My knives I made

[hig789]

I have always wanted to make my own knives. So a few months back I bought a Coote 2x72 grinder and gave it a shot. I have really only finished on completely so far(a infant in the house doesn't leave much time) but I have ground and heat treated quit a few. I also found a vintage 110v heat treat oven in our local paper for cheap, it works like a champs too. I prefer 1095 carbon steel with a hamon to the new high tech stainless steels. Let me know what you think. Most of the pictures are just of my hamons but since the don't have scales that's about all that matters. Sorry for the giant pictures.

My dads skinning knife.

Unfinished knives.

The knife I made to test out the toughness of the heat treat. It only rolled the edge near the tip.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Legion]

They look sweet. I like the hamon. Do you use clay in the traditional way to get that?

 

[hig789]

Thanks David. I use Satanite. It's a very fine clay mixed with water.

 

[Mike H]

Great work Matt, the knife looks fantastic.

 

[Wid]

Very nice indeed.

 

[dlamsonaexsac2012]

Looks incredible. If you had to guess, how many hours does it take to complete a knife?

 

[VerbaVolant]

Very nice work indeed. When I saw the first knife I said the same thing: perfect skinner.

You have a skill for sure.

 

[YetiDave]

Satanite? Best. Name. Ever.

Oh and great looking knives!

 

[noahpictures]

That looks wicked! Good job Matt.

 

[Patpug]

Wow ! very nice Matt that's a fine skill you have.

 

[MixedMotives]

did you use high carbon?

 

[Shaving_CHENG]

Great looking!

 

[hig789]

Looks incredible. If you had to guess, how many hours does it take to complete a knife?

From start to finish including heat treat and tempering, probably 4-5 hrs.

 

[hig789]

Yes MixedMotives, all these knives are 1095 high carbon steel. Thanks for al the compliments guys. I'll post more pictures as I finish them.

 

[fast14riot]

Good work so far! Your handle shapes could use a little refining and try to get away from designing a knife to fit the bar of steel, that will help avoid the straight lines and lack of "flow". Polishing hamons is an art in its own right, findng a good method takes time and experimentation. Looking good so far! Next try an edge quench in brine, if the stars are aligned you'll avoid the dreaded "PING" as you quench!

Keep it up!


-Xander

 

[hig789]

Yeah Xander it have been thinking of some new handles. These are really plain. I prefer the dark gray hamons vs the polished ones. Quenching in Parks 50 right now.

 

[maxman]

Cool stuff. I like it.

 

[fast14riot]

A simple and good looking handle that is comfortable, rather than the parallel top and bottom sides, flair it out towards the butt in a smooth and even arc. Drop the spine side of the handle just a touch as well. Putting a gentle long curve through the whole knife adds tremendously to the aesthetics of the knife, aka flow.

Here is an example by my good friend...

I used it as well on this recurve long fighter with a hidden tang...

-Xander

 

[hig789]

Wow those are very nice Xander. I really like the shape of the top one. My wife wants a paring knife so I might try that handle shape out on it. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Cajunboy2k]

Very nice. I've been studying knife making for a few years and finally have the minimum equipment to give it a try using the stock removal method. Keep up the good work.