Finished my 2nd blade (and sheath)

[Chris Lyons]

After about 3 weeks I finished my 2nd blade.
1084, Walnut handle, made the mosaics (which have a glow in the dark epoxy), 8oz leather.
Feedback welcome, thanks for looking.

 

[R.C.Reichert]

Very nice! You must have some artistic background because I see you have good attention to detail.

 

[Hengelo_77]

that (hand?) stitching looks good!
Good work

 

[Shepard man]

Great job! What are the dimensions?

 

[kuraki]

Well done

 

[Chris Lyons]

Very nice! You must have some artistic background because I see you have good attention to detail.

Architectural Drafting. Thank you, I took it really slowly and carefully.

that (hand?) stitching looks good!
Good work

Thanks, yes all hand saddle stitching. I was glad I chose the red.

Great job! What are the dimensions?

thank you, the blade and handle are about 4.5" ea, OAL 9".

Well done

Thank you, sir!

 

[Shepard man]

That's really awesome! Did the 3 weeks include making the sheath?

 

[HSC ///]

nice shaping of the handle

 

[Chris Lyons]

That's really awesome! Did the 3 weeks include making the sheath?

Yes, the sheath took about 2 days but most of that time was allowing leather to dry.

 

[Chris Lyons]

nice shaping of the handle

Thank you, I basically freehanded it with some files and sand paper. Constantly checking the fit in my hand, and trying to keep it symmetrical.

 

[Geoff Flato]

Very nice!
I put together a drying oven for my sheaths. It takes wet forming 9oz herman oak from two days to two hours. Basically a wood box with a couple racks inside. A vent at the top and a hair dryer pointing in the bottom. It gets hot, but not hot enough to harm the leather. It's also great for working wax into sheaths. Pretty well every sheath or holster I make goes through it. Best $5 I ever spent.

 

[Horsewright]

Very nice work, both knife and sheath. I too dry my sheaths in the oven. But I just use the kitchen one. We've got a double oven range so I can do 30 to 40 at a time. Set at 175, put your sheaths on a couple three sheets of cardstock and bake em. One hour face up, hour face down and another half hour face up. I do almost anything that I wet mold in the oven. Works very well. My theory is that the leather starts drying from the inside out. I've done thousands of sheaths that way but don't forget em, ya make sheath jerky and thats bad.

 

[Nic.]

Very impressive!!! I like the design, and as above mentioned, your attention to detail is evident.
The thing that will take your knives to the next level is finish- how did you finish that walnut? I use a sanded in oil finish to help bring out the most in the wood.
You are leaps and bounds above where I was at with my 2nd knife- looking forward to seeing more of your work!

 

[Chris Lyons]

Very impressive!!! I like the design, and as above mentioned, your attention to detail is evident.
The thing that will take your knives to the next level is finish- how did you finish that walnut? I use a sanded in oil finish to help bring out the most in the wood.
You are leaps and bounds above where I was at with my 2nd knife- looking forward to seeing more of your work!

Thank you, I finished it with just a hand rubbed tung oil finish after sanding to about 600gr. wanted something with some grip that stayed more natural looking. I am not a big fan of shiny glossy handles (or blades for that matter).

 

[Chris Lyons]

Very nice!
I put together a drying oven for my sheaths. It takes wet forming 9oz herman oak from two days to two hours. Basically a wood box with a couple racks inside. A vent at the top and a hair dryer pointing in the bottom. It gets hot, but not hot enough to harm the leather. It's also great for working wax into sheaths. Pretty well every sheath or holster I make goes through it. Best $5 I ever spent.

Thats a pretty slick idea. I dried mine in the toaster oven set to the lowest setting. It got a little stiff, but I actually kind of liked that. Made it a more rigid sheath.

 

[DavidHoback]

Fantastic looking blade! Amazing that is only your 2nd knife! You are gifted my friend. The Lord has truly blessed you.

 

[Chris Lyons]

Fantastic looking blade! Amazing that is only your 2nd knife! You are gifted my friend. The Lord has truly blessed you.

thank you, sir. I was just really careful and took it really slow. the first one was a hot mess, but mostly because I kind of rushed through it to say "I MADE A KNIFE!" lol

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Very good job!

Clean, neat, no extra things that aren't needed, and a slight curve to the whole thing. Jimping is minimal and simple.

Only thing I would suggest is having a little ricasso on the next one. As your blade is, the edge goes all the way to the handle. This places your index finger at the junction of the two with no unsharpened ar4ea to divide them. One slip or misplacement of the hand and you have a cut finger. What I would do on your knife is add a 1/8" to 3/16" choil on the edge just at the handle. It will be a small semicircle indent with one side at the handle junction. Use a small cylinder burr stone ( chain saw sharpening stone) in a Dremel, or file it in with a chain saw file (it will dull the file, but should be able to file down the hard edge steel). I like a small choil on most field type knives. It looks good and aids in sharpening.

 

[Chris Lyons]

Very good job!

Clean, neat, no extra things that aren't needed, and a slight curve to the whole thing. Jimping is minimal and simple.

Only thing I would suggest is having a little ricasso on the next one. As your blade is, the edge goes all the way to the handle. This places your index finger at the junction of the two with no unsharpened ar4ea to divide them. One slip or misplacement of the hand and you have a cut finger. What I would do on your knife is add a 1/8" to 3/16" choil on the edge just at the handle. It will be a small semicircle indent with one side at the handle junction. Use a small cylinder burr stone ( chain saw sharpening stone) in a Dremel, or file it in with a chain saw file (it will dull the file, but should be able to file down the hard edge steel). I like a small choil on most field type knives. It looks good and aids in sharpening.

Thanks for the feedback! I think you are talking about the photo right above your comment though, and that was my first knife. The photos at the top of this thread are of the second knife, where I believe I actually did all of those things you mentioned lol.

 

[Feezle]

Very nice sir!