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Wife took some better pics today. Is this better?
What's going on in your shop? Show us whats going on, and talk a bit about your work!
- Thread starter WillSwift
- Start date
If you are a buyer what would you like to see? Take clear picture from both side , then one from top and one from underside .... shape of the handle , symmetrical plunge , symmetrical grinding line , symmetrical edge line., taper in tang ...... your previous images looks like you try to hide something. You must clearly show every detail on knife ....and that is not easy ...at least to meWife took some better pics today. Is this better?
Maybe short video clip is better , so the future customers will see better what you offer ?
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I'm just giving you my opinion and it is going to be direct because this is "shop talk" and the most appropriate place to be critical of eachother.
The plush/fuzzy backgrounds turn me off completely. They obscure areas of the profile(the heel on your blade is covered in both pics) and rob the photo of depth as the handle sinks into it. Your Kydex is swallowed by the coloration of the fur(squint your eyes and it disappears). It also exaggerates the knife being off center in the pic. There is no balance or flow.
I'd like to see the other side along with the spine and handle contour. Where is your maker's mark? Buyers want to see a mark... no-name knives are faceless
Humor me and take a pic (outside but in the shade) of just the knife on a flat, no-glossy mat background... maybe on a rock, roof shingle, fine gravel, pavement, plywood, etc... Angle it at a 45, tip toward the foreground. Make sure the background surface fills the entire frame and the knife is centered and equidistant from the margins
The plush/fuzzy backgrounds turn me off completely. They obscure areas of the profile(the heel on your blade is covered in both pics) and rob the photo of depth as the handle sinks into it. Your Kydex is swallowed by the coloration of the fur(squint your eyes and it disappears). It also exaggerates the knife being off center in the pic. There is no balance or flow.
I'd like to see the other side along with the spine and handle contour. Where is your maker's mark? Buyers want to see a mark... no-name knives are faceless
Humor me and take a pic (outside but in the shade) of just the knife on a flat, no-glossy mat background... maybe on a rock, roof shingle, fine gravel, pavement, plywood, etc... Angle it at a 45, tip toward the foreground. Make sure the background surface fills the entire frame and the knife is centered and equidistant from the margins
kuraki
Fimbulvetr Knifeworks
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- Jun 17, 2016
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Justin, here is (maybe) and example of what Rick is describing. Knife angled to show both sides, then handle angled to show both sides. Somewhat subdued background, contrasting color, if not matte not terribly glossy, taken outside at dusk. This set of pictures are some of my favorites I've personally taken for myself.
This knife was sold before the pictures were taken but I also had more interest in this particular knife after posting the pictures than I really thought it warranted, and I attribute that to the photos. I had to crop the second one so the John Deere green corner didn't show
This knife was sold before the pictures were taken but I also had more interest in this particular knife after posting the pictures than I really thought it warranted, and I attribute that to the photos. I had to crop the second one so the John Deere green corner didn't show
kuraki
Fimbulvetr Knifeworks
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Sometimes yes, especially for Instagram. Just don't do the whip flip whip slow...whipwhipwhip nonsense. I can't tell you how many Instagram videos I just scroll by because I cannot see any of the detail I want to the way the knife is being jerked around.
You mean not like I do that .......... It s not easy to hold with one hand knife and in other phone
Horsewright
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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- Oct 4, 2011
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- 11,657
Lets wander around the shop and see what I've got to do....today and tomorrow and tomorrow's tomorrow.
Made four out of these five. These are here for different sheaths. The four I made were bought with an additional sheath as well as the one they came with. Will have to finish sewing these up and get em wet molded and fitted to the knives this morning before I start working with steel.
That'll take an hour or two. Then I'll start in on the batch I'm currently doing the post heat treat grinding on. Got the full flat ground blades done. Stainless is finished to 220 grit and then a Scothbrite belt, the damascus is taken to 800 grit and then etched. The A2 bowie is done to 400 and then Scothbrite but there is a slight divot still, ya can't see it but ya can feel it. Got more grinding to do on that one. Probably what I'll start with.
When I closed up the shop yesterday I was working on the three kitchen knives in this batch. All the grinding here is post heat treat.
Still have the hollow ground blades in this batch to do the grinding on too. Have to set my equipment up differently so thats why I do the flat grinds and the hollow grinds separately. The dark ones are the damascus. The shiny spot on the damascus blade on top is the RC test. 59-60 RC on the nose. AEB-L and the A2 all run 61-62RC. Peters does the HT.
When ya make knives there are always some oops, no matter how good you are or how many you've made. I tend to save the oops from several batches and then throw em in with a new batch. The two on the right will get re handled. The three on the left will also have their bolsters sawed off and we'll start over with a clean blade.
The last several batches the wife has been helping out as much as possible. So while I'm grinding the last few days she's been sitting at the bandsaw cutting steel.
Worked herself into a conundrum on this piece of AEB-L. I had, in the past told her to do a line from top to bottom of the same model and then cut that off the six inch wide piece of steel. She felt that was wasteful and it is, a little, so she juxtaposed all the different knives together to get an extra couple blades out of the steel. We did. Now cut them sons of guns out! Probably won't do that again. I'll have to drill lines of holes to connect the saw cuts. Same model top to bottom, cut.
After they are all prepped and ready to go to heat treat and after the batch that I'm already working on is done; look we get to start all over. These are already back from heat treat.
And everybody wants me to learn to make slip joints too! When?
Made four out of these five. These are here for different sheaths. The four I made were bought with an additional sheath as well as the one they came with. Will have to finish sewing these up and get em wet molded and fitted to the knives this morning before I start working with steel.
That'll take an hour or two. Then I'll start in on the batch I'm currently doing the post heat treat grinding on. Got the full flat ground blades done. Stainless is finished to 220 grit and then a Scothbrite belt, the damascus is taken to 800 grit and then etched. The A2 bowie is done to 400 and then Scothbrite but there is a slight divot still, ya can't see it but ya can feel it. Got more grinding to do on that one. Probably what I'll start with.
When I closed up the shop yesterday I was working on the three kitchen knives in this batch. All the grinding here is post heat treat.
Still have the hollow ground blades in this batch to do the grinding on too. Have to set my equipment up differently so thats why I do the flat grinds and the hollow grinds separately. The dark ones are the damascus. The shiny spot on the damascus blade on top is the RC test. 59-60 RC on the nose. AEB-L and the A2 all run 61-62RC. Peters does the HT.
When ya make knives there are always some oops, no matter how good you are or how many you've made. I tend to save the oops from several batches and then throw em in with a new batch. The two on the right will get re handled. The three on the left will also have their bolsters sawed off and we'll start over with a clean blade.
The last several batches the wife has been helping out as much as possible. So while I'm grinding the last few days she's been sitting at the bandsaw cutting steel.
Worked herself into a conundrum on this piece of AEB-L. I had, in the past told her to do a line from top to bottom of the same model and then cut that off the six inch wide piece of steel. She felt that was wasteful and it is, a little, so she juxtaposed all the different knives together to get an extra couple blades out of the steel. We did. Now cut them sons of guns out! Probably won't do that again. I'll have to drill lines of holes to connect the saw cuts. Same model top to bottom, cut.
After they are all prepped and ready to go to heat treat and after the batch that I'm already working on is done; look we get to start all over. These are already back from heat treat.
And everybody wants me to learn to make slip joints too! When?
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- Joined
- Feb 9, 2016
- Messages
- 64
Finished up a little kitchen knife that has been waiting a while. 15N20 steel from JTKnives and burl from Kevin McGovern. Thanks Guys! First time working with stabilized burl, what beauty. It cuts jalapenos pretty well too!
bike4fun919
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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- May 5, 2014
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- 666
9" 1084.
bike4fun919
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- May 5, 2014
- Messages
- 666
9" 1084 with Black micarta scales finished.
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- Jan 10, 2015
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- 1,673
So you have seen my videos... I am guilty of that I think.
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2016
- Messages
- 256
Working on a 1095 honyaki style gyuto with shinogi line. I usually etch my hamons with vinegar but due to a wild hair I'm trying to bring out the hamon only though sanding and oil polishing with loose abrasives. I think I am happy with the Hira but will do a few more straight pulls on the Kiriba with 2500 grit paper.
Aks 1095 forged from .187 stock
Satanite, clay pattern and cross section ground
Austentized at 1450 and quenched in parks50. Hamon check after temper
1500 grit
2500 grit, hamon polished a LOT with FF pumice, then 1500 SiC, 3m pink paper (in a random cycle of using the pumice for contrast then cleaning up the errant scratches until i said, good enough)
Still needs more work, hamon activity is very nice and hard to photo. Sorry for the long post, spent far too much time on this blade
-Trey
Aks 1095 forged from .187 stock
Satanite, clay pattern and cross section ground
Austentized at 1450 and quenched in parks50. Hamon check after temper
1500 grit
2500 grit, hamon polished a LOT with FF pumice, then 1500 SiC, 3m pink paper (in a random cycle of using the pumice for contrast then cleaning up the errant scratches until i said, good enough)
Still needs more work, hamon activity is very nice and hard to photo. Sorry for the long post, spent far too much time on this blade
-Trey
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- Feb 18, 2016
- Messages
- 2,209
Rick and John thanks for those tips, I just saw that yall replied. I will go out tomorrow and take better photos. Appreciate the input!
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- Feb 18, 2016
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- 2,209
Last edited:
Rose and Thistle Custom
Josh Mead
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- May 9, 2018
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An order I just shipped out from AK to GA
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2013
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- 1,574
Justin, here is (maybe) and example of what Rick is describing. Knife angled to show both sides, then handle angled to show both sides. Somewhat subdued background, contrasting color, if not matte not terribly glossy, taken outside at dusk. This set of pictures are some of my favorites I've personally taken for myself.
This knife was sold before the pictures were taken but I also had more interest in this particular knife after posting the pictures than I really thought it warranted, and I attribute that to the photos. I had to crop the second one so the John Deere green corner didn't show
Look at how nice and round your bolt holes are! #youknowyoumakekniveswhen
Clean AF too. Silky wood and good choice of subtle liner.
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2015
- Messages
- 1,673
This pic shows the evolution to date of my drop point hunter style. Top to bottom. Also a video showing some details. I still have some spine sanding to do to finish it, but this is pretty close to done.
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- Dec 6, 2004
- Messages
- 6,179
2nd VFD in shop and wired now i dont have to swap main VFD from grinder to the bridgeport. its wired this way so that id main VFD dies i can have the backup plugged in by removing 5 drywal screws and only 5 min down time
