Student knife ...and introduction.

Mace

Mace

Joined
Apr 8, 2003
Messages
2,092
Hi all,
I would like to introduce you to my apprentice Barbara.
Barb contacted me last summer and asked if I would be willing to take her as an apprentice. I looked around my shop and thought..."hey, it might be nice to get it a little cleaned up" so I said yes. She has been comming out about once a week and helping me with things in the shop for a while and then we would work on knives.
We started with forging for a while and when she had a blade that was nice we decided to take it all the way. Barbara did ALL the work on this knife....I just watched over her shoulder and tried to get her to learn from my mistakes. You guys be the judge....please tell her what you think of her first complete knife.
Blade is hand forged 1084(from NJ steel baron of course!), guard is copper and nickle silver, handle is some birdseye maple from Bill Morans shop that I gave her for her birthday(she just turned 23). She made the sheath out of 10oz leather and hand stitched it!

I just asked her if she was open to critique and she said "yes"....so....let her have it!
Mace
Barbarasknife.jpg


Barbarasmark.jpg


Hammer godess!
Hammergodess.jpg
 
Criticism? I can't find anything to criticize... the entire thing looks fantastic! She nailed the oil finish on that handle, man - definitely had a great teacher. Classic lines, and a great selection of materials - my guess is Mr. Moran would approve.

Awesome work, Barbara.
 
Nice finish on the wood...



No tang pin at all?

I would sand out the spine & put a nice pretty mark / logo

The heel at the plunge is pretty angular & contrasts with all the other curves...round it a bit?
 
Really nice looking knife - kind of like a bird & trout knife with a thicker blade. Handle and sheath look great also. Fantastic for a first knife.
 
Great job!

Tell her to quit now!!!!

Ah well, she's putting up with you so she's already hip deep in the madness.... :D

My criticism is that she needs to use a dust free wipe on the blade before taking pictures with that good a camera..... that's why I use a crappy camera!
 
A knife like that needs a proper makers mark.:thumbup:

What type of finish is on the handle? Oil? CA? Whatever it is it looks great.
 
Something about the tip is just not quite right. I love the angle at the plunge lines as opposed to the normal round notch. Love the guard work. Very nice overall design.
 
Knife looks great. The only thing I would add would be a thong hole with copper liner and a nice pull. Absolutely great job. Girl you are so hooked.
 
Very pretty knife. If you want criticism, it looks to me like the handle is a bit longer than necessary, but since we don't have dims it's a little hard to tell. I really love the wood. I'd probably be reluctant to remove much of that gorgeous wood too. Really eye popping stuff.
 
I see nothing wrong either, fit n finish is uber tight and aesthetic is pleasing. It gives credit to you and credit to her.
 
Awesome! I'm impressed with the fit n finish. The way the guard flows into the handle is something I'm still working on. Very well done.
 
Tell Barbara that she's made a fantastic first knife. :thumbup: I have nothing negative to say about the quality of craftsmanship... the only criticisms that I have are only matters of opinion concerning aesthetics and visual balance.
  1. I prefer that a straight plunge lines-up with the guard, or compliment some other visual balance point on the knife.
  2. The guard seems thin compared to the thickness of the ricasso.
  3. The guard seems thin compared to the length of the handle.
  4. I generally prefer a slightly different finish on the blade bevels and flats (ricasso). This can be a contrast in finish-sanding grit or finish-sanding angle. It makes the transition pop a bit more.
  5. The name/date on the spine is messy. I'd be happy to chip-in to get her a stencil from Ernie... it would fancy things up a bit.

Again... great work for a first solo effort. The coloring of the maple is fantastic. :thumbup: Thanks for sharing. Hope we see more from Barbara soon.

Erin
 
Barb:
Where to start, where to start…

Well, first of all it’s not TOO bad for someone who’s been making knives for several years already. Some people just don’t understand the tradition, the lore, the mythology of “THE FIRST KNIFE”. First and foremost it must be ugly. It must be misshaped; it must have dings, scratches, and gouges (or as I like to call them “character marks”) all over it. The handle should give you blisters and/or slivers just by the act of picking it up. It should be something that only a mother, or its maker could love, and if you aren’t embarrassed by it a year or two down the road then you did something wrong.

OK, real critiquing of where I see that improvement can be made. Someone already mentioned the dust so I will have to point out the glaring problems with the sheath. I’m not sure if those sewing holes are EXACTLY the same distance apart, and there is a small boo-boo in the leather that the finger guard is pointing to in the top picture. Look closely, it’s there.

I hope this doesn’t burst your bubble Barb or destroy your self-esteem. I felt I owed it to you to be honest.

Welcome to the insanity. What are you gonna make next? I would love to hear about your experience as an “apprentice” and the challenges when making the knife.

- Paul Meske, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
 
Handle's way too long for the blade. I don't care much for the angle where the edge sweeps up to the ricasso, looks like it's begging to catch on whatever you're going to cut, and maybe chip if it hangs up on something.

Beautifully done, though, no question. The joinery is outstanding, as is the finish. There's an awful lot of painstaking work in that piece and I'm really impressed with the craftsmanship overall :thumbup:

I salute Mace for sharing his knowledge, and Barbara for learning so quickly. Barbara gets extra points for the Sabbath t-shirt :D
 
Nice work !
The handle shows a beginner's problem. A better handle would have an oval cross- section.Barbara's is a rectangle with rounded corners.
 
I criticize you for not having a maker's mark yet!

Also, since we don't have anything to scale the handle against, I'm assuming that it's sized appropriately to hold. I don't see anything wrong with the proportions.
 
Super knife. What else can be said.:thumbup::thumbup:
 
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