My first knife design and build.

hawkhead

hawkhead

Joined
Aug 13, 2008
Messages
1,277
After customizing a few Becker knives, I decided to draw a few of my designs and fabricate my first knife. The design and drawing is not difficult; making a knife is another matter. Patience and attention to the task at hand are most important. The previous experiences with customizing existing knives and tomahawks also helped. Working with an annealed 18" piece of 1095 steel was not as easy as I first thought. I started with an idea, made a drawing, then glued a template on the steel bar and finally scribed the outline. Next, I hacksawed the knife blank and filed the edges. Prior to grinding, I will tweak all the edges and angles to make certain they are true. I do not have a belt grinder, just quite a number of hand tools. The guard will be nickel/silver and the handle will be cut from a piece of walnut stump. I removed the slight belly along the length of the blade. I may use that design element on the next knife.

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I have to say, I'm impressed with someone that does a hidden tang as the first. Well done so far!

If you'd like a free block of stabilized wood let me know. I have lots. Maybe even some walnut.
 
I don't know which to admire more, your artistic ability or your precision/marathon hacksaw ability. Nice all the way around. I am interested to know how you are going to cut your convex bevels in, if I may inquire?
 
Thanks everyone for the comments and encouragement. I did the hacksawing in three stages and cleaned up the edges by filing. I will have to file the convex profile since I do not have a belt grinder. I have done that before modifying a Becker BK7 to convex by hand with diamond stone and emery wrapped around my aluminum sanding block.
My recently completed BK9 mod has a hidden tang.
If I were to profile the blade by hand, I would mark the center of the blade edge and then remove steel in stages the way one would remove it with a grinder. Evenly and slowly. Measure twice and cut once. My eyes and hands tell me when things look and feel right. I have been reading and viewing the posts from the Professionals as well as the enthusiasts who enjoy making things(knives) and going about this build must be done the right way...I am a neophyte and have much to learn.
 
I wish Becker made a BK9 that looked that good. Somehow I don't see you having any problems at all with this build.
 
Great attention to detail, fantastic work so far. Subscribed

Stan
 
I agree with all of the above. Exceptional work and planning. I will be watching progress. One of the advantages of going slow by hand is mistakes happen slower. I am using a craftsman 2 x42, and mistakes happen fast.
 
I started to profile the convex grind this morning. Reference lines were scribed on the blade edges and grind lines were scribed on the sides of the blade. There are more grind lines to facilitate Keeping the reduction of the blade material true. I know doing this build by hand makes me a prime candidate for the nut house, but I know I can do it. When I am finished, I will start looking for a belt grinder. For right now the slow pace has its benefits.


 
Actually, I did almost all of my blades by hand, so if you're a candidate for the nut house, I hold the mortgage on the place.
 
hawkhead said:
I know doing this build by hand makes me a prime candidate for the nut house...
Click to expand...

Not at all. Take your time. Some people throw away two or three poorly-ground blades in the amount of time it will take you to complete that one properly. Who seems crazy now? ;)

Very nice work so far on this build, and on the knives you've customized. Keep it up!
 
Seeing Mr. Hawkheads Becker mods in the past I know this knife will turn out beautiful. Watching this thread, It brings me back to how I started making knives in the fact that I only had hand tools as well. However, my skill was no where close to the machine like appearance that's in these pics. very well done. Will be watching this. If you need some heat threating help/service, let me know, you pay the shipping, I'll heat treat it for free. keep up the good work.
 
I am indeed fortunate to have the Pros and non-Pros as advisors and teachers. My wife is as overwhelmed as I am by the kindness of fellow knife enthusiasts. Mr. Hunt I will send you a PM Thank you for your encouragement and offer to HT.
To: tryppr, Thank you for your offer. I am pretty well set with walnut and ironwood from my gunstock making days.
 
I never had to convex a Blade that I worked with a file.It happens often now that I have a grinder.Keep up the good work.
Eddie
 
i soon plan to start making knives and i only hope i start half this well. looks amazing!
 
Moving along at a slow and steady pace I am making progress. Just one photo of my essential tools. 80 grit Gatorgrit sand paper, scriber, contour gauge, Small stainless ruler and my Great Planes sanding bar. I have taken the metal down to within 1-1.5mm of the plunge line. My filing guard was backordered. I'm being cautious. Keeping within the scribed lines as I reduce the blade and form the contour has been an enormous help to me. The 80 grit paper backed by the sanding bar reduces the waves in the blade to near zero. I continually check the right and left blade contours with the contour gauge. Not using a belt grinder for this build has actually been very helpful as I learn the stock removal method. Looking at the reflections of light shows immediate discrepancies in shape.
 
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