My first take on making a knife

[Bumblebee]

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M. Eklund blade, curly birch scales & mosaic pins. The curly birch turned out really nice after soaking a week in pure Tung oil

I have large hands so the large handle suits me perfectly!

So what do you all think? , or ?

 

[eraaij]

Definately

But isn't that a M Eklund blade?

Nice work!
-Emile

 

[Lithril]

Nice work, I like that. I find larger handles much more reassuring to use.

 

[Bumblebee]

Thanks! And yes, it's a M Eklund blade

Definately

But isn't that a M Eklund blade?

Nice work!
-Emile

 

[Motorbike Man]

That's a really fantastic job, wish my first one had turned out as well as that Possibly the only thing I would have done differently would have been to line up the mosaic pins, but that's just my preference and doesn't take away from the fact that that is a very nice knife indeed.

Just out of curiosity, how sharp was the blade out of the box?

 

[mojofilter]

Very nice indeed! Definatly a

 

[ESpy]

...suits me perfectly!

It works for you - any other praise or criticism is superfluous.

That said, I really like the look of it!

 

[Tony]

Very nice indeed

 

[leon-1]

Nice work mate , have you done the sheath for it yet??

 

[Bumblebee]

I DID align the pins, however after leaving the knife after glueing it a minor accident happened... The mosaic pins are a real pain to work with! But they look nice

The blade wasn't very sharp out of the box at all. Good thing I think, especially for a complete novice like me. It still isn't very sharp, since I haven't tried to sharpen it yet. Maybe I should wait until the bushmoot and some expert advice

That's a really fantastic job, wish my first one had turned out as well as that Possibly the only thing I would have done differently would have been to line up the mosaic pins, but that's just my preference and doesn't take away from the fact that that is a very nice knife indeed.

Just out of curiosity, how sharp was the blade out of the box?

 

[Bumblebee]

Nice work mate , have you done the sheath for it yet??

Not yet, I will do one in the sheath woorkshop at the bushmoot. I just bought a piece of nice veg tanned shoulder leather of eBay.

It works for you - any other praise or criticism is superfluous.
That said, I really like the look of it!

Had I not liked the end result I would have passed it on to my brother and not said another word about it, especially not here However some constructive critisism is always welcome, hence the reason of the post.

 

[Motorbike Man]

I DID align the pins, however after leaving the knife after glueing it a minor accident happened... The mosaic pins are a real pain to work with! But they look nice

The blade wasn't very sharp out of the box at all. Good thing I think, especially for a complete novice like me. It still isn't very sharp, since I haven't tried to sharpen it yet. Maybe I should wait until the bushmoot and some expert advice

The pins look great and I'm sure you'll get the knack with more practice

I've also got a knife with an Eklund blade and the blade was about as sharp as a 6" nail out of the box which I found a bit surprising. However, I converted it to a flat ground bevel rather than hollow ground and now it will take the hairs off of my arm without actually touching the skin!!

 

[ESpy]

However some constructive critisism is always welcome, hence the reason of the post.

Flattery is always nice too

OK - here's one, mostly down to personal preference: I like to line thong holes with a thin-walled piece of tubing, primarily to protect the edges of the hole.

 

[Bumblebee]

Flattery is always nice too

Touché!

 

[Bumblebee]

However, I converted it to a flat ground bevel rather than hollow ground and now it will take the hairs off of my arm without actually touching the skin!!

How did you do that? Just using a waterstone or similar?

 

[philaw]

What's all this about mosaic pinds being a pain to work with? I just ordered a blade and mosaic pins from Brisa to make my first knife (actually to make my first anything ) and thought I'd just be able to force fit them and/ or use some epoxy and sand 'em off a bit.

I probably shouldn't worry about the pins too much, though, because I haven't even found the tools I intend to borrow, yet.

Bushcraft's all about improvisation, right?

 

[Motorbike Man]

How did you do that? Just using a waterstone or similar?

I did it on a set of diamond stones and then wet and dry paper to 2000 grit. The most impertant thing is to take your time. I haven't quite got a mirror finish on the bevel yet, but tomorrow should see it finished. You could use waterstones as well, and a fine water stone should give you that mirror finish. The main reason I did it was because I'm not a huge fan of hollow ground blades (Although they are very good for slicing, particularly meat) and I find them a bit a pain to sharpen, but that is just me.

 

[Stuart]

very Nice, I'm impressed

 

[Hoodoo]

Nice work. Eklund's blades are excellent too. You will get a lot of service out of that beauty.

 

[Bumblebee]

What's all this about mosaic pins being a pain to work with?

The epoxy in them are quite heat sensitive so when you saw, file or sand them you really need to take your time and only use really SHARP tools otherwise you destroy the inner structure.
Don't even think of whacking them to get them into their holes. Get a 1/4" drill bit! 0.25 inch = 6.35 mm.

And make sure the knife is placed somewhere stable when you glue them and the last thing you do is align them nicely.