My first WSK??

S

SkunkWerX

Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
1,730
Making my first knife. Maybe it's not a WSK, maybe it's just an SK?
Dunno yet.

Steel=5160
OAL= just shy of 8"
Blade= 4"
Width= 1.25"
thickness= .250"

I wanted a Heavy Duty knife , but not a 'Godzilla' chopper.
Worked up a drawing, think of it as the Becker Necker's big fat brother "The Bully".

The manila pattern and the very roughed out 5160 stock.
KnifeDesign1a.jpg


Then, some grinding, filing and contouring:
KnifeDesign1b.jpg


And, to show the thickness, that is a Quarter next to it.
Penetrator style tip, we'll see how it grinds out, but I want a tip that can be hammered pretty hard, and pryed a bit, without popping.
KnifeDesign1c.jpg



That's all I got for now.
It's DogfishHead time.
 
Looks like a Ranger and a Becker made sweet love by the dashboard.

I am impressed for a first effort, man keep going on it and keep throwing up the pics.

Nice work.
 
The Chef said:
Looks like a Ranger and a Becker made sweet love by the dashboard.

I am impressed for a first effort, man keep going on it and keep throwing up the pics.

Nice work.
Click to expand...

Thanks, much appreciated. Will do. Jumped out to a pretty good start, but, now comes the time consuming part.
 
Skunk..... looks very good so far. Reminds me of Scott's (Gossman Knives) Tusker but smaller.

Keep us up to date on how things are going.

Good thread:thumbup:
 
Edge pic. Trying to convex it.
(patent pending on paper clip holder) :D

that's about .5 mm flat (dark line) on the edge.

KnifeDesign1d.jpg
 
Hey skunkwerx! Looking good so far! I don't normally post here, because I'm ususally learning from you guys (thanks BTW) I'm assuming that the blade has not been heat treated yet. If not, the edge looks a bit too thin before going into the heat treat. (hard to tell from the photos) Makers all have their own opinion on how thick the edge should be before heat treatment, but I'd give it a bit more thickness than a dime. 5160 is a very forgiving steel, but looking at the photo, I'm not sure how forgiving it would be in this situation. Maybe Scott Grossman or another, more experienced maker will be by here and offer other help. Just thought I'd chuck my $.02 in for what it's worth. I hope it turns out the way you want it to. It should be an awesome knife. Oh one more thing, if you are going to beat on the spine, may want to skip the swedge or make it thick. If it is too thin your wooden baton may stick onto it. Thanks for listening to me ramble. -Matt-
 
grease-man said:
Hey skunkwerx! Looking good so far! I don't normally post here, because I'm ususally learning from you guys (thanks BTW) I'm assuming that the blade has not been heat treated yet. If not, the edge looks a bit too thin before going into the heat treat. (hard to tell from the photos) Makers all have their own opinion on how thick the edge should be before heat treatment, but I'd give it a bit more thickness than a dime. 5160 is a very forgiving steel, but looking at the photo, I'm not sure how forgiving it would be in this situation. Maybe Scott Grossman or another, more experienced maker will be by here and offer other help. Just thought I'd chuck my $.02 in for what it's worth. I hope it turns out the way you want it to. It should be an awesome knife. Oh one more thing, if you are going to beat on the spine, may want to skip the swedge or make it thick. If it is too thin your wooden baton may stick onto it. Thanks for listening to me ramble. -Matt-
Click to expand...

Thanks, good info on the edge/heat treat.
If it's too thin I can knock out another one, in a couple hours.
i got 6 feet of 5160...So I can make some mistakes, that was factored in.

The spine is thick, for sure, it's like a false sedge, just a bit of angle, for looks. I am rounding it, as a square spine tends to cut into a wooden baton....well, it's only theory, but I'll try it.
 
Looks good skunk!

I've tinkered around making knives a few years ago, that makes me want to give it another try.

Good luck with the heat treat:thumbup:
 
you're doin great, i hope my first comes out as well as this seems to be. I've been lookin at belt sanders, found a 4" .5hp at home depot a week ago for $100 with a two year warranty, think i'm bringin that home once it warms up. how you plan on hardening that edge, torch?
 
If you determine the edge to be too thin before heat treatment, you could always try to grind/file the edge back toward the spine a hair then re-adjust the grind bevels to match. From the looks of it, it wouldn't take a whole lot of metal removal to do it, it would only change the profile just a hair. If you have any questions about any aspect of knife making, you can post over in the makers forum. Great bunch of guys over there with a ton of knowledge that will help. Be careful! You may get addicted to making! :D -Matt-
 
Skunk.....Nice, Nice, Nice,..... Macgyver'd probably still be on the air if he had you for a partner.....
 
Magnum22 said:
you're doin great, i hope my first comes out as well as this seems to be. I've been lookin at belt sanders, found a 4" .5hp at home depot a week ago for $100 with a two year warranty, think i'm bringin that home once it warms up. how you plan on hardening that edge, torch?
Click to expand...

I haven't gotten that far yet! ;)

I was thinking about some fire bricks, some coal, and a compressed air line, slightly cracked, as a lazy man's bellows.
Then a motor oil quench.
 
Man skunk, that looks good.
Kinda looks like on I made a while ago outa' a file, I didnt make that one well ;)

But ya, looks good man. keep us posted.
 
Skunkwerx, here's a few things to do, which you may already know:

drill all holes and finish entire knife to 220 grit or better prior to heat treat with no deep scratches or sharp 90 degree angles that may cause stress risers

use a thinner viscosity motor oil, and pre-heat oil to about 140F -- I use a junk scrap, heat it to non magnetic and dunk it

be sure to have a container of oil large enought to handle the cooling of the blade and a cover of some sort handy in case it flares up

Hope this helps some! -Matt-
 
ya know, there's gotta be somethin about that blade shape that's right. everyone has a design with that blade hangin off their preferred handle. i have one, someone else just posted some drawings of a similar piece, and look above at how many people say "that looks like X." maybe it's what everyone came to BF lookin for, the answer to all our questions.

i'm done.

...for now.
 
I like that cut, looks very handy. Kudos for making your own too, I'm jealous.

Are there any good websites/books on making your own blades? Choosing your steel, heat treating, etc?
 
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