Waiting for a Sheath

[bobbywett]

Hi Folks,

Just finished this "old style" fighter. It is going to have a custom sheath made for it before I place it up for sale in the fixed blade gallery. The specs are as follows:

7 5/16" Blade of 1095

edge quenched and twice tempered at 475 degrees for 2 hrs

lightly convexed edge, sanded to 1500 grit & finished with 400 grit strokes

Maple Handle dyed red mahogany with forged "sea horse" style guard

copper ferrule with single copper pin....domed & polished.

OAL 12 3/8"

1/8" thick at ricasso tapering to tip

Ultra lite, weighing in at just 6.2 oz

Thanks for any Feedback,

Bob,

Hershey, PA

 

[go mike]

That looks really good! I probably would have put the pin a little closer to the blade, but I'm not sure I'd like it any better than how you have it.

 

[bobbywett]

Mike,

I struggled with the pin size & position.....I ended up just placing it in the middle of my extremes.....the pin size is 1/8"

Thanks Mike

 

[PIndelicato]

Sweet knife, love the guard, copper and overall style!

 

[bobbywett]

Thanks Paul...I just love Copper....but that's all I have besides Brass right now.
I'm looking forward to picking up some other guard/ferrule material in the future. Stainless, Nickel Silver, Wrought Iron and such.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Nice overall look ,Bob.

If you want any critique, The handle seems a little fat at the butt. That is minor and may be an artifact of the photo, and not so noticeable in the hand.
The rough forged guard looks good ,but does not seem a match for the blade and handle style. It might look more balanced if the blade was more rustic, or the guard more finished.

A real issue is the .125" at the ricasso. On a near 8" blade, that is pretty thin, especially with the ricasso being significantly narrower than the blade.The tang through the ferrule must be only 1/8" by 1/2" max. So, you have a wide long blade and a beefy handle .....with a small and thin cross section at the guard. In any real use, the blade may snap off at the ricasso, or the ferrule. If the edge quenching didn't include the ricasso, it will be somewhat less of a problem, but the blade may bend at the ricasso in heavy use.

Still, a very nice looking knife.
Stacy

 

[bobbywett]

Stacy,

Thanks for the honest critique, I need to learn these things if I'm too get any better at bladesmithing. I'll be sure to incorporate these valuable notions on style, balance, size, thickness, and possible use of the knife....


Thanks Again,

Bob

Nice overall look ,Bob.

If you want any critique, The handle seems a little fat at the butt. That is minor and may be an artifact of the photo, and not so noticeable in the hand.
The rough forged guard looks good ,but does not seem a match for the blade and handle style. It might look more balanced if the blade was more rustic, or the guard more finished.

A real issue is the .125" at the ricasso. On a near 8" blade, that is pretty thin, especially with the ricasso being significantly narrower than the blade.The tang through the ferrule must be only 1/8" by 1/2" max. So, you have a wide long blade and a beefy handle .....with a small and thin cross section at the guard. In any real use, the blade may snap off at the ricasso, or the ferrule. If the edge quenching didn't include the ricasso, it will be somewhat less of a problem, but the blade may bend at the ricasso in heavy use.

Still, a very nice looking knife.
Stacy