Newcomer here. My first thread. My first knife w/pic and questions!

R

rjfm1972

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Jan 13, 2013
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Hello everyone. I have been interested in making knives for years, and only recently decided to try. I looked up vids and info on the internet, and decided it was time. I made a homemade propane burner, mortared some firebricks together and coated the inside with refractory cement. Forge works great. I decided to use 1095 for my first blade because I fell in love with some of the knives showing a hamon on them. I used furnace cement instead of clay. Quenched in a fast quench oil. My first knife came out fairly nice, I think. Here are my questions..... I tried doing a couple more blades last night and discovered I had some very slight smears of the cement on them that I thought were so thin that they wouldn't effect the hamon. I was wrong. I polished them today and could see the marks in the blade that I knew would show up when etched. So, tonight I put cement on them again, and heat treated them...again. I haven't polished them yet, so I don't know whats going to happen with them. Is this going to work? Or are these blades junk now? Also, if for some reason the hamon looks like crap, could I heat treat the entire blade to get rid of the hamon all together after its already been heat treated? Below is a pic of my first knife. I found some pics online of knives I liked, and based my design off of some of the things I liked. I don't really even know what kind of blade to call this, so if anyone could tell me some of the terminology for things I did on this blade I would greatly appreciate it. Also, as much critique as possible would be appreciated. Thanks! PS,I also made a custom sheath, and the handles are made from Cocobolo.
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Please remember to critique! Even though this is my first knife, I have been welding and metal polishing for 22 years, so I do have experience to some extent. I just have no experience in heat treating and forging(this blade was ground, not hammer forged). So Negatives are welcome as well as positives. Thanks again!
 
That looks great for a first knife! Hammon looks good and the grinds look nice. I would just say on the next one try to balance the pins more, they are a little off in my opinion, otherwise, welcome to the world of knife making!
 
Light years ahead of my first knife.
I agree the pins need to be distributed more equally.
In my opinion the blade shape and handle is not to my liking, but its not bad at all.
That sheath is extremely nice. I think with a little practice you will be making really really nice knives and sheaths.

Great job
 
The blade and the hamon look good. I like the design.
The scales don't seem to fit the knife very well. Did you finish them off the knife and then attach them? Is there a pronounced epoxy line along the front of the scales?
I think you did a great job on your first knife.
 
I'd have to say very very nice first knife but Imo you should round the handles more.
my first is still i need of heat treat lol.
 
Thanks Guys. As far as the pin placement in the handle, I absolutely agree. It wasn't well thought out. I will fix that on my next blade. As far as the scales, I cut them out of a single solid piece of cocobolo I ordered, attached them to the handle and shaped them on the handle. My mistake (and why they look like they don't fit perfectly) was that I sanded them up to 220 grit on the blade, then took them off and finished them off with 400 then 600 grit. I didn't think those finishing grits would remove much wood, but they took off a little more then I would have liked, so you can see a little of the blade protruding all the way around the handle. Lesson learned. As far as the blade shape, I like it and will probably modify it slightly on my next blade. The blade is about 5 1/2" long and the handle about 5 1/4". I think my next knife will have a slightly shorter, thicker handle, and a slightly longer blade. Hopefully post pics of the next one soon.
 
Coming from a consumer, and only have made two knives and a handful of rehandles. Take what I say with a grain of salt.

The handle isn't lost. Depending on the tools you have available, you should be able to grind down the protruding metal to match up with the scales. If you're using a grinder, just go slow, so you don't over heat it and pop the scales off.
Next time, just finish the scales on the knife, that way you have a nice smooth transition from metal to wood. The last finishing steps you should be sanding both metal and wood.

Pins have already been noted.

Regarding the handle again, I dislike the two "finger grooves" you got going on the bottom of the handle. Not sure what you were going with there, but I would keep the handle radius the same all the way around the knife, for aesthetic reasons. I also don't see a practical reason for that aspect of the handles.

If that is epoxy at the front, hard to tell. Use a cotton swab soaked in acetone and wipe up any epoxy that comes out when you fit the scales on.

The blade looks like it came out well. Not my style, but it looks like you nailed what you were going for, and the hamon looks great. I'd say, just work on your handles a little more, and you're GTG.

I would be more qualified to critique your sheath, but with only one pic, it's hard to say much. From what I can tell, it looks like it came out pretty well. It could just be the pic, but it looks like some of the edges came out a little jagged? If so, hit it with a belt sander to smooth it out. This should also burnish the edges a bit for you. Finish the burnish with a bit of wax and canvas, or jean material. All of this is assuming you used veg tan leather and died it black. If you used latigo, then the burnishing is a little more difficult.
 
I agree 100% that my biggest issue is the handle. I thought it would look better in my head then it turned out. I have already corrected the issue on the next one I am doing. As far as the sheath, I think it turned out pretty good. The sides are smoothed out with a belt sander, and all edges beveled. The knife fits snug and won't slip out even without the strap being snapped. There are two rivets missing that I removed because they were a little loose and I need to get some shorter ones. I used leather from a remnant I bought on ebay, that was already dyed black. I only needed to dye the sides of all the pieces I cut. Thanks for the critique!
 
Very good first knife.Nothing to add as most of the issues have been covered.Welcome to our addiction.

Stan
 
For a first knife, that is not bad at all. You seem to have a great attitude, willingness to do the research and accept criticism well. I look forward to your future projects and fully expect that your work will improve with each one.:thumbup:
 
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