New knifemaker

C

Calvin Richardson

Joined
Oct 13, 2011
Messages
377
Hello to all. I am a new maker and would like to hear your thoughts on my knives. I have only been making knives since May of 2011 and have only made around 10 knives so far. I will post a pic of the knife that I'm working on right now. I do all my metal work pretty much by hand with only a 4" bench grinder and several files. The handle scales are also shaped by hand and sanded by hand. In all I have around 15 hours in this knife so far. The scales are hickory, and the blade is fully edge hardened and then tempered. I am only doing stock removal at this time. Any thoughts or criticisms, within limits, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Calvin Richardson, Gigfran Du Knives
 
If you want to email me the photo I will post them up... ryan (at) ryanwkinves.com (Change the (at) to @)
 
Calvin Richardson said:
the blade is fully edge hardened and then tempered.
Click to expand...

...Fully edge hardened... what? Do you mean that you edge quenched the knife, or that you fully hardened the blade?

Where are you trying to post your pics from?

If you have a photobucket or picasa account, the pics can be hotlinked into your text. Just go
or use the image insert feature to do the same thing.
 
Very nice for your tenth blade, I'm pretty sure my tenth is still laying in a scrap bucket in the shop lol.
Keep up the good work one thing about metal work, it's a sickness that can only be helped with a sharp edge.
 
Welcome to the forums.

Pay special attention to the edge grind and see that it is smooth and consistent. Many new makers make the edge too thick and don't carry the grind far enough up the blade. This is often referred to as the "Sharpened piece of steel" look. Sand the entire blade until the edge is getting close to sharp, and then add the final edge bevel. This will assure a flat and shiny main bevel, and a wicked sharp edge.


Ryan and geek ( and others) -
I know it seems like a kind offer, but the rules prohibit posting photos for a registered user . Either they will have to host the photos somewhere and post a link, or upgrade to a basic membership. Most of us have done it at one time, but we shouldn't.
 
bladsmth said:
Welcome to the forums.
Ryan and geek ( and others) -
I know it seems like a kind offer, but the rules prohibit posting photos for a registered user . Either they will have to host the photos somewhere and post a link, or upgrade to a basic membership. Most of us have done it at one time, but we shouldn't.
Click to expand...

Sorry Stacy I was unaware... I am going to claim Ignorance as my defense! :o Thanks for the heads up!
 
Stacy, that's interesting. Can a registered user hotlink photos that are hosted elsewhere, if the issue is that reg. users have no photo storage here? Or is the issue more that reg. users could be anyone and might post wildly inappropriate material? Or is it just a privilege reserved for contributing members?

Just curious, wanted to know if hotlinking would work here.
 
I use a torch to reach critical temp only in the bevels. I don't have a heat treating oven so I don't feel comfortable hardening the whole blade. I don't know if this is an acceptable practice, but it works for me. It also let's me exclude drawing a seperate temper in the spine. The knives have come out ridiculously sharp due to decent geometry and good steel.
 
Thanks everyone for all your help. Ryan and Salem, I went to your sites, and your work is amazing. I hope that mine will be half that good in the years to come. I especially enjoyed the temper lines. I'm doing a couple Mediterranean dirks next that I would love to put temper lines in. Coincidentally, does anyone think that my work would improve with a good belt grinder? It seems like it would improve consistency.
 
The pitting is the result of using a 50+ year old sawblade from a sawmill. It has definitely seen better days. I have made several knives from it and everyone seems to like the effect. Some of the weird look on the bevel is the reflection of the textured ceiling in my parents house. High mirror polish.
 
What steel are you using? And how do you monitor the temperature along the edge while using the torch? IMHO a heat treat oven is a must have but I know how financial reality can get in the way sometimes.
 
I go the old school way, color and a magnet. The steel is either 1085 or L6. I'm leaning towards L6 due to the ways it moves under a file and how unbelievably hard it gets after quenching in peanut oil.
 
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