My First Knife WIP

Are those just brass rods you used in the scales? If so did you peen them over a little or just cut them flush?
 
kingjoey5000 said:
man i think it looks bad ass, its your first knife man its not gonna be perfect, with that being said, Im currently working on my first, i know how hyper critical i will be of my own when its finished, so you may have to remind me of the same.
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I agree that your first knife isn't going to be perfect, but for your first, you've done a great job.

(from one "newb" to another :D)The imperfections that you see, in many cases won't be visible or noticed by others... Since you see them, and since YOU know about them, they (the imperfections) will provide you with a "learning opportunity" for next time.

I can find errors and mistakes in every knife I've worked on, but what's important is the fact that your work will show improvement from the last to the next knife. I look at some of my earliest knives and go "ugh"... I look at my more recent work and see a lot of improvement (and to me, THAT is what's most important).

You've done fine work on your first...so I'd almost guarantee that your second will be better, as will your third etc.

(You did a fine job creating the WIP as well!)
 
Fletch Helical said:
Are those just brass rods you used in the scales? If so did you peen them over a little or just cut them flush?
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Yes I got 12' of 3/16 brass rod for $20 locally, they wouldnt sell it in shorter lengths so I figured what the heck I will always use it up.
They are sort of peened overthen sanded flush. I drilled the holes .15mm smaller then the rod, but i had to put a slight taper on the pins to get them started thinks that is what is causing the one to show, should get that cleaned up tonight. The also got a coat of epoxy just in case. Same thing with the 1/4 pins and thong hole on the handle.
I like the over all look of the knife other then my little flaws that I made yesterday.
 
timcsaw said:
I agree that your first knife isn't going to be perfect, but for your first, you've done a great job.

(from one "newb" to another :D)The imperfections that you see, in many cases won't be visible or noticed by others... Since you see them, and since YOU know about them, they (the imperfections) will provide you with a "learning opportunity" for next time.

I can find errors and mistakes in every knife I've worked on, but what's important is the fact that your work will show improvement from the last to the next knife. I look at some of my earliest knives and go "ugh"... I look at my more recent work and see a lot of improvement (and to me, THAT is what's most important).

You've done fine work on your first...so I'd almost guarantee that your second will be better, as will your third etc.

(You did a fine job creating the WIP as well!)
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Thanks Tim had fun doing it. I know I can do a better job and maybe even fix/hide most of the mistakes on this one. Even though I made some mistakes it feels good in my hand. Its not over yet this is start to finish in clueing my attempt to make a nice sheath for it
 
Well heres what I have done so far on the finishing of the knife
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Need to maybe put an other coat or 2 of crazy glue on the handle, just to get it consistant
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and yes it does work as a knife its sharp and nearly ready to go
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I need to buff out the brass a bit more and try clean up any sharpening marks I put in it. Hopefully next week I will get started on the sheath. I will start the polishing of the sister knife tonight
 
I think it looks really sweet. You can sure be proud of that one!
 
Well I just got home from picking up the last few things I needed to finish my knife up, most of the things I need to make my sheath. After much searching I finally realized that we have a tandy factory here so I picked up a single 6.1 squarefoot veg tanned shoulder 4/5oz, some black waxed thread, a bottle of timber brown dye, and a bottle of satin sheen. i also grabbed some needles and a belt blank.
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I plan on wet forming the sheath, and just dying it with no fancy pattern work. I will be making my own awl to poke the leather from a broom handle ans a sharpened spoke. the one thing I forgot to pick up is a stitch marker so I will be making another trip to tandy on saturday. the belt blank will be shaved down to make the retention strap and possibly the belt loops, I am unsure of that one though. So by the end of next week I should be done this WIP.
Any advice on making a sheath would be helpful and maybe save me some leather.:eek:
 
Nice job on your knife, unky. 4/5 oz leather is a bit on the light side, but I guess it will get you started. 6/7 oz or a bit heavier would be better. If you are able, I suggest returning that EcoFlo dye and buying some Fiebings on your return visit. I started out with that stuff, and had nothing but problems with it. If you do some searching around, you will find that most people have not had much luck with it either.

I think there are some free tutorials online, but I suggest buying Chuck Burrows/Wild Rose Trading sheathmaking DVD.

Good luck.
 
If you email me I can give you the links to a few of the tutorials for sheaths That I used to make mine!!

I am almost done with my sheath I just need to wet form it and sand, smooth the edges!!

email is bigern26 at gmail dot com
 
Thanks bigern26, I had found the BF tutorial links, but found your suited my learning style better. I will probably start the sheath tomorrow night.

P J 234
I think I will stick with what i have for now, I went with the lighter leather just because the gave me a gold membership deal on it, it is almost flawless too, I can only see 4 little marks on it nothing bigger than 1/8" round and all out near the edge. The knife is fairly thick as well so heavier leather would make for an extremely bulky sheath.
 
Well done Unky I keep wondering how long I'll procrastinate after finishing mine before I make a sheath. I still have 5 knives in the wings that will need HT and finishing. I'm also going to have to order everything since I don't have a tandy store here, or even anything like it to the best of my knowledge.
 
Well I will get the sheath done and then stare at the knife again and decide that I can make it shinier and start polishing it again:p
I do need to take out a couple of scratches that I put in it today, should only take a few minutes, but I will wait till the sheath is done just in case i get some more. once that sheath is done and it becomes a user and I will let it have its scars
 
Great job on the knife. Your attention to detail really shows. Shouldn't be too much longer before we hear people bragging about adding an unky gumbi knife to their collection.

Keep up the good work. You're doing great.
 
Thanks but you will never see that one:p It will be SG Mason Knives. I still have the 2 Bowie styles to get done. One of them is getting one of the blocks I got from you. I just have to square up the tangs and send them out for HT. I think I did much better on them. I am going back to the design of this knife and making some improvements for the next time.
I am back on the fence about getting my shoulder fixed, I got some unexpected money today so I may be out of the game for a couple of months, plenty of time to design more, and get more tools.
 
It really looks great. I hope my first turns out that good. Did you ever get the demensions of the file guide together? I left a message in your visitor messages for you. Hope you have a speedy recovery with your shoulder. John
 
johnggrg said:
It really looks great. I hope my first turns out that good. Did you ever get the demensions of the file guide together? I left a message in your visitor messages for you. Hope you have a speedy recovery with your shoulder. John
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I have the dims done I am just trying to get a rough materials list together, sorry been really busy trying to get loose ends tied up so I can figure out if I can afford the time off work only have a month and a half if I can afford it.:eek:
 
Totally understandable. I hope it all works out for you. Things normally have a way of working themselves out. But I know it can be stressfull till they do. John
 
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