My first knife: as I do each step and post pics, feel free to critique my work.

C

chemistguy

Joined
May 28, 2013
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308
Stock is Aldo's 1084, 5/32"x2". Knife is about 10" long, choil starts just about right in the middle (blade is 5", handle is 5"). Blade width is 2". I based the shape off an esse 4.

I can't decide how I want the handle: as you can see, I drew a line where I might want to cut it down a bit further. What should I do with it? Oh and btw I'm doing all the grinding with a bench grinding wheel... and a 1" belt grinder :D. Actually I might file the bevel at least partially by hand.

Things I learned so far: It's hard to estimate balance on a knife without the profile ground down or the handles on. It's hard to get a nice even grind with a standard bench grinding wheel; a belt works way better for the small stuff.

I only have a small charcoal-fired forge, but it works! used it for the first time today, and made a flint and steel striker and a nail thats like an eye-bolt except it's a nail. Pics of forge and anvil upcoming. Pics of knife:

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Esee.

:p

Just playin. I like the blade shape a lot (go figure), but I'm not sure about the handle. I don't really care for the profile now, or the drawn profile. I advise what I always do... go look at a million custom knife pics, until you feel nauseous, for inspiration.
 
I like ESEE knives, most of the knives Ive made this winter are ESEE copies. SO, I obviously like your blade shape. That handle seems way to thick given the blade is 2 inches. Just a beginner myself. Make some templates out of cardboard, wood, mild steel, etc, before you make a change to your 1084 that you dont like and ruin your work.
 
I would, but I wouldn't want the butt higher than the area near the ricosso. It looks like kitchen knife ergonomics as drawn. I'd also put some angles at the end instead of having it so bulbous and round. Kinda looks like it got kicked in the butt.

I dig the ironwork btw.
 
yes, templates sound like a great idea.

yeah, I think I'll get rid of the bulbous part on the bottom by continuing that line of the hand grip nearly to the butt. then I'll bring the butt end of the spine (the top of the handle near the back of the knife) down a bit so it's basically parallel to the bottom of the handle.

as it is, the bottom of the butt is only about a mm above the bottom of the ricasso, but it will end up 2 or 3 mm above it probably

or, I could make the handle kinda like a bk2 with a more or less symetrical grip cut up into the stock in between the choil and the butt. not sure which I like more, so I guess I'll make some paper templates
 
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You ought to pattern that after an ESEE 4. It is a much nicer shape than an esse 4.

So far it looks good. Keep modifying and drawing until you are sure before you cut away any more steel. You can't put it back once it is gone.
 
You might get some 1/8" soft material (plastic, plywood, and etc.) along with some 1/2" soft material and make a mockup. Finish it off so you like the design and so it fits your hand. You have a pattern for your design.
 
so scales are typically each 1/4" thick for a total of about 1/2"?
I guess I'll do a plywood/plastic/whatever mockup of the knife and find out what fits best.

I think I want to do a full flat grind.

also, how thick an edge do you leave before HT? I was thinking about 1.5 mm. I plan to HT myself with my forge. how would you HT the butt with a small forge? I'm worried about softening the blade if I quench the blade first and then reheat at the butt. maybe a torch?
 
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Play-doh and a ruler. Make it comfortable and copy it.

Why does the butt need to be HT'd? It doesn't...

And if you're going to copy an ESEE blade, why not copy the handle too?
 
chemistguy said:
so scales are typically each 1/4" thick for a total of about 1/2"?
I guess I'll do a plywood/plastic/whatever mockup of the knife and find out what fits best.

I think I want to do a full flat grind.

also, how thick an edge do you leave before HT? I was thinking about 1.5 mm. I plan to HT myself with my forge. how would you HT the butt with a small forge? I'm worried about softening the blade if I quench the blade first and then reheat at the butt. maybe a torch?
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The thinnest scales that I have used were @3/8" thick for a 3/4" wide handle. They did not require much shaping. Most have been @ 1/2" thick each for a starting handle width of @ 1". Those needed quite a bit of shaping. But, that is one reason for a mock up.
 
chemistguy said:
so scales are typically each 1/4" thick for a total of about 1/2"?
I guess I'll do a plywood/plastic/whatever mockup of the knife and find out what fits best.

I think I want to do a full flat grind.

also, how thick an edge do you leave before HT? I was thinking about 1.5 mm. I plan to HT myself with my forge. how would you HT the butt with a small forge? I'm worried about softening the blade if I quench the blade first and then reheat at the butt. maybe a torch?
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Making a soft wood mock-up is a good idea in the beginning. It will let you know what shape looks and feels best before you ruin handle wood and steel. A trip to a hobby shop for some balsa or bass wood will provide material that is the same thicknesses as what your knife will be made from. Plain old wood glue to assemble it and 100 grit sandpaper will shape it in minutes.

Scales need to be slightly thicker than the final handle thickness to provide material for sanding and shaping. Don't forget the tang thickness in the math, too. Depending on the handle style, 1/4" is the minimum, and many use 1/2" to start with.

A FFG is a very good choice to start with.

1.5mm is way too thick for the edge at HT unless you really love hand sanding hardened steel.
That is 1/16" ( many of my knives are made from 1/16" stock). About half that is good.-.75-1mm for 1084 (.03 to .04").

Your brake drum forge should be plenty big enough to HT a 10" knife, but concentrate your attention on the blade edge and surrounding area. If you get that area right the knife will be OK.
When possible, it is best to harden the entire blade and then draw the temper back with a torch or other heat source in selected areas afterward. The reason for this is that martensite is stronger than pearlite. Even if you draw the hardness back to a pretty soft state, the blade will still be stronger if it was fully hardened first. The old argument that ,"I left the spine/tang unhardened because I wanted to be able to baton/hammer it..." is not a valid argument.

I really encourage you to meet up with one of the smiths in your area and go do the HT with him at his forge. This will give you a much better idea on how the process works when you do it in your forge.
 
for the temper do I want to do 1hr at 400F in the oven, or should I use a propane torch to bring the spine to a light blue and the blade edge to straw?

should I try a hamon or is that too advanced?
 
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update: here's how the handle turned out (it's a bit reminiscent of the esse 5 handle minus the glass breaker / "skull crusher."
esse 4 for size comparison. i don't love it but I don't hate it so it's ok.

Photo_on_1_15_14_at_5_26_PM.jpg


I marked the middle of the edge (and the quarter thickness lines) with a calipers to assist with grinding the bevel. Any tips for doing the grinding?
 
I am not overly familiar with the ESEE knives but that handle looks really big, and to me I think the blade might be to short with how tall it is. I am not saying it's bad at all just saying what I think
 
Strigamort said:
Esee.

:p
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(I even screwed it up there)

scooternut said:
I like ESEE knives, most of the knives Ive made this winter are ESEE copies.
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bladsmth said:
You ought to pattern that after an ESEE 4. It is a much nicer shape than an esse 4.
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LucyCustomKnives said:
And if you're going to copy an ESEE blade, why not copy the handle too?
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mccandmatt said:
I am not overly familiar with the ESEE knives but...
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Are you messing with us? Your knife isn't a gang-banger! You're gonna manage to stroke one of us out if you keep misspelling your favorite companies name. :D

It's ESEE. ;)
 
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