Rhyfelwr

Maybe you need a better mentor, also with a mentor that has "30 years experiance" making blades why do you need to ask help here. Seems like you'd be better served with some hands on teaching.

It'll work fine.

Did you forge it down to the edge? I have ran into problems with files having a file edge on the side of the file and big dummy me forging it into the edge. In other words, when you grind it back you have a ragged edge. If you did, grind it flat on the edge and regrind the blade bevels.

I usually cut the rat tail off, and draw out some fresh steel when using a full length file blade.

Sorry for the delay, I mean more curve in the cutting edge. A little wider through the center. Here is a rough drawing (MS paint) to illustrate.

I like the blade shape, but my thoughts on camp knife are these: 1. A camp knife should chop 2. A camp knife should be usable for hours on end without causing my calluses to fall off. 3. A camp knife shouldn't be easy to get caught on things. I prefer either a full tang or hidden tang design, that being said; your knife is unique.

That is a beautiful knife. What was the blade out of?

How much time do you have in the knife and sheath combo?

Thats some very nice work, thanks for sharing the video as well!

Make a guardless bowie, or use a bolster of some sort to terminate the handle. I like guardless bowie-style knives, it allows you to choke up on the knife and do a little more controlled work. The blade looks nice, I do think you should probably have had a little more belly.

Thats some beautiful wood, I like it better than micarta as well..

Thats really interesting. I like the simpleness of it. That PDF now resides in my archive.

Thanks for these videos, very informative! I especially enjoyed the second one where you demo forging a knife with it. Ben

I like the blade, but I have a question. How are you planning to attach the handle? It seems like your tang is a bit high for a through tang, and not really wide enough for a full tang.. Ben House

Looks good, I like the shape. I also like the shorter handle, about how long is the handle and blade?

This is a little knife that I forged using a bit more care and time than usual. I didn't have any major scale to clean off and only very faint pitting and hammer marks, this is forged from a rusty file that came in a lot of about 40 or so that I swapped a small skinner for. I recessed the handle pins, which I usually don't do. The blade finish is not quite done, still polishing a bit. :)

Pictures of the little knife are in a new thread..

ciladog - Thats interesting I never thought of that, it probably gives a better grip if you work up on the blade as well. On a side note, I use some big heavy choppers that I've made rough (most of my blades..) and when chopping down trees and bushes the bark tends to get into the depressions. A wire brush will get it out. On another side note, this thread got me thinking. I have been lazy sometimes and rushed a knife, usually the heat treat comes out sub par. And I get excessive scale forming on the blade because I crank my blower too fast. So yesterday I forged a small blade and kept it clean from scale and took my time during heats. Though its not the largest blade I have ever made, it has been 98% forged to shape and carefully heat treated. I even took extra time working the handle, I reckon it took me twice as long to make it than it usually would start to finish. I'm saying I learned from this thread, the knife had no scale to clean off; no major pits or hammer marks. Holds a good shaving edge even after whittling for a while on oak. It does sport a nice forge finish.. Which I'm fond of, a true carry around advertising knife.

I like that no power tools were used, did you use a post-drill or a brace and bit? I use a brace and bit for most of my drilling, kinda slow but gets the work done.

That is an interesting note on the chefs, seems like they'd want a knife as polished as possible for cleanliness.

Scale. A most durable coating. Ben

That is a beautiful knife! :) Question, about how long (hour wise) did it take you start to finish on this knife? Just curious.. Ben

There is a section in the Foxfire Book 5 that features Hershel House as a younger man, that whole book has lots of information about blackpowder guns; in fact I like the whole series. Ben

Thats some beautiful work, what was your starting stock size? Just curious..

I like the design, it looks very Colonial American to me! In fact I and several of my family and friends carry very similar knives for general use. I'm curious to see how it turns out!