Please critique my knife

Wade Jones

Wade Jones

Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Messages
183
I had some issues with the bolster/guard. I'd appreciate any help on what I can do to avoid these in the future. I really worked on this thing, and just couldn't seem to get it just right.

Blade was premade.
Brass bolster.
Silver/black diamondwood scales
Nickel/silver pins

The sheath is a premade deal that I dyed and shaped.

Looks pretty good from a distance. :D
rright.jpg

rcase.jpg


What causes these solder bubbles?
rsolder.jpg


Slight gap on the left.
rbolster.jpg


I'm guessing I'm not shaping/sanding the bolster/guard piece correctly.
It seems a bit crooked I'm guessing it may have moved when I was soldering.
Also the way the tang seems to be making it's way into the guard?
rguard.jpg

rguard2.jpg



Again, any tips and hints to help make my next knife better would be greatly appreciated!
I want to iron out these issues before I grind/forge my own steel.
Thanks!
-Wade
 
Those look like pretty minor issues to me. Overall, I really like the knife. As I found out myself, practice makes perfect. Each one you make will be a little better each time.
 
Couple of hints, typically you would match your pin material to your guard, just a little cleaner and looks like you planned the outcome. My guess the bubbles in the solder is from not enough heat, I place small strips of solder next to the crack add flux (liquid) and heat from the bottom, the solder will melt, brush with a brass brush or brass rod to spread. I will pin the guard in place before solder but I am guessing the blade was too hard for that.

The bottom of the guard looks like you did some sanding using something that did not match the shape of the guard, you can use anything such as a rolled piece of leather, will keep the shape of everything and allow for a clean finish. Dont go across the grain when sanding or you will have scratches the wrong direction to remove.

looks good hope you had fun
 
I had a similar problem working with brass on my very first knife attempt - which I never completed. One thing that came out of my troubles was a fondness for working with brass. It's so soft and buffs so nicely, I really enjoy working with it. You can basically free form almost any sculpture.

The knife itself looks very nice.

The bottom of the guard looks like it either wasn't perfectly flat to begin with, or possibly - and this is a stretch but I've done it, you may have inadvertently filed or sanded the difference when trying to make the handle material square. Tight fits are difficult, I'm dealing with the same troubles myself. If mating surfaces are not tightly touching, a fraction of a milimeter will show. I've had to really learn to be precise and measure, measure, measure. Your eyes may trick or deceive you.

My guess on the tang encroaching into the brass is just a guess. It looks to me like the tang could have been very close to the edge of the brass before you started sanding. Then it looks like you sanded off too much. The last point on the edge of the brass when it touches the tang is very thin, so if you did a tiny bit too much sanding, it would be easy to sand away the difference.
 
Pretty good over all. On the guard,first sand the guard flat on a surface plate,finish the front of the guard then sand the back of the guard on the surface plate and check with a caliper to make sure they are even.Then fit the guard to the blade and fit the scales to the guard.do not sand or file on the guard any more,just the scales.
Stan
 
The front of your guard is flat. You could make a tracing of one side and flip it back and forth to even out the appearance in relation to the blade. If the fit of the tang and guard changed as you finished, you might have taken off more than you thought. You probably fit the guard better than you thought because normally a big gap opens up. Nice knife, Craig
 
I think you did ok , maybe sand down the area being soldered better and use acetone to clean up before you flux and use low temp solder 425 degree .
 
Avoid too much heat when using soft solder. You only want it to get to a bit above 425F. A 2000+ degree torch flame is way to much. Either use a small torch flame to slowly warm up the blade/guard, or use a heat gun. The flux burning and boiling causes the pits, as well as dissolved flame gasses. Using a brass wire ( 1/16" rivet wire works well) with a point on the end to scrape/pull the solder along a reluctant joint will make for a seamless solder line.

Stacy
 
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