Newbie first knife....first micarta....first hamon

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tinman207

tinman207

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Jul 27, 2012
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Hey gang,

I have been reading the forum for some time, and finally decided to have a go at making some. My first was originally planned to be from an old file with some simple pins and a scrap figured wood handle (I build guitars). As I worked on it, I got side tracked on many other things, like differential heat treating, and DIY micarta. Now my build philosophy is typically work hard and well on a few aspects to get the most learning and growth out of each attempt at something, so this knife ended up deviating from that a bit. I ended up building a simple gas forge, and differentially treating the blade with satanite, and also whipping up a batch of black burlap micarta for handle scales. I am happy with the result as a first go, but my next ones will be simpler, focusing on basics.
Here are a couple shots. I will say it is absolutely stupid sharp, and I expected it would take a good edge, but this one is a little surprising to me. I have also finished polishing out the handle since these pics were taken.



 
Welcome to the knifemaking addiction!! :)
You did all wrong!! the first knife should have a very big blocky handle, the lines shouldn't flow. It has to be asimmetric with lot of tool marks left on the finish and a lot of glue on the front of the scales ;) eh eh!
Very very nice, you should be proud, please post the pics when you finish polishing the handle :thumbup::thumbup:
cheers

Stefano
 
You did well.

Very nice first blade
 
Not only did you do a lot of reading but you paid attention! Welcome and great job. Nice profile lines, smooth comfortable handle, well spaced pins, nice radius to the front of the handle scales, attractive hamon, a blade bevel that isn't 3/8" deep but nice and deep with well finished bevels. What's not to like? I'm a little disappointed you didn't go for a tapered tang on your first knife. Kidding of course. Super effort.
 
That is a great looking knife brother! I really like the Micarta you came up with. Please keep us posted as you continue in making knives.
 
Excellent knife and work.

I will tell you the only thing that jumps out as needing attention ( and I bet you know it already) - The rivets are improperly placed.
It either needed three rivets or two that are properly spaced. There is no rivet toward the butt, where it appears that you planned one. The butt will be that part that gets the most abuse.
Probably never will be an issue with this knife, but food for planning on the next one.
 
Thanks guys, I have already planned out my next few. I will post up some sketches, as I know your input will greatly speed up the learning curve.
As for the river placement, Stacy was correct that I had spaced them out for three rivets. I was actually going to do a lanyard hole for the third, but ended up not doing it last minute. I also don't really like the look of 1/4 inch rivets, and think smaller ones look a little more elegant when done well. I am going to play with those.
I also had intended to situate the scales a tiny bit higher up on the ricasso, and it doesn't quite have the balanced look I wanted for handle length, and that was learned in the scale drilling process. I will take a lot more care in laying that out next time.
I am also curious on the cloudy portion above the hamon line that I got on both sides of the blade. The steel was completely fine sanded to 600 before doing the differential heat treat, and again after. I cleaned the blade up and took it to 1000 grit before etching in hot vinegar. The cloudy spots almost look like scale, and are actually pitted, but they weren't there before etching. Just curious if you guys can explain that, because my vinegar etches were just a couple minutes long.

Anyhow, thanks for the feedback, and the great spirit of this community!
 
Above the hamon is an area of a mix of pearlite, matersite, and other structures. This is called nie and nioi in Japanese. It can be part of the mystery of a hamon quench.
 
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