WIP... Need feedback

panch0

panch0

Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Messages
3,415
Ok here is a drop point I have been working on. The guard looked good before I assembled and glued the knife. I still need to polish it and i know brass is not the guard material of choice. I still need to do these things. This is my first knife with guard and 7th knife BTW.
1. Polish up the guard
2. clean up the tang(front and back)
3. use a counter sink to put a taper on the lanyard hole.
4. sharpen blade.

Things I could have done better.
1. solder the guard instead of using jb weld.
2. tighter fit of the guard with no gaps.
3. use a stainless guard next time.

Please any other comment or critiques are welcome and desired. Thanks.

-frank

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strahd71 said:
knife looks fine to me.

but why isnt brass a good guard material?

jake
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I like it but Its been frowned upon here in other sub forums. Maybe cause it tarnishes and scratches easier? I dunno?


-frank
 
Brass has been done to death is why, it's like the vanilla ice cream of knife accoutrements. I personally love vanilla so I like it! The only change I'd make at this point is in handle shape I prefer a handle shaped more like this one, it fits the hand a little easier. but that is a preference and not really a critique. looks good get it all polished up and you'll be good to go!
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Your knife doesn't suck. Getting a really nice fit for a guard is an acquired skill, and yours is better than some I've done, by a long shot. Just keep working at it. One thing that really helps get the slot to fit is to polish the face of the guard before you start filing it, and then use the reflection of your file to keep it moving straight into the hole. Also, tapering the tang up to your shoulder will let you inch up on the fit. Taper it both ways - in width and thickness - but not much.

As far as brass goes - I think Jason is right. It's been used a lot because it's easy to work, but that is a good reason to use it while you work on filing the tang slot. Personally I like brass and just because someone else disses it doesn't mean it doesn't have its place. Even so, stainless will stay the way you made it, when other materials won't. That's why it's preferred.

There's nothing wrong with JB Weld. You might let it set a bit more before you clean up the joint so you don't wipe it all away. I use acetone to clean it up, but on a "dry" rag or QTip. That is, there's not much acetone or lacquer thinner on my cleanup stuff. Someone mentioned recently that they use WD-40 instead because it doesn't leave a film behind, and I'm going to give that a try next time.

That looks like a really nice finish and bit of filework. Don't beat yourself up over this one! :D :thumbup: Looks like a nice knife to me.
 
You're being too critical Frank, it looks good. :thumbup:

ddavelarsen said:
There's nothing wrong with JB Weld. You might let it set a bit more before you clean up the joint so you don't wipe it all away. I use acetone to clean it up, but on a "dry" rag or QTip. That is, there's not much acetone or lacquer thinner on my cleanup stuff.
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Thanks Dave. That was my first question when I saw this post.
 
Cool... I thought I was going to get some more critical comments, which is fine. I guess I just want the knives I make to be perfect like other guys on here make. I am comparing my work to veterans and I forget that I am new and am expecting too much from myself to quickly. Thanks for the comments guys and keep em coming. I am here to improve at something I love doing. I know you guys understand this I hope.

-frank
 
I forgot which thread had this quote "Brass has no class" or something like that. Only reason why I might not use brass for a high dollar knife is cause it scratches easy. I guess that is one of the problems with working with brass. It works easy, but gets jacked up easy from use.


BTW real nice knife!:thumbup: Only thing I could see is maybe the thong hole could have been brought in a hair more away from the butt edge? One thing in handle shape that I find cool looking is when some folks use a thong hole they square off the top radius of the butt a little more to give the handle a little bit more "attitude". Of course that is my opinion on both accounts and it might stink.
 
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Hey Frank,

Looks good! I like how you did your own self-eval on the piece. Seems like a good way to progress.

I've read many a thread on the clash of brass views. From my perspective, the only reason to even think of considering the prejudice as holding any water at all is to cotton to the market. Or more specifically, to the buyers who are so afflicted. Other-wise, poppycock says I! The copper alloys known as brasses, bronzes and nickle or german silvers are amazing for numerous reasons. Are they softer than stainless steel? Sure, but then so is wood, stag, bone, micarta, etc...all of which find their way into handles. Is brass not "classy" enough (whatever that is)? Shucks, look at all the blades using old rusty junk wrought iron for hardware. It's all the rage. Looks cool to, don't it?

Humility can help one keep an honest perspective, but I don't think you ever need to apalogize for your choice of material, design or your workmanship. Self accceptance is cool. And sure, acceptance of others' prejudices (I mean points of view) is good too. We just don't have to buy into them.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Well for now anyway.

All the best, Phil
 
Brass im my opinion isnt like vanila ice cream {are those brass pins in your knife } Use what ever is avalible 2 weeks ago i couldnt buy even brass .It is a matter of personal preferance. You want nice finger gaurds make um out of titanium and then blue um or etch um or make um out of ivory your the maker do what you want. I like damascus so i will be working on several real soon the steel is here and im finishing 2 others first. the knife looks great .How did you get the ricaso so clean and neat. nice job. mine isnt near that sharp. kellyw
 
My take on this one is pretty dang good job for #7 and the first guard. I like this style of drop point. Brass is fine for now but think about using 416 stainless soon to broaden your buying audience. I personally dont like filework. My advice is to study Loveless knives to get the overall profile down pat. It really is OK to copy his stuff so dont worry about stepping on his toes. He has such a back log that he doesnt care anyway. You already have some of his influence by the looks of this one.
Nice work, do another one, never stop.
 
I'll echo Bruce's comments.

Also, I'd like to point out some things that I think you did RIGHT... that many guys do NOT.

You thinned the guard down really nicely! It's common to see the finger guard left really thick, which is not necessary for function, and is ugly for aesthetics. Well done :)

I like the spacing on the pins and lanyard. They look even and pleasing to the eye.

The overall lines are nice, and it looks like a pretty darn good finish on the blade.

The guard fit will improve. The fact that you know you can do better is a huge part of getting there.

Keep it up, this one looks great :) :thumbup:

PS- these are just my thoughts and are not worth much :)
 
I think its really pretty. You really fitted the wood well, and that space on the guard is pretty dang good especially for #1. Brass gets a bad rap from collectors. Its a shame. If you're going to market to collectors, you'll probably have to change that. But until you make that move, its a great metal to work.
 
Outstanding job, Frank! I don't have any critiques to add.

I've been struggling lately with my first guard, both fit and shaping, so I'm very impressed with yours. The overall execution is great, and it seems you are progressing very quickly with each one you finish.

What was your process, if you don't mind sharing, of shaping the guard and handle, etc.? Did you finish the guard first before glueing it, etc.?

Feel free to email me if you don't want to post it here.
 
Paul,

I think you have been doing some awesome knives that made me think I wan't progressing very quickly either.

I cut the priliminary shape of the guard with a round file. the used the dremel sanding drums. Then I assembled the knife without glueing to check for the fit. It looked good until I glued the darn thing and it didn't look so great. So I went back to the dremel and carefully sanded the guard and handle flush. The started with sand papaer 220 grit wpapped around a lanyard tube. Then after cussing, crying, and nail biting It was where it was on the pics. I still rate it at 4 out of 10 compared to ones I have seen here. I took hours sanding the dang guard, with limited tools. I learned alot from this and the next one should be a little better.

Keep on keepin on Paul(PJ)

-frank
 
Well, that's very nice of you to say Frank, but the truth is that most of the time I feel like I have no idea what the heck I'm doing. I think this knife is very well done, and you ought to be proud of it.

I must have 10 or more hours into the guard I made for my hidden tang forged blade, and I'm going to have to start over and totally redo it from scratch...pretty discouraging. Hopefully I learned something from it and I can cut that time down on the next one.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one cussing, crying, yelling, and nail biting, and spending hour after hour doing what must take a 'pro' a fraction of the time to complete (misery loves company, after all.)

Great job!
 
P J 234 said:
Well, that's very nice of you to say Frank, but the truth is that most of the time I feel like I have no idea what the heck I'm doing. I think this knife is very well done, and you ought to be proud of it.

I must have 10 or more hours into the guard I made for my hidden tang forged blade, and I'm going to have to start over and totally redo it from scratch...pretty discouraging. Hopefully I learned something from it and I can cut that time down on the next one.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one cussing, crying, yelling, and nail biting, and spending hour after hour doing what must take a 'pro' a fraction of the time to complete (misery loves company, after all.)

Great job!
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I feel the same way every time I am getting close to finishing a knife and I start struggling with the fit and finish.

-frank
 
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