

I'd like to share my first finished knife, the Zebra:

zebra.JPG

zebra-w-stand.JPG


The blade was forged from an SKF bearing in my coal forge, pre-ground on the belt grinder, quenched in mineral hydraulic oil, two tempers for 1.5 hrs at 250C, ground on the belt grinder to 180 (grind-dip-look, grind-dip-look, grind-dip-look ad nauseam), hand sanded up to 600 (thanks for the Windex tip!!) and then etched in vinegar. The handle was made from pieces of cow-bone (the stuff you put in the soup) and sections from the stone of the South American Awarra fruit. Handle length is 4 1/2" and total length is 11". The stand was made from the steel from one of those cat-hammocks you can hang from your CH radiator and 2 pieces of phenolic paper.
I made it as a gift to a couple that have their BD's shortly after one-another. They celebrated it yesterday:

- total cash layout for materials: 4$
- hours of work: ~30
- the look on their faces: PRICELESS

Even though the stand was whipped out in under 2 hrs as an afterthought, they loved the combo.

I hope to hear your thoughts on this blade (leaving for Scotland in a few hours so it'll be a week before I can check in again).

Cheers Rody
 
Nice first effort. I made a blade from a large ball bearing about 25mm diamiter.

I gave it to a mate to cut up fish food for his tropicals. It was always left damp and ended up rusting. It is good hard steel if looked after.
 
I like the lines and flow of the blade.
 
Hi guys,

Just got back from scrubbing around the Scottish Highlands on my motorcycle. Thanks for the kind words. I'm really proud that it turned out this well. One of the biggest compliments it received was from one of the guys from our machine shop with whom I frequently talk about our respective hobbies. I showed him the blade and he said it was waaayyy nicer than he had anticipated. From a guy who works with metal all day that's a compliment!

On to blade #2 (was already in the works but put on hold to finish this one)!!!

Cheers Rody
 
The holder is excellent!
Nice work on the letter opener as well.

I have a couple custom letter openers on order for my children, well... actually when they grow up and accomplish something. I can not wait to see how they come out.

Again, great job. It all sets well together.
 
If you take the back foot of the stand, straighten it out, bend it down 90 degrees and clamp it in a vice, I think you'd have a great tool for holding a blade while working on the handle. Food for thought. And I really like the shape of the grind on the blade.
Regards,
Jacque
 
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