Thistle - The product of me dipping my toes in the water

[Sharp & Fiery]

Hello all,

I’m now dipping my toes in the water. I’ve always loved knives, and have been using/collecting for years.

I was looking to make a smaller bird processing knife, which ended up being EDC able as well.

This knife is not done entirely by myself. I had REK do the grind/swedge. The filework, finishwork and scales were done by yours truely.

It has been an enjoyable adventure, and I have five more to go! Haha. Looking forward to them. All filework is different, and scales will differ. This is the first one I have finished.

Pictures and specs below.


Specs

Name: Thistle
Blade length: 2 3/8”
Cutting edge length: 2 5/16”
Handle length: 3 1/2”
Overall length: 5 7/8”
Blade thickness: 1/8”
Blade steel:M390 (by Peters @ 62HRC)
Blade grind: Flat
Scales: Dyed Maple Burl - Stabilized
Inlay: MOP
Spine: Hand filework
Construction: Pinned scales underneath MOP inlays

Hope you all enjoy.
Comments and constructive criticism welcome.

 

[Sharp & Fiery]

 

[WValtakis]

Gorgeous piece Coleman, nice lines and you really made that burl pop

 

[Sharp & Fiery]

Gorgeous piece Coleman, nice lines and you really made that burl pop

Thanks Chip!

 

[Lorien]

constructive criticism, eh?
- I would like to see the tang tapered
- there's something funky about the choil area that bugs me
- the front face of the handle is too straight, the rest of the knife is all curves
- the filework could be a little smaller, (smaller files, finer cuts)
- M390 takes a pretty nice polish, and I think a polished blade would look pretty awesome here

The colour is awesome, and I really like the shell inlays. M390 is a great choice for a knife like this, and the bevel geometry looks great. I think you got the important stuff right, and I made suggestions because I like what you've done

 

[Sharp & Fiery]

constructive criticism, eh?
- I would like to see the tang tapered
- there's something funky about the choil area that bugs me
- the front face of the handle is too straight, the rest of the knife is all curves
- the filework could be a little smaller, (smaller files, finer cuts)
- M390 takes a pretty nice polish, and I think a polished blade would look pretty awesome here

The colour is awesome, and I really like the shell inlays. M390 is a great choice for a knife like this, and the bevel geometry looks great. I think you got the important stuff right, and I made suggestions because I like what you've done

Thank you for your post.

ETA: Tapered tang is my favorite...
-Maybe too large of a choil? Or scales terminating to early...
-I agree, next one will have a curved termination...back to my original plan.
-not sure if I would go smaller with the filework on this unless the tang was tapered...pics make it look larger than it is.
-I agree with the polish...was what i originally wanted to do, but got nervous and didnt want to mess it up. :/ Also, are you suggesting polishing the grind or the flat of the blade? Or both?
Thanks again.

 

[bikerector]

I think the choil is too large and too far forward after looking more and seeing Lorien's comment. I think it breaks the sweeping lines of the underside of the knife. I also generally don't prefer sharpening choils so there's some added bias on my side there too.

Did you die the pins or something? I see some oily shimmer look to it that looks nice on the rear brass pin but the front, not so much, and that would annoy me a little from an aesthetic perspective. Is the front pin proud a little on the left side? Maybe a gap or less finished? Something about that front pin grabs my attention a little in an unfavorable way. Maybe it's the lighting in the pictures as it seems like a shiny finish.

Overall, it looks great and the design looks quite useful. I love a high hollow grind and the spine work with the file and swedge flows nicely. I think I like the big filing given the short-ish handle and the likelihood that a forefinger will be resting on the spine a lot for cutting. I'm not sure if the swedge would be a bother when using a forefinger on the spine but given the size of the knife, I think it strikes a nice balance to get a fine tip on there.

Looking more closely at the choil again and the sweeping lines of the edge, I notice there's not a lot of flat/straight edge on the knife. I wonder if that's kind of what seems slightly out of place, so the edge at the heel seems like it should be tucked in just a hair to get a short straight section right about where the choil is. Kind of has the edge angling away from straight like a lamb skinner right from the plunge line. The 4th picture shows this and from a use standpoint I find that angle pushes material away if cutting things out in front of you, like cardboard, but is very handy when cutting lower than arms' height like when cleaning game or on a cutting board.

Given that this is intended to be a bird processing knife, it's going to rock for that use. I think the lack of more flat section at the heel of the blade will limit it more in the EDC department, but not much. Given the size of the blade, my experience is that is really hard to add much flat section, belly, and utility in the tip in such a small amount of edge so you may just have the right compromise given the intended use.

I really like the handle shape and it seems like the front and back of the knife is well done. Near the center, there are a few things that I think are good but not great: front pin, choil, face of the handle, lack of flat section (personal preference maybe). The sloping back of the handle, pinky rest area, blade grind (I think a polished primary grind would be nicer to remove grind lines which may be what Lorien meant), swedge, and file work all looks great. Material choice is great as well. I like it.

 

[Sharp & Fiery]

Thanks for the post bikerector

On this particular design, the sharpening choil is intended to allow ease of sharpening in the field, as its sole purpose is designed to be a bird/game dressing knife.
I would have liked to have a smaller choil, but because the plunge line is slow sweeping, and not a quick hard line, the larger choil was a necessity to clear the plunge line.

Correct, there is no straight part of the cutting edge. In theory, this was to hopefully have the whole edge cutting when having the knife inverted when skinning...theory is that when forward portion of the blade starts to loose its edge and the hide is pushed upward, it is still being pushed into the cutting edge. We will see if this actually works next hunt season.

The SS pins are hidden. What you see as the “pins” are MOP inlays, so unfortunately I dont really and fully get to see the colours and sheens until they are polished. :/
All pins are smooooth with the scales. Zero felt gaps or high spots. However, being the dingdong that I was, I accidentally grabbed the wrong bit for the front inlays, so the holes are a touch bigger, and left a little gap between the maple and the inlay. (Facepalm). Ticked me right off, and totally a blunder on my part.

This blade is comfortable in normal grip, (four finger for me, most likely 3 finger for others), its superb in inverted grip (like when skinning), and comfortable in reverse.

Thanks for your post, and try not too stare at the front inlays too much, its a sore spot for me. Lol.

 

[Sharp & Fiery]

Lorien and bikerector

This is not a hollow grind...I’ve corrected my slipup. I wanted hollow, but ended up going flat grind. :/ Sorry all.

 

[Sharp & Fiery]

Thistle Round #2


Name: Thistle
Blade length: 2 3/8”
Cutting edge length: 2 5/16”
Handle length: 3 1/2”
Overall length: 5 7/8”
Blade thickness: 1/8”
Blade steel:M390 (by Peters @ 62HRC)
Blade grind: Flat
Blade Main Grind: Hand Rubbed Satin
Scales: Koa - Stabilized
Spine & Butt: Hand filework
Construction: High Polished Brass Pins

Lorien

 

[David Mary]

I remember these! Beautiful pieces that look quite comfortable and functional.

 

[RayseM]

Coleman, Sharp & Fiery - I think these are just great - without qualifiers. Yes, a tapered tang would add a degree of elegance but there is nothing that I would deem worth of critique.

As to the "not quite perfects" - you aren't touting these as masterworks. They are first editions - showing that you have skill and potential. A few misplaced "stitches" are part of the process.

I like the shape and details. Nicely done

 

[David Mary]

What kind of sheaths are these going to have?

 

[Sharp & Fiery]

What kind of sheaths are these going to have?

Leather.

ETA: Sorry for the short response David Mary ...was in a hurry but wanted to reply. I am planning on wet moulded leather sheaths.

 

[Sharp & Fiery]

Coleman, Sharp & Fiery - I think these are just great - without qualifiers. Yes, a tapered tang would add a degree of elegance but there is nothing that I would deem worth of critique.

As to the "not quite perfects" - you aren't touting these as masterworks. They are first editions - showing that you have skill and potential. A few misplaced "stitches" are part of the process.

I like the shape and details. Nicely done

Ray,

Always a pleasure. Love hearing your thoughts, and thank you for the kind words. It the beginning of the journey, and I cant wait to continually hone the craft.
Now that i’ve got my toes wet, its hard to not just dive right in...lol.

Thank you again, my friend.

 

[john april]

nice work !

 

[Sharp & Fiery]

nice work !

Thanks!

There are a few things I would like to improve on...one being the second thistle. When I hand rubbed the blade grind, I came over the plunge slightly causing some light finer scratches. You can only see in the right light, but I know they are there. Haha.

 

[Sharp & Fiery]

Thistle #3

Name: Thistle
Blade length: 2 3/8”
Cutting edge length: 2 5/16”
Handle length: 3 1/2”
Overall length: 5 7/8”
Blade thickness: 1/8”
Blade steel: M390 (by Peters @ 62HRC)
Blade grind: Flat
Scales: Box Elder Burl & Blue Resin - Stabilized
Spine: Hand filework
Construction: High Polished SS Pins

 

[Sharp & Fiery]

Thistle #4



Name: Thistle
Blade length: 2 3/8”
Cutting edge length: 2 5/16”
Handle length: 3 1/2”
Overall length: 5 7/8”
Blade thickness: 1/8”
Blade steel:M390 (by Peters @ 62HRC)
Blade grind: Flat
Scales: Box Elder Burl - Stabilized
Spine: Hand filework
Construction: High Polished SS Pins

 

[Sharp & Fiery]

Thistle # 5




Name: Thistle
Blade length: 2 3/8”
Cutting edge length: 2 5/16”
Handle length: 3 1/2”
Overall length: 5 7/8”
Blade thickness: 1/8”
Blade steel:M390 (by Peters @ 62HRC)
Blade grind: Flat
Scales: Spalted Box Elder Burl - Stabilized
Spine: Hand filework
Construction: High Polished Brass Pins