After many many many problems and a lot of learning curve and even more hard knocks I've finally got knife #1 finished and ready to go. Is it exactly the way I want it though? No - not quite - but it's as best as I can do for my first attempt at making a knife.
A few of the issues....
1. Bolsters
I wanted to go with mokume bolsters but this just isn't going to happen. I'll use mokume in the future for sure but it's too great of a loss to keep experimenting with at the moment.
On the plus side I've made my standard option (linen micarta) work just fine and is giving me just the look I wanted. This is what I had planned to use after the first 12 were done in mokume.
I'm not so certain that I love the silver pin in the bolster though, any thoughts on this?
2. Edge Length
It started out as a 240mm but I snapped off a good bit of heal by mistake and had to shorten the blade as a result. It's now 233mm.
3. Choil/Bolster spacing
Due to the length shortening I had to adjust this area as well. Normally I would prefer a western bolster to be closer to the choil.
4. Logo/Markings
They didn't come out nearly as nice as I had hoped for. I did some practice runs which I really screwed up on so this is a huge improvement but still they're light. I guess not bad for a first though.
5. Tang
The tang is a little too thick for my liking, it brings the weight back into the handle a bit too much. Fortunately the switch from mokume to micarta brought the balance point back out to 1" in from of the bolster - phew!
Knife #2 can't be corrected for this either (scales are already on) but the rest will have thinned tangs from then on out.
So what do you think?
A few of the issues....
1. Bolsters
I wanted to go with mokume bolsters but this just isn't going to happen. I'll use mokume in the future for sure but it's too great of a loss to keep experimenting with at the moment.
On the plus side I've made my standard option (linen micarta) work just fine and is giving me just the look I wanted. This is what I had planned to use after the first 12 were done in mokume.
I'm not so certain that I love the silver pin in the bolster though, any thoughts on this?
2. Edge Length
It started out as a 240mm but I snapped off a good bit of heal by mistake and had to shorten the blade as a result. It's now 233mm.
3. Choil/Bolster spacing
Due to the length shortening I had to adjust this area as well. Normally I would prefer a western bolster to be closer to the choil.
4. Logo/Markings
They didn't come out nearly as nice as I had hoped for. I did some practice runs which I really screwed up on so this is a huge improvement but still they're light. I guess not bad for a first though.
5. Tang
The tang is a little too thick for my liking, it brings the weight back into the handle a bit too much. Fortunately the switch from mokume to micarta brought the balance point back out to 1" in from of the bolster - phew!
Knife #2 can't be corrected for this either (scales are already on) but the rest will have thinned tangs from then on out.
So what do you think?