Posted: 9/9/2010 6:50:09 PM EDT
Just finished my very first knife,my first real attempt at forging anything anything really.Aside from afew wall hooks I made for the in-laws.Forged from a piece of scrap I found at a buddies farm.It was hammered completetly to shape including the bevel.Only light filework and sandpaper was used to clean and square it all up.I'm a big fan of the assymetrical edge Busse used to use on their knives.I have an old Battle Mistress with that geometry so that's what I went for.The bevel itself is flat and the opposite side is convex.By pure dumb luck the edge was inline with the handle right off the bat.It was brought up to critical temp and quenched 3 times then tempered in my wifes oven  3 times.This thing is just stupid sharp.I put it in a vise and flexed it abit,nothing crazy but it did flex and come back true so the heat treat must have been ok.Still afew scratches but i'll get them out later.
A few lessons learned Once your close to final shape use lighter blows or a lighter hammer.Nice big ding in the convex side from overenthusiasm. Drill your holes BEFORE heat treat 
I attempted an epoxy impregnated cord wrap handle similar to one on another knife I own.The gutted paracord looked great after wrapping it too.Then I used a flux brush and brushed on the epoxy.Mistake.Lost alot of the gripiness (is that a word?) that the plain wrap had.Next time I will either use a stiffer brush and an epoxy with a long work time or soak the cord before wrapping. 
|
Almost forgot,it's 8.5 overall,blade is just over 3". I like the control of a long handle for smaller blades.So,what do you guys think? I don't think I did bad for my first try.The wife thought it looked like a prison shank before I polished it up abit and handled it  .Can't wait to make my next.A big fuck off shiny one .
|
|
Quoted: Almost forgot,it's 8.5 overall,blade is just over 3". I like the control of a long handle for smaller blades.So,what do you guys think? I don't think I did bad for my first try.The wife thought it looked like a prison shank before I polished it up abit and handled it .Can't wait to make my next.A big fuck off shiny one .impressive.... I can respect the amount of work that went into it...... but shes right... it looks like a shank |
|
As I make more i'll likely give them away here.Nothing like getting your work out there for real world feedback.And everyone knows that if something is free you tend to beat it harder.I beat the living hell out of even my most expensive knives.I mean like several hundred dollar expensive.But I don't think I could bring myself to really do it to something I made at least until i'm much more proficient cause i'd be scared it would fail and then i'd be sad.A buddy of mine says "You put a Marine in a padded room with a steel ball bearing and he'll either break it or eat it".You all can be that Marine for me.
Hawswood- Why do I look like i'm dropping a deuce . Funny movie by the way.
|
|
I was at Unique1's last cookout with my wife and hellion children .Damn fine eating.I'll likely fire up the forge this weekend.I'm planning on buying or building a propane forge so I can forge in my garage over winter.2 birds 1 stone.Get some smithy type stuff done and heat the garage to work on my Jeep.
|
|
Quoted: The last one was for 20+ and it didn't turn out too bad. And I'm always willing to cook for a group. Enjoy doing it. Quoted: But my evaluating comes with a nice bbq dinner.... just sayin...  Damn, can't trump that, we've seen the pics! If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Cook up enough BBQ for T&E for twenty plus.  But I do love knives. I have one that an uncle (RIP Uncle Chuck) made me almost 40 years ago. Cherished. And not much to look at, but cherished all the more. |