Opinions of my work so far

[disturbedreaper]

Hello everyone, wanted to run my work by you see what other people's opinions of my work so far. I started making knives only a month or so ago. I have all of the knives that I made here so far except one that was given to friend.

My first knife is made from 440c the bolsters are made from aluminum as are the pins and the handles are rosewood. Now I don't think it's real rose wood my understanding is that rose wood is very hard to come by because it can't be harvested anymore or something. That's what it was called at Lowes it was a hard wood flooring sample for $0.11, which I think is good for a whole knife handle. It transformed A LOT since it was drawn on paper

The second on I wanted a clean and sleek looking paring knife. It's not perfect but I like it. The tang has some holes drilled in and grooved out as well as the inside of the aluminium handles to let the JB Weld hold well. Any thoughts on using JB Weld? It seems to work for me and seems strong enough especially when combined with some sort of post. It may be a bit thick.

My third piece was given to a friend and I don't have any pictures of it handy right now, but I think it will get plenty of use which I am happy for.

I'm going to take a moment here for a word about heat treatment. i have been using a propane torch an found favorable results. I have used all of the knives excessively and found them to hold an edge about as well as my Boker in 440c. I tried the same thing with a knife i have yet to show made from cpm 154 and it just seems way to soft to me.

This next knife has been nicknamed the rhino. It has a an almost Persian style blade. the handle seems stout and almost like it has broad shoulders which was more evident before the handles went on. the handles are made from a sample of tiger wood. Yes it is another hard wood flooring sample from lowes this time for a whole $0.25! the two sides of the handle came from the same piece of wood and only a saw blade's width apart, but the grain on each side is so different from the other. Also the handles are currently a lighter color right now they nee another coating of mineral oil. The pins are brass, but thy are false pins. I screwed up when drilling the holes I don't have a drill press and I got a little to excited to get back to working on it the holes ended up crocked. I followed a similar protocol to attaching the handles as I did with the previous knife I showed. So the pins are epoxied in on there own. I left tarnish on the blade from the heat treat and stone washed it, but the stone wash didn't really show up well it was too rough of a grind and the tarnish is harder I believe and you'll see why I think that when I get to the next knife. Also you can see that I was playing around with a logo on this one.

The last one is a cpm 154. I had it paracord wrap handle, but did't really like it so I chucked it. I again left the tarnish from the HT then stone washed it which looks nice I think. where the tarnish is heavy I can see no evidence of the stone washing which leads me to belive that the coloring is at least a bit harder then the steel which took a beautiful stone wash in my opinion.

The last thing I have is just a blank. And the only sheath I made is the ugly as hell one. My fiancee made the others she's getting really good with that

Just finished REuploading all the pictures to tinypic I sized them wrong before. It better be right now I really don't want to deal with that again.
Please let me know what you think. what can I do better? And of coarse I will always welcome any tips you can recommend. Thanks to all of you in advance!

 

[thegeek574]

www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/808140-Wheeler-s-Steel-*-Stuck-in-the-metal-with-you

I would recommend reading this whole thread, or at least the part that comes after the forging, and applying it to your knifemaking. In short, SLOW DOWN and think really carefully about what you are doing before you do it. Your first knives put mine to shame, but slowing down did a tremendous amount as far as making my work look more professional goes.

 

[peppen108]

I like the design of the knife with the aluminum handles. If i where you I would put a top notch finish on that one.

 

[SteelSlaver]

I will be honest. You are started but, you need to spend more time on your grinding. The more you grind the better you will get and more uniform. Don't hurry to get it done. Stone washing will let lack of uniformity and uneven plunges. Lay out your pin holes so they are centered and equal distant apart. Then more time sanding on both blades and scales.

Slow makes you smooth, and getting smooth will make you fast. So to go faster slow down.

 

[daizee]

I applaud your enthusiasm!

Constructive criticisms:
Your pin hole placement is a bit odd. If you like 'em asymmetrical, go for it. If that's not what you were planning, spend more time laying out where they will go.

Finish sanding is a lot of work, but will dramatically improve your results. Sand with a sanding block if you want to preserve plunge lines etc.

Finally, Stainless isn't a good steel to treat with a torch. You'll have much better luck with a simple carbon steel and a container of warm canola for quench. If you must do stainless, find someone with a heat-treat oven who can cook 'em for you properly. If you are using a torch without any firebricks for insulation, your treatment will be even more hit or miss - mostly miss. Don't ask how I know that.

Keep going!

-Daizee

 

[disturbedreaper]

-thegeek574 thank you for the advice I was actualy looking at that thread over the past few days very intresting and such amazing craftsmanship! Also I started to learn that myself slowing down helps alot 10 minutes more if work easily saves you 30min of clean up later. Thank you for the advice.

-peppen108 thank you! What would you recommend a high polish or a satin? Personally I think a high polish might be too intense for the whole knife maybe just the blade? Let me know what you think. And thank you again.

-Ib2v4u definatly agreed indeed to work on a steady grind. I usually have something close to a nice plunge line up until half way up the blade but usually lose it around there and tips on keeping them? I do it all free hand if that maters shou I save up for a bubble jig or something similar or work at it untill I can do it freehand to develops the skill? And I don't think the bubble jig would work with a HF 1x30? I should measure out the pin placement I have just been eyeballing it. And yes definatlly need to spend more time sanding I think one thing that might help is getting some higher grit belts right now I only have up to 120 grit. I get anxious toove to the next grit and finish. Thank you for the honesty and the advice it is very much appreciated!