My First Knife

[Perry Winkle]

I completed my first knife during a bladesmithing class I took last week.


I'm pretty proud of it, despite the flaws. The most obvious problem with the knife is that the handle is made to fit my hand and the blade is undersized in comparison. I could go back, fix it and then spend another couple of hours refinishing it so it looks nice again.

I think I'll keep it around as-is to remind me of my mistake.

The whole album of pictures that were captured during the process are here.

Anyway. I'll call out a few of the pictures and provide some commentary.

I forged out 3 blades on the first day of class. Two hidden tang blades and one full tang blade. The full tang was set aside early on due to time constraints.

Here are the two hidden/stub tang blades after they've been rough ground and heat treated and then cleaned up after the heat treat.


This is one of my favorite parts: hand finishing. I'm sanding out 400 grit scratches with 600 grit Rhynowet paper.



Here I am filing the shoulders off so that the ricasso and guard fit together without gaps. The file guide has a layer of carbide on top to keep the file from destroying it.


After the blade is filed and sanded to 600 grit. I etched the blade. This is done to show up any flaws in the blade, especially for a newbie maker like me. The etching brings out any remaining < 600 grit scratches, among other flaws.



Filing the guard nearly drove me insane. You really can't see what you're doing...



At this point the guard has been fitted to the blade, the handle material has been drilled out and it's all been stuck together with Acraglass.



When that is hard, you take it back to the grinder to shape the handle. Then you hit it on the buffer and you're done, aside from sharpening the blade...

[Perry Winkle]

Sorry about the huge pictures. I'll see if I can figure out how to resize them with GIMP...

[glatt]

I, for one, like these huge pics.

[Pete Zicato]

It's beautiful, Perry.

I was surprised that your hands weren't more beat up.

[zippyt]

Verry cool , dont worry about the big pics , they show detail

[jimhelm]

cool skill to have. +5 points to you

[Perry Winkle]

Okay, I'll leave the big pictures since ya'll like them. They are relatively small bandwidth-wise.

For the curious, this knife is composed of:
Nickel (aka German) silver guard
1084 steel
Honduran Mahogany

Originally Posted by jimhelm

cool skill to have. +5 points to you

I figure if the end of the civilization comes about, I can make weapons. It's a relatively cushy job compared to fighting off zombie hordes.

Originally Posted by Pete Zicato

I was surprised that your hands weren't more beat up.

The majority of the damage to my hands was done while forging on the first day. I developed a huge blister on the heel of my hand. In a few weeks or months it will develop into a thick callus.

A couple of ancient Chinese secrets I learned last week: Vaseline will keep epoxy from sticking to something. Windex will neutralize ferric chloride. This particular type of mahogany smells like a mocha when you're drilling and grinding it.

[footfootfoot]

How do I place an order? I have an urgent want.

[monster]

Very cool. I'm one of the main whingers about oversized pics, I find those fine, thanks for sharing

[Griff]

Excellent work! Do you know how many hours you have into it?

[classicman]

Excellent!
I definitely would like to place an order for two. I'm thinking Christmas for my boys.
Let me know what I need to do - pm is good.

[BigV]

Absolutely gorgeous, Perry.

Your work is excellent and I, for one, like the progress pictures, especially the large ones. As for the proportions of the knife, that's a good set of proportions. A handle that fills the hand is a good size, and a blade about the width of your hand is plenty of blade. You have a well proportioned knife there.

Did you start with blanks or did you create them from flat stock? The guard looks like stainless steel in the finished picture, but in the filing picture it looks like a block of copper or maybe a block of micarta. For the full tang blade, do you intend to make some through rivets to secure cheek pieces for the handle? Or something else? What other handle materials do you have in mind?

O look at me, such a chatterbox. Your knife is a piece of art, Perry. You have a lot to be proud of. I look forward to more pictures and stories from you, and maybe a knife of yours for my own someday.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Perry Winkle

The most obvious problem with the knife is that the handle is made to fit my hand and the blade is undersized in comparison. I could go back, fix it and then spend another couple of hours refinishing it so it looks nice again.

This knife wasn't made to sell was it? Or to hang on the wall as a piece of art? The handle fits your hand, and the blade is long enough to do what you want it to do. Why is this a problem? I'll take function over appearance.

It's a beautiful knife, you should be proud of it.

[BigV]

Is that a bucket full of wet sparks underneath the belt grinders? Clever! Also, nice clamp/vise. Your instructor has a nice shop, and I can clearly see that he's given a lot of thought to the finish product, especially on the glamour shots.

[Perry Winkle]

Wow. I'm thrilled by all the appreciation you all are expressing. Thanks for all of the encouragement.

Classic. Foot3. I haven't really given any thought to selling knives yet. I'd be happy to make whatever you'd like, as long as it's in my power.

I'll PM you guys and we can talk more about details.

Originally Posted by BigV

Is that a bucket full of wet sparks underneath the belt grinders? Clever! Also, nice clamp/vise. Your instructor has a nice shop, and I can clearly see that he's given a lot of thought to the finish product, especially on the glamour shots.

Yeah. Those buckets really help with the sparks and wood particles. There's even a vacuum hose to suck wood dust away on one of the grinders.

Ed's knife vise is awesome. It's got rubber padded jaws/clamping area and rotates so you can get at three sides of your blade without taking it out. A little design flaw keeps it from going all the way around.

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

It's a beautiful knife, you should be proud of it.

I am very proud of it. It just that with all physical artifacts, there is always room for improvement. I want each of my knives to be better from a design and functional perspective than the last.

There's an intimacy you feel with a handcrafted artifact. I've always heard craftsmen talk about it. It is an amazing feeling.

Originally Posted by BigV

Did you start with blanks or did you create them from flat stock? The guard looks like stainless steel in the finished picture, but in the filing picture it looks like a block of copper or maybe a block of micarta. For the full tang blade, do you intend to make some through rivets to secure cheek pieces for the handle? Or something else? What other handle materials do you have in mind?

I started with 1.25x0.25 stock and forged the blade by hand. I did "cheat" and draw the tangs down with the power hammer and hydraulic press. (Funnest tools ever, btw.) That's a luxury I won't have in my own shop, and will probably add an hour's worth of forging to a hidden tang blade.

Nickel silver is all copper but for just enough nickel to make it silver. I think that's what might be showing on the surface of the raw guard stock. Nickel silver mirror polishes really, really easy. 400 grit and then buff it.

For the full tang I'll be using pins or rivets of some sort. Most likely nickel, stainless or brass depending on the particulars. Titanium is another popular pin stock.

I've got a few pieces of deer and stag antler to use for handles. I'll also do micarta, g10 and carbon fiber. I really want to try homebrew micarta. Oh, yeah, I also have some dyed camel bone that I think is going to come out REALLY cool.

There's a black spacer between the guard and the handle. It's made from vulcanized paper.

Originally Posted by Griff

Excellent work! Do you know how many hours you have into it?

I have little idea. We worked back and fourth between three different blades. There was also a lot of instructional and bullshitting time.

Since I'm not doing it for a business, I probably won't pay much attention to the time investment right now. I need to keep my focus where it matters.

Again, I have to thank you all for the kind words and encouragement and interest in my work.