My First Try

E

eminart

Joined
Mar 19, 2009
Messages
39
One of the very generous members here was kind enough to give me a few pieces of 1084 to use for my first attempt at knife-making. I'll thank him by email, but if he reads this, thank you very much!

Anyway, this is what I came up with. It's a little rough, but for a first-try I was fairly happy with it (not satisfied, but pleased).

It's not sharpened yet, but otherwise I think it's complete. The scales are hornbeam that I cut from an old stump.

First_Knife_by_eminart.jpg


What should I do differently next time?
 
It looks good to me. It might be the pics but the plunge could use a little cleaning up but other than that... its ggod. You blew my first out of the water for sure. I like the guard, maybe the handle could be curved to meet with the blade. You did a heck of a job on your first try, now go make another one.
 
Lot better than my first. A good start,IMO the guard is too long it will get in the way trying to cut on a board or other flat surface.Is there a spacer between the scales and guard if not you need to work on fitup. Also i would leave a little more ricasso in front of the guard.
Now go make another with what you have learned from this one.
Stan
 
panch0 said:
It looks good to me. It might be the pics but the plunge could use a little cleaning up but other than that... its ggod. You blew my first out of the water for sure. I like the guard, maybe the handle could be curved to meet with the blade. You did a heck of a job on your first try, now go make another one.
Click to expand...

Thanks. It's definitely not perfect, but I had fun and learned a lot.

SBuzek said:
Lot better than my first. A good start,IMO the guard is too long it will get in the way trying to cut on a board or other flat surface.Is there a spacer between the scales and guard if not you need to work on fitup. Also i would leave a little more ricasso in front of the guard.
Now go make another with what you have learned from this one.
Stan
Click to expand...

You may be right about the guard being too long, but this knife will be used solely for skinning deer, so it shouldn't get in the way. There isn't a real spacer between the scales, but what you are seeing in a line of black epoxy. And you're also right about the ricasso, but I got a little ahead of myself on the grinder. Once I realized what I'd done there was no turning back. Thanks for the feedback!
 
How was it heat-treated? Dimensions? Just curious.

Don't be discouraged, nice clean plunges are (IMHO) one of the hardest parts of a knife to get just right. A file-guide helps very much but it still takes practice and skill.

As for the guard being long, hey, it's easy to grind a bit off should you choose.

Overall, I think it's a good-looking and practical knife. The handle material is gorgeous, and I especially like the way the mosaic pins are very close to being aligned to each other. It looks balanced that way. Keep it up! :)
 
First try and with a guard? Good stuff you have going on. Well done! My grinds need work, but ain't it fun?
 
James_Terrio said:
How was it heat-treated? Dimensions? Just curious.
Click to expand...


It was heat-treated the old-fashioned way. I built up a hot charcoal fire, heated it until it was non-magnetic, and quenched in motor oil. I tempered it at 400 degrees for two one-hour sessions. I realize this isn't the most exact method, but I wanted to do it all myself and these were the methods I had available to me. I'll get more sophisticated as my skills (and budget) expands.

Dimensions:

Overall length about 7 1/4"
Blade 3 1/4"
My flat bar was 1/4" thick, but I tapered it down to where the thickest part of the blade is about 3/16".
 
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Really good first try. It looks like it would be very comfortable in the hand, especially if you are using it for skinning purposes. Very nice shape to start with.
 
Looks great for a first knife!:thumbup: I like the way the guard is taperd too.
I think this knife shows you have the potential to be very good....as long as your learning.;)

There is one thing I see...it's not just you....tons of makers do this and I don't know why. You said it still needs to be sharpend...and it has a handle on it.
Knives should be sharpend after heat treat and final grind and be TESTED!
There is no point in doing ALL the work of hand sanding and making a handle if the knife wont pass simple cutting and impact tests.

Test your knives....or your customers will.
Mace
 
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