My First Knife

A

A.F. Holowaychuk

Joined
Aug 3, 2016
Messages
17
Nothing crazy, just an old file re-worked (mostly with files but I did profile and hog off about 1/2 the bevels on a hand held belt sander which I clamp down for use like a flat platen on a proper grinder) into a blade, with elk antler scales and 1/4" brass pins. The steel choice was just due to impatience waiting for my known steel to show up, elk antler was because I grew up on an elk farm and always liked antler handles on knives.

Heat treatment: heated to non magnetic, held there as best as I could for 5 minutes, 3 seconds into hot water, out for 1, into canola oil. (I was trying for a hamon, didn't get any!) Then tempered twice at 400 in my oven for an hour.

The extra pin where the bolster should be is literally because I decided I was too lazy to make a bolster after a failed heat treat. It got some tiny cracks in the spine... but I wanted to finish it because it's more of a keepsake "first knife" to look back on later, flaws and all. The finish on the blade was a decent 600 grit satin before I got epoxy all over the area by the scales and scratched it up when I chipped that off. Live and learn.

My lighting choice was poor, I need to work on my photography - but between these two pics you get a general idea of how it looks in person. All in all, I'm happy it went this well, and now I can focus on slowly improving every aspect on each one as I move forward :)

http://s184.photobucket.com/user/oldredalan/media/IMG_4287.jpg.html?o=1

IMG_4287.jpg.html


http://s184.photobucket.com/user/oldredalan/media/IMG_4289.jpg.html?o=0

IMG_4289.jpg.html
 
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I know, me either :( I'm not sure why, because the links are valid (if I right-click on the little failed-image icons, I can open the pictures in a new tab and it works fine). Might be some issue with photobucket
 
It is far from the worst first knife I have seen. Sure, there are some issues with pin placement and shape .... but it is a good first attempt. Kudos!
 
A little help with your pictures, looks good for a first. Sheath?

When you go to photo bucket, click share and copy the "IMG" link and paste it in the text box here.


 
Thank you Stacy, "far from the worst" is all I can ask for on a first try :D And thank you lessismore, I thought I must be overlooking something rather simple.

No sheath for this one, but my next few knives will have simple wooden sheaths to match their handles. I haven't caught an interest in leather working yet actually.

EDIT: I should add, the antler actually looks awesome in person on the parts where I've sanded through all of the outer surface, came out a very creamy white colour and took a polish up to 1500 grit really nicely. I also learned today that elk have 2 teeth that are considered ivory, likely an evolutionary hangover from tusks (imagining an elk with tusks now haha), so I'll have to dig around the old farm looking for skulls next time I visit.
 
At a quick glance "far from the worst" may not sound like much of a compliment, but I have seen a lot of first knives ( including my own) that are pretty close to the worst.

My concerns for that knife are mainly ones of potential blade breakage. The length of the blade and the shape make for a very high stress at the thinnest point, located at the choil. This is the sweet spot where all the forces between the handle and the blade converge. It is normally the strongest and beefiest part of the blade ... yours is the thinnest point. You have also added a hole in the tang at this same area ( the extra pin). This is just another potential failure point.
 
Stacy gives great advice.
A twig will usually snap in the middle, or it's thinnest point. You might have a double whammy there.

Forr your first knife this looks comfy, and has flow. Two things you don't often see in a first. I like how the spine rises almost roach bellyish (sure that's a word). The handle looks like it wouldn't anger the hand much. I think if you fine tuned this considering the issues mentioned you'd have a great looking design. Smooth out the profile and make the eyeball happy. Rethink pin placement and thickness.

Just my two cents. I don't usually comment but the more I look at it, the more I like it.
 
I STRONGLY appreciate the constructive criticism!

Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
At a quick glance "far from the worst" may not sound like much of a compliment, but I have seen a lot of first knives ( including my own) that are pretty close to the worst.

My concerns for that knife are mainly ones of potential blade breakage. The length of the blade and the shape make for a very high stress at the thinnest point, located at the choil. This is the sweet spot where all the forces between the handle and the blade converge. It is normally the strongest and beefiest part of the blade ... yours is the thinnest point. You have also added a hole in the tang at this same area ( the extra pin). This is just another potential failure point.
Click to expand...

Oh I took it as a compliment :) and I'm never one to shy away from criticism (frankly I'm disappointed whenever there isn't something negative pointed out in anything I’ve done, because I can't learn as much from compliments alone).

Now that you point all that out, I completely see what you’re saying. I designed that blade shape almost purely from a “form” point of view since I frankly had no clue what I was looking for as far as function, other than that I knew I liked drop points on knives this size.

For its length, I’m thinking I should have made a wider blade with more belly (to achieve a similar profile for the last 2/3 of the blade) and done away with that big notch unless the blade profile had widened enough to allow it (AKA: the notch didn’t result in becoming the thinnest part of the profile), as well as getting that pin moved. I think what I’ll do is hun down similar profiles by established makers and study how they manage the profile, especially that transition into the handle.

Alternately, maybe I can also start with thicker stock and do an aggressive distal taper, to add strength back by the choil.

lessismore said:
Stacy gives great advice.
A twig will usually snap in the middle, or it's thinnest point. You might have a double whammy there.

Forr your first knife this looks comfy, and has flow. Two things you don't often see in a first. I like how the spine rises almost roach bellyish (sure that's a word). The handle looks like it wouldn't anger the hand much. I think if you fine tuned this considering the issues mentioned you'd have a great looking design. Smooth out the profile and make the eyeball happy. Rethink pin placement and thickness.

Just my two cents. I don't usually comment but the more I look at it, the more I like it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words! The handle is decent feeling, but needs to be wider in profile and flatter (not thinner, just flatter due to the extra width, it’s too rounded right now and it feels comfy but a tad small). The profile on the blade has really grown on me too, though I think the only actual “rise” in the spine is right at the transition to the handle, after that I think it’s straight until the point drops (that said, it’s totally possible that I put in a subtle dip in the spine after the initial rise, which would then cause the rest of the spine to rise from there… I’ll have to go home and bust out the straight edge tonight!
 
I think what I'll do is keep making "random" blades (since I'm new and get distracted by new styles I want to try) but really try to focus on a couple/few models mainly. That way I can really see my progress, and learn to make those knives as well as possible, both from a design and an execution point of view.

Especially once I'm really testing them out in the real world, that's when I'll see my structural and design mistakes most clearly.
 
It takes a lot of study and knife making to get yourself settled into a good grove where an appealing form comes together with great functionality. Your style looks interesting though. You have an interesting eye me thinks.
 
Not bad fort a first knife. Better looking than mine. Keep on trucking and improving. Thats the fun part.
 
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