My first knife-making attempt

[bp1974]

Here's my first custom knife made by me. It's got a Lauri carbon blade, and a walnut and buffalo horn handle. I forgot to measure it so don't have the overall dimensions, but the blade is 77mm long.

I'm really pleased with it for a first attempt.

Let me know what you think.

Photo 1

Photo 2 - the buffalo horn has a beautiful ring pattern in it and I really like how it came up when I polished it

Photo 3

 

[jason01]

That looks great, well done mate Handle looks very comfortable, I can imagine it would be a good carver.

 

[Lord Farquhar]

you have done well there. I really like the shape at the end of the handle.

 

[Millbilly]

VERY nice. I really like it. Any plans for a sheath?

 

[Stuart]

well done, you'll always treasure your first self made knife

 

[jdlenton]

I'll second the like for the end of the handle very nice piece that well done for a first go

James

 

[C_Claycomb]

You realise that knife making can be addictive? Well done for giving it a go! Looks like you did a great job finishing the handle.

I hope you don't mind me saying a couple things that I hope could be constructive. To my eyes the handle looks a little fat. I know some people like fat handles, but I have also found there is something of a universal tendency to make one's first few handles a bit plump. They can feel great until heavy or prolonged cutting is done, then their size can tire the hand. The other thing is that the end of the handle looks very narrow. This is likely to feel great in many grips, but can become uncomfortable if you ever want to push on the butt with the heal of your hand. A flaired butt can also retain the hand beter with less grip effort needed.

Nothing is hard and fast. I have just seen several first knives that were overly fat (my first 3 were among them!) and had buttes that limited use (my first 5 before I noticed).

Best of luck!!

 

[Rick]

Well done, it looks great. I've just started on my first knife, a lauri carbon blade too. Hope it looks as nice as that one, how long did it take you?

 

[leon-1]

Nice one , I like the handle (bit of a fan of buffalo horn myself), I also like the Lauri blades

 

[bp1974]

Thanks for all the comments. Yes, I'm finding out that it's addictive - I'm already planning the next two.. I'll make a sheath for this one at some point but right now I'm waiting on some leather. And to be honest, I get more excited thinking about my next knife than I do about the sheath for this one.

C_Claycomb, I take your point about the thin butt, and interesting what you said about the handle shape. You're right, right now it feels very comfortable in my hand, which was why I left it that big, although lookign at the photos, the second one does seem to exaggerate it a bit - it's not a fat as it looks. It'll be interesting to see if I'm still doing them that way once I've done a few more. Thanks for the detailed comments.

Rick, it took me a while. I think it was two full days, plus four or five evenings spread out over several weeks. Here's what took longer than it should have done:

- Polishing up the blade. I went straight from filing off the black scale to 400 grit wet and dry, so it took ages to get rid of the file marks. I'd suggest using a smooth file instead of a second cut, and then starting at 120 or 180 grit.

- Cutting the tang slot. I cut it too small first time round and split the buffalo horn when I forced the tang into it, so had to start again

- Getting the tang the right thickness. The tang came wider at the tip than at the blade end, and I spent ages trying to figure out how to fit the bolster before deciding to temper the tang and then file the crap out of it until it tapered away from the blade to the tip. I should have done that straight away.