Tai Goo lesson knife w/ carved sheath

That really is sweet. The knife work is very impressive.

I like the sheath, I think it's a great first attempt at carving. Gotta get that DVD, huh.

What I woulda done myself is carve the panel first on a slightly oversided leather blank and then formed around the knife to match the carving panel, THEN done the belt loop placement and the edge cutting. Here in the shop we tend to water form the sheaths at least twice, sometime three times. the first one is just a light form to the blade to get a basic idea of where all the stuff (welts, top, bottom, lanyard holes, straps) goes. But this isn't criticism of your effort, you've done 20 times better than my first attempt!
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate all the comments!

Aside from the obvious (such as the goofed carving layout on the sheath), does anyone have any constructive criticism or critique to offer about the photos, finish of the knife, and/or sheath? I would really like to get better at all aspects of this craft...
 
P J 234 said:
Thanks guys, I appreciate all the comments!

Aside from the obvious (such as the goofed carving layout on the sheath), does anyone have any constructive criticism or critique to offer about the photos, finish of the knife, and/or sheath? I would really like to get better at all aspects of this craft...
Click to expand...

If you're really having trouble getting something flat, you can blue it up and hit all the high spots with a dremel. Then clean it, blue it up and do it again. and again. and again. Doing this until you have a nice even blue up of the entire area.

To blue it up, you need a completely flat surface to work on. You're marble top should work nicely for knife tang tolerances. Take some prussian blue oil paint (you can get a tube for cheap at any craft store) and using a lint free cloth put a very thin film of it on the marble surface. When I say thin, I'm talking really, really thin!! Then put the tang of the knife down on the blued up marble surface. Do this gently without it moving it much as it comes into contact with the marble surface, as you don't want to smear the paint onto your tang. Once it is laying flat on the surface, then you can move it ever so slightly back and forth a few times to transfer the blue oil paint from the flat marble surface onto the high spots of your knife tang. Take your dremel with a sanding drum attachment and sand off just the blue from the tang of the knife, while taking a small amount of metal with it. Eventually, you'll get the entire tang flat this way. Perfectly flat. It will have a mottled appearance, but it will be flat. It's ok for the center of the tang to be hollow a little since that will be hidden. Just get it flat around the edges. I always grind or file it to the proper angle, before going to the bluing stage.

I used to use this method when I didn't have the proper grinding equipment to get a tang flat by grinding. I've even made one knife where after getting everything done, I hand scraped the finish to get the look of a hand scraped machine dovetail way. It's a really pretty finish when you take it to hand scraping, as well as being extremely flat.
 
Thank you Scott, I think I understand your procedure and I'll give it a try next time!

Do you have any thoughts as to why sanding it flat on sandpaper on the marble surface didn't seem to work?

One final question if you have any suggestions: I have a Sears belt/disc combo, and I've tried flattening several things on both the belt platen and the disc. What I end up with is a taper top to bottom (or is it bottom to top), and I can't figure out why.
 
You should do a step by step sometime for us po' boys who want to learn.:D
-frank
 
Personally I think your knife is just great. Finish wise I think that if you are wanting a traditional using knife then it is just fine. I know a lot of the old boys I talk to (real backwoods, no muss no fuss, eat what you shoot, shoot what you eat guys) prefer knives just like that ( I know I do).

A couple years back one old boy tossed me his old hunting/skinning knife as a gift. Want to know what it was? A late 19th century Sheffield butcher knife. He had used it for everything.

So fit and finish are in the eyes of the beholder, and I think you have a beauty just the way she is.
 
really good for your first the sheath is better than average for any ive seen here.my turn is coming. soon. kellyw
 
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