Sonoran6

Stormcrow, thanks for sharing! Him using your knife instead of the military issue is a huge compliment!! I have an ex SEAL friend who wants me to make him a knife, with your permission, I would like to use your sketch as a starting point. Again, really awesome work!

that is a good looking knife sir! is the Y>- stamp your personal mark?

well, obviously i am a noob, but going through the motions was a nice first step, i feel confident that my next will be better AND knife grade, not just knife shaped. Thomas Powers and Rich Hale, if you could PM me the contact info i would greatly appreciate it!

the flash on the camera made it look brighter that it was in real life, brought it up to temp that a magnet wouldnt stick and turned off the forge and set the steel back in and let it cool overnight to soften it. i didnt want to spend the extra $$ to get better steel for my first attempt at knifemaking. i will next time tho for sure! after i hardened it in oil, i tested with a file. I really appreciate the feedback! thank you

just finished this up today. got the steel from home depot (labeled carbon steel) annealed it in my brakedrum forge, filed and sanded it all by hand. hardened it in old motor oil and heat treated it on the stove. back of the blade got to purple, blade was light straw to straw. handle is poplar and the pins are brass. "polished" it best i could, 600 grit was the smallest grit i could find and i dont have a buffer or any buffing compound. this could not have been possible without visiting this forum extensively as a visitor, joined today to say thank you to the community and share what i have done with the advice i took off of the many pages of tutorials and helpful advice. i will try to post them in order of process I hope to improve and again, thank you guys for making this possible

I dont even know what to say other than, that is really awesome! i like it a lot

Hey, my name is Troy and I was referred here by a guy named Steve. Sent him an email asking some general bladesmith questions because I found his website and was very impressed with the quality of work he has done. I live in the Phoenix east valley right now. As of right now, I am solely interested in knifemaking. First knife was finished today, stock removal method (waiting on my anvil) and I was very impressed. Took a lot of advice off the forum, finally registered today to be one of those "here's my first knife" guys. Got a brakedrum forge in my backyard. My motivation to begin this craft was to be more self reliant, would be a nice skill to have if the SHTF. Thing that made my blacksmithing hobbe easier was that I got a cordless drill today, other than that NO power tools, borrowed my neighbors to drill holes in the handle before I hardened the blade of my first knife. Thing I want to learn most is how to make damascus knives, seen some crazy patterns, have no idea where to start.