Some of my new knives... hand made stuff

FriskyDingo

FriskyDingo

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Take a look. Waiting to send them out for carbide coating on the edges. Large dagger is still in the process of grinding the handle, it's still a bit wide. Daggers will both be getting cedar wood scales with wood cut from a tree off my farm.


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More to come. Yes I know Ti doesn't hold as good of an edge as steel, but all of these are getting carbide on the edge and they'll be first rate slicers. Daggers massively overbuilt.
 
looking good, but I would say try to work on the grinds a bit, make them a little cleaner.
 
Cool stuff. Since you're very new to knife making I think constructive criticism is very important so:
I think that the titanium fixed blade market is most interested in two types of blades. One is a (~4 inch) dive knife. Spear point, drop point and tanto are most popular with the option of pointed or rounded tip. You might cord wrap the handles on these or, upon request, possibly g10 or carbon fiber. The other titanium fixed blade that I actually see used is the small utility blade. The last picture you have there is a good one, you might offer a couple different variations of knives similar to that.

I'm curious as to why you exclusively have been using titanium? Titanium blades are very cool and can be very handy for very specific jobs, but I believe that you could sell 10 steel blades for every titanium blade you make. Titanium is really only good if you work in or around salt water and cannot keep a steel blade from rusting or carried around the neck or in a backpack where keeping the weight down is vital.

Don't get offended by this but if you were making one of these knives for me, I would want you to spend less time on the fizzing and more time on the blade grinds. I don't know what you are going to charge for these but I think people would much rather have clean straight grinds than decoration. I wouldn't comment on that if you were making the knives for yourself as a hobby, but since you are in the market to sell these I think its important, atleast to me.

Are you going to stabilize the wood slabs before you make them into scales? Some say that cedar doesn't need it but I think its important to stabilize all woods so the scales don't crack on your customers down the line.

Not trying to nitpick your work but I think its very important to get the truth when you're starting. I do like a lot of your fizz jobs though. You may just be able to get in on that titanium fixed blade niche market as there are not many people doing them. Good luck in your quest and don't forget to upgrade to knifemaker if you sell your work here.
 
Hey man, no offense taken, I'm pretty chillax as long as its constructive which yours has been. A lot of guys come onto here and don't realize I've only just started grinding blades... as in like about two or three months, and as I only JUST today upgraded my grinder to something semi decent, I haven't totally settled into my own on grinds. Actually I've gotten a lot better and what I've found is the titanium makes decent kitchen knives as well.

These two are actually for my girlfriend and her dad who wanted some decorative pieces for their art collection. They're really into the "crafty" stuff and keep a lot of tatted, woven and knitted goods around in display cases (kinda strange but whatever floats their boat) as well as knives made out of strange materials. They were going to put a few of mine in with their obsidian, glass and stone knife collection.

For cedar, I've heard both things as well. I usually seal mine with tung oil and supposedly the finish will last for seven years outside, so in a air conditioned humidity control environment like most modern houses it should last quite a while. This is mainly until I can get some quality stabilized hardwoods in to make some handles that will last forever, but the cedar adds a pretty nice look to it as the cedar trees we have here are almost purple.

I will say that the reason my stuff is almost exclusively Ti is because I have so much of it around. I'm big into combat robotics and I have tons of titanium drop around from getting my parts cut. I have a bunch of Ti that I have no idea what to do with lol, so I just use it for knives. I do have some 1095 knives floating around but they're nothing to look at really, I use them really hard so they're not pieces I'd show off really.
 
Way I see it, ur grind will only improve in time I can imagine. Fizz work is nice.

For me a titanium blade is good for SD. As a neck knife or boot knife, so far the most suitable for my climate is the H1 Caspian Salt from Spyderco, it'll never rust. I can see the appeal of a carbide coated titanium last ditch blade...
 
Ti makes a nice dagger, for push cuts it doesn't matter quite so much if the edges are incredibly sharp. I have been using 800 grit belts to put edges on these, so they are very sharp, tho as with most blades you don't want to hit them against hard stuff, it'll fold the edge. Hardened steel will chip, which is a little different. The Ti will resist lateral loads a bit better than steel, so you can pry with it tho you may bend the Ti if you go past 20% flex. Just something to be aware of.

H1 steel rocks, I'm in NC so I feel your pain, it's hot and humid and S30V will rust here in a heartbeat if you're sweating and the knife's in your pocket. I have to carry steels made for salt water because of the sweat condensation. The salt's are great knives, I also like the H2O Griptillian, thats what I usually carry because I'm not so keen on lockbacks.

As for the grinds I'm practicing, I have started to get a lot better. I'll post some pictures later today of a few recent ones I've done, I think you'll be impressed.
 
FD... Work on crisp lines and uniform grinds. ;)
Then make me a curved Ti Kwaiken. :)
 
Definantly see potential in your work,:thumbup: and as often as been said we all know Ti dont hold an edge for crap... So how about working in something other than Ti...Like a Cobalt alternative to steel. Stellite 6k or Talonite. Check em out.

Jason
 
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