My first couple of knives

[greencloud]

Hi, I got into knifemaking a year or two ago. Shamefully I have only completed 3 so far and not yet attempted sheaths. I thought I'd share them here because (hopefully constructive) criticism from regular knife users would be valued and very much appreciated.

I use ground flat stock o1 steel to maintain blade quality, but try to use salvaged or scavenged materials wherever possible otherwise. I do my own rustic but effective heat treat too, so make everything pretty much from scratch myself.

Anyway....
This one is 5mm thick with a full length 'rat-tail' tang, brass bolster & pommel with antler & oak


The next is 4mm stock, full tang with oak scales & brass pins (the oak later split so it was redone in mahogany and is standing well to date I'm told). I electro etched my friends initials in Nordic runes and he seemed pleased.


This one is 3mm stock with a hidden tang and "mock forged" texture. The bolster is stainless, with a vinyl & stainless stacked spacer and again, oak handle. I made a major boob in shaping the handle, hitting the tang recess, it felt strong so was given to another friend on the condition that any emerging split or failure will warrant returning for either a rehandling and blade 'tune up' or given back in exchange for an upgrade.


Thanks for looking. Again, all comments and criticism are very much appreciated.
Cheers
Andy

 

[Dreadhead]

great work, but that second one with the runes is simply BRAW! Look forward to seeing them with clothes on too

 

[mrcharly]

Yeah I like the second one. Really nice proportions and shape. Lovely flow on the handle, too.

 

[Angst]

nice work m8!

s

 

[Ferret75]

Got to be No.2 for me as well, well done, with really beautiful shape and finishing. I can't give a technical critique as I'm no knife maker, but if some of the very experienced names I've seen in this thread are complementing your work, you should be very pleased mate.

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[crosslandkelly]

Lovely work, number two for me too.

 

[ged]

I like them all, and I'd be happy using any of them although I prefer points dropped a little, the mock forged look is a bit fussy for my taste (and the handle on that one looks too skinny for my mitts).

Can you give us other dimensions? Handles are often a bit small for me. A few other people I know say the same sort of thing, so I think handle dimensions are important.

 

[HillBill]

Not bad at all mate.

Out of the three, i like the bottom one. Thinner steel, narrower blade..... better performance than the other two when it comes to cutting......what else is a knife for?

Keep it up!!

 

[Bluebs4]

Smashing job mucker

 

[greencloud]

Thanks. I really appreciate the compliments and opinions given (one obvious favourite so far!!)

Ged you're absolutely right about the importance of ergonomics in handles, especially so if they are to see heavy use. They're certainly the most difficult part I find so far. I'll have to post back with measurements after a ruler-armed tour of the man cave!

They each taught a lesson anyway;
1 Choose materials very carefully.
The rings of antler dictated the handle shape there. Since I only had a few mm to play with before exposing pith the finished shape was predetermined. It works ok but is very 'chunky' even in my big paws.

2 Don't friction fit pins into unstabilised wood.
That oak was a flooring sample, so well seasoned, but had lived in the garage a few months. The day after fitting & initial shaping I found a hairline crack but finished sanding and took the knife in the house to have a better look. The day after that, the hairline had at least tripled in width as the wood dried out more in the warmer atmosphere.

3 Remember to use soft jaws in the vice.
That mock forged texture was a cover-up for some ugly triangle marks imparted from bare vice jaws. Too deep to sand out, so I 'fixed it' with a few hundred whacks of the ball pein!

 

[Samon]

All lovely, but the second one is certainly my sort of thing. It has a decent finger guard/choil, great shape handle and just superb style.

Love it it. keep it up!

 

[greencloud]

Not bad at all mate.

Out of the three, i like the bottom one. Thinner steel, narrower blade..... better performance than the other two when it comes to cutting......what else is a knife for?

Keep it up!!

Thanks very much mate, it means a lot coming from a maker (I'm drooling over your PNK1!) The 3mm is very slicey with a high grind, but the bolster slot was a bit stressful with my basic set of needle files. I have 4 more of that blade (without the texturing) waiting for handles but they can keep waiting til I get some smaller files!

 

[dewi]

I like them all... may have taken a year, but its a year well spent I reckon!

Not about quantity... its quality.. and they look to be good solid knives with some style to them. Nicely done

 

[Ferret75]

Thanks. I really appreciate the compliments and opinions given (one obvious favourite so far!!)

Ged you're absolutely right about the importance of ergonomics in handles, especially so if they are to see heavy use. They're certainly the most difficult part I find so far. I'll have to post back with measurements after a ruler-armed tour of the man cave!

They each taught a lesson anyway;
1 Choose materials very carefully.
The rings of antler dictated the handle shape there. Since I only had a few mm to play with before exposing pith the finished shape was predetermined. It works ok but is very 'chunky' even in my big paws.

2 Don't friction fit pins into unstabilised wood.
That oak was a flooring sample, so well seasoned, but had lived in the garage a few months. The day after fitting & initial shaping I found a hairline crack but finished sanding and took the knife in the house to have a better look. The day after that, the hairline had at least tripled in width as the wood dried out more in the warmer atmosphere.

3 Remember to use soft jaws in the vice.
That mock forged texture was a cover-up for some ugly triangle marks imparted from bare vice jaws. Too deep to sand out, so I 'fixed it' with a few hundred whacks of the ball pein!

You know that's very honest of you mate and really valuable advice to someone like me who I thinking about having a go at my first knife. Thanks.

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[greencloud]

You know that's very honest of you mate and really valuable advice to someone like me who I thinking about having a go at my first knife. Thanks.

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I would definitely recommended having a go, bud. It can be as simple or complex as your ambition and toolkit allow.

 

[Robson Valley]

I vote for the third(?) one, with the textured surface. Great pleasure in using that design.

 

[Ferret75]

I would definitely recommended having a go, bud. It can be as simple or complex as your ambition and toolkit allow.

I'm slowly putting together the bits and pieces, mainly from some of the brilliant people on here. I also have most of the tooling. Now all I need is some skill and creativity...!! I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks mate.

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[NoName]

Well done!
No. 1 for me. Maybe flatten the handle a bit and iike to choke grasp knifes when catvong so a smooth progression from handle to blade.
But very well done ��