My first hamon, and first quench in parks 50, yes it was a good day.

[Johnbeck180]

Well, got to do two firsts yesterday, quench in my new parks 50 and try my hand at a hamon line.

Here's the results. It starts out good at the ricasso but fades away about mid way down the blade. If this one wasn't already spoken for it would be my edc. Any constructive critacizam to help me on my next hamon are welcome. Thanks. :0)

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Glad it came out OK.
I understand the rush to finish a knife, but you didn't take the time to finish the blade before assembling the handle.

If that blade was carefully and slowly hand sanded down, starting at 220 grit and going up to 2500 grit, then etched and sanded a couple times, I bet it would look a whole lot better and show a nice hamon. It looks like you didn't remove much of the surface at all after the quench and temper. There is probably a much nicer knife inside that one.

Another two observations are;
1) The guard drop is very thin and pointed. This is not going to be comfortable on the fingers, and may snap off easily if bumped or hit. I would try and grind it back a bit to be closer to even with the blade edge.
2) The handle is rather thin at the waist. With the large rivet holes, it has almost no metal left for strength. A hard cut or a twist when cutting some wood up may snap the handle right off. As a rule of thumb, you want at least 1/2 the blade width in metal at the handle/blade junction area ( waist). This does not include any holes.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

I'm really impressed, each one is way better than the last! Keep at it!

I'd listen to Stacy too, taking his advice will go a long way. I can tell you have been doing your homework and working hard, you are almost there.

We have shared a lot of emails... you always ask great questions and keep getting better! It makes me proud to see this.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Agreed, I did not mean to imply that this isn't a great job. Just to suggest where to make changes as you develop your skills.

 

[Johnbeck180]

Stacy,
Not a problem, I'm actually jotting some notes down right as I type this. You are right! I do have a tendency to hurry through things when I can see the finish line. I need to put it back down in granny gear sometimes :0)
Thank you so much for the advice.

Daniel,
You have been nothing by great!!!
Thanks for always taking time to answer my questions and point me in the right direction. I'm really trying to develop my style as a knife maker, and I have quite a long road ahead. I'm doing a lot of reading and studying tons of pictures of different knife styles and picking out little things I like off each one. That's one thing I've learned over the past ten years being a professional piano player, if you want to have your own style of playing you first have to play like other musicians. After a while you learn more and more licks to put in your bag-O- tricks. Again, thank you so much Daniel l

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

Stacy,
Not a problem, I'm actually jotting some notes down right as I type this. You are right! I do have a tendency to hurry through things when I can see the finish line. I need to put it back down in granny gear sometimes :0)
Thank you so much for the advice.

Daniel,
You have been nothing by great!!!
Thanks for always taking time to answer my questions and point me in the right direction. I'm really trying to develop my style as a knife maker, and I have quite a long road ahead. I'm doing a lot of reading and studying tons of pictures of different knife styles and picking out little things I like off each one. That's one thing I've learned over the past ten years being a professional piano player, if you want to have your own style of playing you first have to play like other musicians. After a while you learn more and more licks to put in your bag-O- tricks. Again, thank you so much Daniel l

Guide to Bladeforums - have fun, listen to Stacy!

I always appreciate when people will be honest, it helps a lot more.


I'm really happy to hear that I have helped! That makes my day as I really enjoy helping. When it is time for me to make Damascus I can ask you!

I'm already seeing a style and I like it.

Great point about the music too, words of wisdom.



Nice knife by the way, I really like it.