New to forging, what do you think

D

deymorin

Joined
Dec 14, 2011
Messages
11
Never really posted anything and not really being the wall flower type I guess I'll put myself out there. I've really gotten into this and am eager to learn so any criticism is welcome
These are the first two I forged, I made some obvious mistakes


These are two skinners I made for a guy at work


He also wanted a bowie



I made another skinner for a good friend of mine



Even tried my hand at some file work, I turned out better than I thought it would


This was a Christmas present for my grandmother in law



This is one im working on now I tried clay in it for a hamon, I etched it with vinegar and lemon juice. Suggestions?




Any pointers are welcome
 
For just beginning everything looks pretty good. I haven't taught myself how forge yet, so I'll focus on what I do know.

The bowies blade is a great shape with the only drawback of the handle being too far back IMO. So much ricasso area exposed doesn't look right. Almost like the handle hasn't been glued on yet. The false edge is sleek and better looking than the severely drop pointed bowies I've seen.

I hate filework... however, it's better than I can do and it's hard as hell to get it to look half right so I'll say it's a very good start.

The skinners are interesting. Do you find the blade angled downwards like that to help with cleaning up an animal? To me, it seems like you would want the belly more exposed to the work at hand and that angle hinders it - IMO. The hunters I know don't really skin their animals anymore. They quarter it and clean off the loins basically staying away from the guts almost entirely. When quartering it's nice to have the belly exposed for push cuts into the joints where you may not have room for a slash cut.

The handles on the skinners are nicely rounded with my only critique being the angle of the front of the grip scale in relation to the plunge line. Having the same angle on the front of the scales would help when doing fine cuts when grasping the knife between the thumb and index finger. They also look less finished with all the angles being different. Some people won't necessarily notice, but subconsciously they'll pick up on the finer details and feel that a blade with matching angles looks better than one that doesn't.

I've tried this on several people to test their observation of products they've paid money for and it's interesting. Many just simply don't think that hard about the details, but do at some level pick up on them.

Overall I'd say you're on your way. Just some attention to the small details and you'll take it to the next level.

My strongest critique/advice is to take better pictures!!!! Start with a neutral dark gray or flat black background. Sell you blades by making them the center of attention in photos. Make them pop off the background. I know you're sharing here with other knife makers but potential buyers might see these photos as well. And honestly, it's hard to critique a persons work when the photo's are low res and poorly photographed. My point being is that you spent how long on each blade? Blood, sweat and tears, right? To not show it off properly does all that hard work no justice.

Lastly, have you tested your blades for edge durability and cutting performance? If they don't last or perform poorly, looks are meaningless.
 
Yeah I was not well pleased with how I cut the scales on the two skinners but the guy I made them for , couldn't understand what I was taking about and didn't want me to redo. With the bowie I was wanting enough choice to allow for your finger, but it got a little big. You are correct about my photography as the ricasso doesn't really appear that disproportionate in person. As far as the as the grip angle I prefer it more open myself but the guy buying them wanted that if you notice the one with the fde scales is more open, I wanted him to see the difference, he didn't care for it and gifted it to his friend which was his intent for the one he didn't want.

All in all the largest problem I have is I tend ficus on certain things to the near exclusion of others.

As far as edge holding all of them so far seem to be better than I hoped for considering my heat treat setup. The two on the first pic are mine and I've used them a bit (the small one alot, it's nearly an edc).I've only had to sharpen the little one a couple of times and I used it to cut my leather for the sheath you see and several not pictured plus a holster and mag pouch. That's over about two years with no chipping so I think I got it right.

Thanks for the response, it's hard to get food feedback around here, most folks are good with a knife as long as it cuts.
 
deymorin said:
Yeah I was not well pleased with how I cut the scales on the two skinners but the guy I made them for , couldn't understand what I was taking about and didn't want me to redo. With the bowie I was wanting enough choice to allow for your finger, but it got a little big. You are correct about my photography as the ricasso doesn't really appear that disproportionate in person. As far as the as the grip angle I prefer it more open myself but the guy buying them wanted that if you notice the one with the fde scales is more open, I wanted him to see the difference, he didn't care for it and gifted it to his friend which was his intent for the one he didn't want.

All in all the largest problem I have is I tend ficus on certain things to the near exclusion of others.



As far as edge holding all of them so far seem to be better than I hoped for considering my heat treat setup. The two on the first pic are mine and I've used them a bit (the small one alot, it's nearly an edc).I've only had to sharpen the little one a couple of times and I used it to cut my leather for the sheath you see and several not pictured plus a holster and mag pouch. That's over about two years with no chipping so I think I got it right.

Thanks for the response, it's hard to get food feedback around here, most folks are good with a knife as long as it cuts.
Click to expand...

I'm always looking for painful, in depth critiques of the blades I've made. Problem is, most people that aren't makers just don't think about the details. Even those with more refined tastes. They know they like something, but have no real idea why. I've shown my knives to approx 50 different people of all ages and both sexes and while all of them loved my work, I had to pull from all of them the reasons why.

I'm going to post my first ten knives here this weekend in hopes for some in depth analysis from other makers.
 
You are getting there. My advice? Go SLOW and don't try to get fancy this early on like with the filework. Get the basics down first. work on shape, proportion, etc. To my eye, the cleaver is the best looking of the bunch.
 
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