My first knives, thank you.

S

smorgan345

Joined
Mar 8, 2007
Messages
242
Just want to say thanks to everyone on here that helped me out. This would be next to impossible without all the input I received. I'm finally posting the knives I've been working on. It's taken forever, I can't buy free time these days. They're not actually my first, I made some 440C paring knives for xmas presents last year. They were my first but I only had hand tools and finished them on xmas eve and didnt' have time to photo before they got boxed up...take my word, you didn't miss anything! I know these leave a lot to be desired, especially in the fit and finish department. The photograph is poor but that's probably for the better or you'd see just how green I am on the grinder. Anyways, these are 1080, stock removal, I heat treated them so I'm curious to see how they perform. The handles are from a dogwood tree that was knocked down by a tornado in my brothers yard. I used this for the handles because these are going to 4 of my friends that grew up here in Georgia and have all moved to other places where dogwoods are less common....a touch of home i guess. The wood wasn't stabilized but it sat in the garage for over a year and I treated it with oil and wax. Hope they hold up. I put convex edges on all of them because at this point it's about the only edge i can do with some success. I tried a scandi grind on the bushcraft looking one but had to transform to convex cause I couldn't keep a consistent bevel. I would get a good pass, then the next one would be a couple degrees off and i end up with some sort of secondary bevel. it was a mess. Got a lot to learn but that's what it's all about. Corby bolts for the pins. The designs I copied from here or there, stuff that appealed to me. Hope nobody takes any offense at that. I give credit to bgoode knives for the larger one. I really admire his work. So, thanks again for the help. Hope to post a new creation soon.
DSC08111.jpg
 
I don't have one yet, I may pony up for a etch machine at some point but for now they will be unmarked.
 
Nice clean designs - fluff free in fact. Nice work!
 
That dogwood looks really nice.

A knife maker in from the Santa Cruz area showed me how to etch knives using an old DC power adapter.

so here's what I do:

The electronics: used DC power supply. I use a 7.5V 100mA because that was I had at the time. Cut the DC plug adapter off. Strip the wire back and attach some cheap alligator clips.

The mask: I use nail polish. Paint a uniform coat on the area you want to etch. When it is partially dry, use a wood or brass stylus (i.e. bamboo skewer with a pointy end) to make your mark, write your name etc. Let it dry, then mask the surrounding area with masking tape.

Etch pad: Cotton swab a.k.a. Q-Tip

Attach the positive to the knife blade. Attach the negative clip to the q tip so that it contacts the cotton the cotton. Saturate it with ferric chloride etchant (I dilute mine 1:1 with water), make sure it is in good contact with the alligator clip on the cotton.

Hold the Q tip on part of the mask where you made your mark. I usually hold it there for 10-15 seconds then move it to another part of the mask. I repeat over the whole pattern to be etched until I think its deep enough. It doesn't take me more that a few minutes to get a good etch. It takes me longer to prep the and make the mark than to do the actual etch.

After I'm done etching, I wash and rinse well with some dish soap and water. Dry and use some solvent to remove the nail polish.

Try it on a test piece. If it doesn't etch, try switch the alligator clips.

It's not the fanciest system, but it works for me. My first few knives, I just used the etchant without the benefit of DC current. I had to let it etch for several hours....

Ric
 
Phydeaux said:
That dogwood looks really nice.

A knife maker in from the Santa Cruz area showed me how to etch knives using an old DC power adapter.

so here's what I do:

The electronics: used DC power supply. I use a 7.5V 100mA because that was I had at the time. Cut the DC plug adapter off. Strip the wire back and attach some cheap alligator clips.

The mask: I use nail polish. Paint a uniform coat on the area you want to etch. When it is partially dry, use a wood or brass stylus (i.e. bamboo skewer with a pointy end) to make your mark, write your name etc. Let it dry, then mask the surrounding area with masking tape.

Etch pad: Cotton swab a.k.a. Q-Tip

Attach the positive to the knife blade. Attach the negative clip to the q tip so that it contacts the cotton the cotton. Saturate it with ferric chloride etchant (I dilute mine 1:1 with water), make sure it is in good contact with the alligator clip on the cotton.

Hold the Q tip on part of the mask where you made your mark. I usually hold it there for 10-15 seconds then move it to another part of the mask. I repeat over the whole pattern to be etched until I think its deep enough. It doesn't take me more that a few minutes to get a good etch. It takes me longer to prep the and make the mark than to do the actual etch.

After I'm done etching, I wash and rinse well with some dish soap and water. Dry and use some solvent to remove the nail polish.

Try it on a test piece. If it doesn't etch, try switch the alligator clips.

It's not the fanciest system, but it works for me. My first few knives, I just used the etchant without the benefit of DC current. I had to let it etch for several hours....

Ric
Click to expand...

Ric, thatnks for tip. Im an idiot when it comes to electricity. Would a DC supply be the same as cutting the end off my cell phone charger and putting gator clips on the seperate wires then plugging it into the wall? thx
 
Smorgan- you got it right! Just make sure it's not a charger that you need any more. A 9V battery ought to work too.


Ric
 
Ha ha! How did my name get into this thread :)
Damn good start man!! Simple user designs and clean construction. What not to like :)
 
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