My latest- comments and critique appreciated

Kevin McGovern

Kevin McGovern

Joined
Jul 31, 2015
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I copied this over from the gallery as I am looking for feedback, thanks.

>>I have been working on this for a buddy of mine from church for a while. He basically said he wanted this style with several bible verses. I got some olive wood from Bethlehem and this is what I came up with. I have never done a patina, or a leather sheath. I was kind of going for an old look with the materials. I still have to sharpen and edge dress the sheath. I would really like some feed back, since this is outside the box for me. Thanks in advance.
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Looks good to me. Similar looking to an Old Hickory kitchen knife.
As far as critique, I prefer not seeing grind marks on the bevels...

Btw, I know little about Christians.
Is there knife or metalworking related meanings in those Bible references ?
 
Looks great to me! But if your looking for critiques I'd say thin the handle a bit more and maybe extend the handle scales forward a bit more. I sometimes don't mind grind lines if they're done neatly and all in one direction or the knife looks like it's supposed to have grind lines. Which I think they fit this knife and the old look your going for. Overall it's a nice little knife.

Jay
 
Proverbs 27:17- As iron sharpens iron,
so one person sharpens another.
I had this on a personal knife, he liked it

Psalm 56:3-4- When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?

This has personal meaning for my friend and he requested it.

As for the grind lines- I'm not unhappy how it turned out, as i wanted this knife to be old looking, but it was a medium scotch brite finish that looked fine to me, the etching brought out some non uniform lines I could not see prior.
 
That ricasso it huge! With a ricasso that large you are adding to the length of the blade but decreasing the cutting area.
 
I think the knife could use some more finish work. Hand sand the blade lengthwise to 400 grit and it will do amazing things for the look of the steel. I understand you were going for an old look but even on old knives I dont ever see belt grinding lines. Forge finish maybe.

I think the wood could be contoured a bit more. Looks pretty chunky as is.

Only other thing is I would not have brought the grind line all the way back to the spine. It should stop just short so the spine shows an even distal taper all the way down and you don't see where the grind starts/ends by looking at the spine.

I honestly dont mind the length of the ricasso. I think it flows ok and the space is filled with an etch so it doesnt look obnoxious to my eye. IF the index finger is not wrapping around wood then I would bring the wood further up the ricasso though. I like the spear point shape of the blade. Looks like a great edc user. I'd carry it.
 
The ricasso is large, but it works in the hand since the index finger goes there. I have done this on knives before and the idea is that you can slide your grip back for hard cutting and slide it forward and get better control of the blade with thumb and index finger on the ricasso. It works for me anyway, but I realize it looks somewhat unconventional.
 
Thinking about it, the handle does look a bit fat. I think it feels right to me since the ricasso, being part of the grip, is thin. Perhaps a picture in the hand will show what I mean.
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kdogmcg said:
The ricasso is large, but it works in the hand since the index finger goes there. I have done this on knives before and the idea is that you can slide your grip back for hard cutting and slide it forward and get better control of the blade with thumb and index finger on the ricasso. It works for me anyway, but I realize it looks somewhat unconventional.
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All those things would still work if the scales went almost halfway up the existing ricasso. The ricasso is far too large as-is, and it detracts from the look of the knife. It is the first thing the eye sees, because it looks out of proportion.

I like the olive wood, and the special engraving. The overall shape of the knife is nicely done.

Handles are a matter of personal taste, but that one looks a tad fat to me for a small kitchen user. Shape is good, just a tad plump in the middle (like many knifemakers).

The bevels would be a bit more refined if you had taken the belt finish one grit finer, or finished with a Scotch-Bright belt.
 
The longer you make knives the more refined they will become. You have to build a few knives before proportion becomes clear. It's not a norm in everyone, keep your eyes open:)


Keep at it, Fred
 
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