My First Knife Project: Natural Hiker (Now with Photos)

[Nuno]

Hello everybody,

This is the Natural Hiker, a custom knife I recently finished with some help from Paulo, a professional Portuguese knife maker (http://pscutelaria.com/). I came up with the design, made the steel cutting, the polishing, and the drilling. Because I have no forge and never profiled a blade (I own no professional tools to profile a blade), I gave the task of hardening, blade shaping, and tempering to a professional. Afterwords, I finished the handle and the sheath. I know aesthetically it is far from perfect. You see many overall imperfections and the reason the blade is not properly polished is because the first profile was straight with a convex edge which I did not like. So, after everything was done, I asked him to try to change it to a full convex blade. And the result turned spectacular when it comes to sharpness, cutting, and edge retention. The balance is also very good but I guess it was beginner’s luck.

Here are the specs:

Overall length: 8.85 in (22.5 cm)
Blade length: 4.1 in (10.4 cm)
Weight: 7.85 oz (222 g)
Steel: 1095
Blade shape: full convex
Blade thickness: 0.18 in (4.6 mm)
Pins: Aluminum
Wood: Holm oak
Prototype's Name: Natural Hiker

Thank you all and stay well!

Nuno

 

[i4Marc]

It is said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. You have taken your first step. Congratulations. Still, miles to go. Stay the path.

 

[GAGL]

Nice work,man.

Love the rustic look with all the little scratches

Only thing i'd change is the handle-scales shape.
I prefer it when the handles have a bit more contours, instead of just flat scales...but if it works for you, i'm happy

Sheath is nice too, already looks vintage
Let us see some in-action pics if possible..

Great job on a first design, keep it up