Work In progress: First big knife (as promised)

David Schott

David Schott

Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Messages
3,041
7" blade
12" OAL
O-1 Toolstel, 3/16" stock
Handles are desert ironwood.

Ht on this went perfectly.....you may be able o see i sharpened a section of the blade for testing. Chopped everything I could find. Easilly chops a 2X4 and still shaves hair with ease. Takes hunks out of the vice, too!

Handle is in progress. I will probably keep this one, so it will end up sculpted to my hand, with a nice flare towards the tang for chopping. Itll proly have ss/copper mosac pins and a thong hole in the thir pin.

I am contemplating sloping the blade down towards the tip, but am still debating....

Lemmie know what you think!
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those scales are great!! Where did you get the wood? I vote for sloping the tip. I wish my flat grinds looked that good..still learning to grind here.
 
i like it. you've kinda made that handle you signature from what i've seen. looks really good. :thumbup:
Alex
 
Looks like a good knife.
Some suggestions. - Slope the tip down a bit from the spine.It will look a little less like a sharpened bar of steel.Make the choil rounded,not boxed.You want to avoid sharp angles in the ricasso area (stress risers).
Handle shape ,flat grind,and plunge line are excellent.Good job.
Another suggestion,quit cutting your vise,it proves nothing about your knife (all hardened steel is harder than un-hardened steel).Test the edge by flexing (rolling)the edge on a brass rod,cut cardboard,make 100 cuts in a 1" rope,or chop a 2X4 if you have to whack at something.These are standard performance tests.
Stacy
 
Agreed on the tip! I will slope that badboy down.

As for testing, I did the standard brass rod test as well as did the 2X4 chop followed by hair shaving...illkeep this update
 
How about a false edge?
I also think that for the next one you should consider making the end of the handle a little wider. If you chopping you wouldn't want it to fly out of your hand!
 
I kinda like the character of it without dropping the point. It would still be great as a drop point though, I think. Nice ironwood too. That O1 can really hold its own when HT'd properly. Very nice work. I like.

RL
 
Thanks everyone! The grind did go really well on this one. Finish is currently at about 320 grit. I will probably take this to 800, then step back and put a final on at 600. I dont see a good reason to mirror polish something that may see a good deal of chopping. I am playing with styles for the clip or spine sloping. Id like to avoid having to take off 1/4"+ of hardened steel from the tip area if possible, so I may instead put in a long, subtle clip starting where the bevel walks off the spine and begins the taper. I am not a fan of false edges for some reason.....

As for the choil, I can easilly make it a gentle arc. Ive so far wanted to keep the plunge intact because I always enjoy that part on a knife.

As for the handle, I have left the butt end at full scale thickness. I wish I had thicker scales to allow a nice wide-flared butt. I am trying to accomidate that through additional shaping....the pictures represent a roughing out stage and the final product will be quite different.

I am toying with the idea of inlaying two tiny silver dragonflies into the handles to patch a dragonfly slide I am planning for the lanyard. I am not sure I can figure out a good way to attach them, though, that wouldnt look cheap like if I inlaid them in epoxy.

Ill keep pics posted here as I finish this off! I'll also post some testing pics as I put the blade through some more cutting tasks.
 
if you are going to use it as a chopper you'll want the weight out there..
the sweet spot looks only out there about 1" or so on the edge .
you do have a bit of weight in that handle bringing it back....
now..of cource I don't know the blade sizes . just my 2 cents :)


edited where is your bal point?

BTW nice job :)
 
Right now how i have the tang drlled, it balances on my fingertip right were the plunge line is. Blade is 7". It may end up a bit of a recurve after I landed a full force swing into a hardened bolt on the back side of a 2x4. Not as much damage as I expected but I may need to take the edge up a bit...i may end up destroying this one with a full test before I am through!....then i'll order some 1/4" stock.....:D
 
cool
it's about where it looks..:)
you can skeletonize the tang some to move the sweet spot up.
of course more grinding will bring it back again..test it test it :D
 
Where should it be? Right about where the curve to the point begins (the belly?)

Im playing with different blade designs...this is becoming a big test piece....
 
TikTock said:
Where should it be? Right about where the curve to the point begins (the belly?)

Im playing with different blade designs...this is becoming a big test piece....
Click to expand...
thinking about other knives..
it all depends on the blade/knife over all construction.
yours, the way it is dimensioned right now, would be about mid way the blade.

keep in mind that's for a chopper.
for a balanced user you'd need to go the other way some with the bal point.
just my 2 cent :)
 
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