My Very First Knife!

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NO ChoP!

Old Head
Joined
Apr 11, 2011
Messages
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Location
North Carolina
I had a work friend of mine, who happens to be a hobbyist here, cut out and grind the blade. It is 52100 and is hardened to 61 hrc. I drew the profile, based on the KS/ Sab profile. It's a touch taller, has a touch less pointy-ness, and a long, thin western tang. The grind was done especially for me as a lefty. The taper could use a little refinement, but the initial edge has produced great results.

The handle is stabilized redwood burl from Burl Source.
The pins are 3/16" from Jantz?
The saya is curly makore with a black walnut spacer. (it has a cool-color changing figure)

I rounded the choil and spine and mirror polished them.

I'm really pleased so far....
mine2.jpgmine3.jpgmine1.jpgmine4.jpgmine5.jpgmine7.jpg
:pirate1:
 
That is too freakin cool. I liked it so much, made me laugh. Great job!
 
Dude that is spot on! That is a lot of pins though :biggrin: Great work.
 
I love the smooth, clean edges on the handle, even with a couple extra pins it looks good. And damn what a saya, a sure step up from poplar.
 
Thanks everyone for the enthusiastic responses, I really appreciate it!

The idea behind the handle comes from my love for long, slim wa handles; except I suck at doing wa's, and am getting semi-decent at westerns. I am super happy with how it feels in hand; it's exactly what I wanted.

As far as the pins, what can I say...I'm a sucker for mosaics.
I did a rehandle project on an old Pimble Hickory that had a short tang, so I turned it into an integral, using the two original pin holes, and adding two more to the back of the handle to even thing out. I liked the results so much I thought I'd replicate it. I think as long as you keep the rest of the handle simple, it works.
 
It's 255mm on the edge, plus I left a machi-like area, as I wanted to replicate the feeling of a wa in-hand.

48mm at the heel

balance a pinch in front of the heel

225 grams

16" overall

5 3/4" handle

2.45mm at heel/ 2.0mm halfway/ 1.48mm inch from tip
 
Way to go Chris!
Looks killer. Especially nice work on the handle. It's also cool that it's lefty-o-centric for you.
 
Very groovy man. Hope it performs at Least half as well as it looks!
 
You're a talented dude! Looks great, Chris!
 
Well, I've done a few handles, and a few dozen sayas, but it's my very first knife that I've designed from the ground up.

I'd say I have three hours in the handle, one hour in the saya, a half hour rounding and polishing everything, and another hour cutting in the initial bevel and polishing it....
 
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