rate my "pinless" knife

J

JZknives

Joined
Feb 7, 2013
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o1 steel , ivory micarta and a brass "gaurd"

polished to 2000 grit with a coat of simichrome
 
By "pinless" do you mean that there are no pins, or that the pins do not go all the way through the scales? A full on view would be helpful for a design critique.
 
I like the combination of brass and ivory micarta, but the handle looks a bit too squarish to me
.. and it is always better to put some type of mechanical fasteners on the handle
 
just a quick question

What would be the best type of sheath for this knife?

A pouch sheath?

Or a blade sheath (ends at the gaurd)
 
Looks like you should sand the handle a little more and get more of those deep scratches out. It may be the pic but just my advice. :). It also looks like you took off way too much material grinding and sanding the blade cuz the tang looks a lot wider. Just some things to think about for your next one
 
Congratulations for finishing the knife, and getting a good polish. There are some issues...some you already have discussed, and others. Still, the knife is a great start.

The knife suffers severely from BHS....Blocky Handle Syndrome.

The handle hasn't been shaped, just left as a square/rectangular block. It and the guard need to be shaped into a curved surface with the bottom ( edge side) narrower than the top. The final shape should be oval to egg shape.
You can tape up the blade and re-work the handle and the knife will be greatly improved. As it is, the handle is far too large and square for the blade.

As to the blade. It looks like you sanded it with the sandpaper just folded up and your fingers to back it. That rounded all the lines from a crisp bevel to a curved surface blade. That won't affect the cutting at all, but makes the blade look odd. Straight transfers from one plane to another are preferred. The clip doesn't seen to "fit" the blade type and size. Perhaps a plain spear point or drop point would have been better.

You already know about the need for pins/rivets from your previous thread.

Making a cardboard template of the knife and holding it in the hand can help with picking the blade shape and handle size. Also, draw cross sections of the handle shape so you know what amount of ovalness you are shooting for.

I'm willing to bet that the next knife is really nice. Looking forward to seeing it. Take your time on each step, and don't rush to get the knife finished. Go back and work areas that need a bit more as you see them.
 
Leethal Cutlery said:
Looks like you should sand the handle a little more and get more of those deep scratches out. It may be the pic but just my advice. :). It also looks like you took off way too much material grinding and sanding the blade cuz the tang looks a lot wider. Just some things to think about for your next one
Click to expand...

I was actually thinking of putting more deep scratches in.

Reason being it makes it look like actual ivory.

Only thing is I dont know what i would use to stain the scratches with to make it a tan or yellow from aging.
 
Deep scratches aren't going to make it look like ivory, just unfinished. A wood stain might work, something like a light pine color (take this with a huge grain of salt, I have almost no experience staining micarta).
 
More deep stained scratches might actually look cool. Practice on a scrap piece first. You should do one or the other though; long faux checks or sand all the scratches completely out.

I don't have anything to add. I think Stacy covered it well. I just wanted to say good job on finishing a knife. Take the advise you got and make a better one. It looks like you've got good potential.
 
fumbler said:
More deep stained scratches might actually look cool. Practice on a scrap piece first. You should do one or the other though; long faux checks or sand all the scratches completely out.

I don't have anything to add. I think Stacy covered it well. I just wanted to say good job on finishing a knife. Take the advise you got and make a better one. It looks like you've got good potential.
Click to expand...
thanks any ideas on what I could use to stain it? i was thinking ferric because its almost the perfect color but there is that whole "acid" thing
 
The phenolic resin is pretty stable and non-reactive. By itself, it won't pick up much except maybe some surface color which is easily scratched off. They use this stuff to make chemistry laboratory bench tops out of.

The real issue with staining micarta, though, is that the underlying fibers (e.g., paper or cotton cloth) can also absorb some of the stain unevenly and leave the handle looking blotchy. This is more of a problem with canvas-based material.

Others might have different experience, but I don't recommend dying/staining micarta most of the time...

TedP
 
Nice Job!
fwiw, Charlie Weiss made me a pinless hidden tang dagger that was too cool. Of course, I sold it.
rolf
 
You might try leather dye. That would be what comes to mind first in reference to dying it. I'd def practice first though.
 
Ya tried staining it , it doesnt really work i think i would need REAL ivory micarta for this to work
 
A lot of great advice has already been given . One thing that i did notice is that the tip seems to be rounded (doesn't come to a sharp point). My guess is that it is caused by sanding too much as Leethal Cutlery mentioned. I have encountered the same problem when hand sanding (a spine that is thinner than the tang and a rounded tip). Does anyone have any tips on how to avoid these mistakes in the future?
 
I think I see black liners between the handle micarta and the tang. What is that material? If it is something that doesn't work well with epoxy it may weaken the hold of the glue. From personal experiments using various plastics some don't work very well at all with the epoxy I use.

- Paul Meske
 
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