Another Knife Attempt

[Leon County Slayer]

making good progress there. Agree with Jason on bringing the grind up on future blades if you're able. You might also consider more attention to the shape of the front end of your scales. IMO, that really sets knives apart from others and gives a more finished look. When compared to some that are "blocked off", you'll notice a big difference. Also graduating down through additional grits up to superfine or micron levels will help remove scratches. Keep it up

[Winman]

I prefer a knife that has been either flat ground or Hollow ground....when they are shaped on a sanding belt ,they end up with a rounded look to the sides...a ground finish normally uses a jig to hold the blade perfectly flat[or at a precise angle]so that everything is flat angles...not sure if that is the proper terminology but hope you get my meaning,flat areas flat,not rounded is what I am trying to say....this is personal prefence ....you do better work than I could for sure....just saying what I like... The flats look more professionally done to my eyes....Lee Childers,Mike Harrigan, Ruffin Johnson,Gordon Johnson,T.D.Bennet....these makers and many others exemplify what I am saying...

[Bjankowski]

Your making progress; just listen to some good advise given here. It's a lot of trial and error, we all learned the hard way.. when I first started I used alot of OF steel (old files) they didn't cost much and didn't throw away a lot of money on steel. It was easier to toss an old file in the trash than some good steel I had to pay more for.
In making knives you learn a lot of short cuts along the way, the more you do the better you get. I don't think any of us will ever know it all, you learn something new everyday. Welcome to the addiction.

[Bucksaw]

Thanks for the advice guys. Ive been taking some of the advice given here, and on other threads, and have been steadily experimenting with various aspects. Lately, Ive tried my hand at heat treating with a torch, and I think Im doing pretty good, all things concidered. I know a torch isnt ideal, but neither is using mystersy steel. But, Im working with what I have.

I even tried my hand at forging. It isnt very pretty as far as the profile is concerned, but I like the pattern it left on it. I heated it, pounded it and shaped it. Then once it was ground and final shaping was done, I heated and quenched it to harden it. Then a trip to the polisher gave me an interesting texture. The handle is dymondwood that i pinned with aluminum pins (again, not the best choice, but its what I had and it beats a 12d nail like ive used before.). Once the epoxy dried, I hit the whole thing with the buffer and it turned out very smooth. Not sure if buffing wood on your polisher is bad, but I did it and it worked OK IMO.





This one is still drying, but will get a final buff tomorrow. I used a grinder with a sanding flap disk on it to shape it. I did what you guys suggested and brought the edge all the way up, which makes it look a lot better. I dont have any guard material or I would have used some, so I just epoxied the antler handle on by itself. I did however put some of the antler shavings into the epoxy to give it a more natural color when it dries. So far it blends really well, or at least better than the plain epoxy did.



The final one I have is my first attempt at heating, as well as my first attempt at filing the spine. I think I got my heat uneven on it, or quenched it funny because it warped on me, so a second heat was required to sraighten it out. I got it pretty straight, but its not perfect. Im picturing the handle with stainless bolsters and antler scales with a lanyard pin on the hilt. Iforgot to drill it out before hardenind, so Im gonna do like Dingus suggested on my other thread, and try to aneal the handle only, then try to re-harden it. Hopefully it wont screw it up. You can also see in the second picture that I opted to leave some of the saws character on the side. Many of the blades I have done that dont have a true mirror finish on them is because I like to let people see what they came from. Not all of them, but many.







Im a quick learner, but sometimes I get ahead of myself and get over confident, so if there is anything else you see, let me know. I still welcome your constructive criticisms.

[Bucksaw]

I really need to learn how to do that vine pattern.