Hi Everyone,
I posted a while back about a knife I was making that was inspired by a yo-deba. I promised that I'd post a picture when it was done, so here it is:
I told my girlfriend that she could pick out any handle material for it that cost less than $10. To my horror, she picked out purple two-tone dymondwood. But it was her knife, so I did it. I've got to say, it looks a lot nicer than I thought it would (still not really a fan, though).
Specs:
steel is 1/8" 1084
blade is 5"
width is 2"
blade is single bevel
finished with blue scotchbrite, then etched lightly with vinegar
There is filework on the back of the handle:
This is only the second kitchen knife I've made, and the first one was the first full tang knife I ever made. So for that, I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Unfortunately, the heat treat didn't match the edge I put on it, so the first time my girlfriend used it there was some pretty massive edge rolling (it cut great, though). I'll have to take the edge angle down a little bit and adjust my ht in the future. I'll definitely make some more kitchen knives after this.
While I have your attention, I finished another knife recently that has a lot of firsts about it:
First, this is the first blade I've finished with a scandi grind since I built a tool rest for grinding them. WAY easier and better outcome than doing it freehand.
Second, this was actually the first knife I finished using a dymondwood handle. When my girlfriend told me that she wanted dymondwood, I bought another piece of it to try out before I tried it on hers. Like many others here, I have always had a low opinion of dymondwood, after seeing so many POS knives with it. I'm a little ashamed to say that I actually like it a lot. I think the single-color stuff looks pretty good (not tacky at all), it's really tough, it works pretty easily, and it's cheap so I can make tons of knives without breaking the bank (which is pretty important for me right now). Going to be doing more with it in the future.
Third, this is the first time I've used a mechanical fastener:
I wanted to do some experimenting without spending the money for a new step drill bit and corby bolts (I took a pretty huge pay cut recently). I used steel machine screws with the head/nut ground down to fit in the hole I drilled for them. I drilled it deep enough that there would be room above it to fill in with epoxy. There are some voids in it, but I'm pretty pleased with the way it came out anyway. This was a last-minute addition, so I could only add one hole for the screw in the lower, unhardened part of the tang. I'll be doing more of this in the future.
Fourth, it's my first knife with a lanyard hole.
Specs:
Steel is 1/8" 1084
Just under 10" overall
Blade is just over 5"
The finish is a mustard etch with a light vinegar etch over it (I think I went a little bit overboard with it)
Thanks for looking — any input/comments are welcome.
- Chris
I posted a while back about a knife I was making that was inspired by a yo-deba. I promised that I'd post a picture when it was done, so here it is:
I told my girlfriend that she could pick out any handle material for it that cost less than $10. To my horror, she picked out purple two-tone dymondwood. But it was her knife, so I did it. I've got to say, it looks a lot nicer than I thought it would (still not really a fan, though).
Specs:
steel is 1/8" 1084
blade is 5"
width is 2"
blade is single bevel
finished with blue scotchbrite, then etched lightly with vinegar
There is filework on the back of the handle:
This is only the second kitchen knife I've made, and the first one was the first full tang knife I ever made. So for that, I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Unfortunately, the heat treat didn't match the edge I put on it, so the first time my girlfriend used it there was some pretty massive edge rolling (it cut great, though). I'll have to take the edge angle down a little bit and adjust my ht in the future. I'll definitely make some more kitchen knives after this.
While I have your attention, I finished another knife recently that has a lot of firsts about it:
First, this is the first blade I've finished with a scandi grind since I built a tool rest for grinding them. WAY easier and better outcome than doing it freehand.
Second, this was actually the first knife I finished using a dymondwood handle. When my girlfriend told me that she wanted dymondwood, I bought another piece of it to try out before I tried it on hers. Like many others here, I have always had a low opinion of dymondwood, after seeing so many POS knives with it. I'm a little ashamed to say that I actually like it a lot. I think the single-color stuff looks pretty good (not tacky at all), it's really tough, it works pretty easily, and it's cheap so I can make tons of knives without breaking the bank (which is pretty important for me right now). Going to be doing more with it in the future.
Third, this is the first time I've used a mechanical fastener:
I wanted to do some experimenting without spending the money for a new step drill bit and corby bolts (I took a pretty huge pay cut recently). I used steel machine screws with the head/nut ground down to fit in the hole I drilled for them. I drilled it deep enough that there would be room above it to fill in with epoxy. There are some voids in it, but I'm pretty pleased with the way it came out anyway. This was a last-minute addition, so I could only add one hole for the screw in the lower, unhardened part of the tang. I'll be doing more of this in the future.
Fourth, it's my first knife with a lanyard hole.
Specs:
Steel is 1/8" 1084
Just under 10" overall
Blade is just over 5"
The finish is a mustard etch with a light vinegar etch over it (I think I went a little bit overboard with it)
Thanks for looking — any input/comments are welcome.
- Chris