MastaStan

Yes definitely heat your oil first. Read up on heat treating etc on here and you'll be fine. Look into your 1084 for advice on hardening and tempering.

Feng shui blacksmithing! I don't have my stumps in the ground but one it root up one is root down, just because they worked that way. Anvils fiited and the stumps were nice and stable.

Very nice work, blade is very impressive and I'm loving the spalted maple. I like the rich dark colour in there. I have just acquired a huge piece of spalted beech ...can't wait to use it. Love the stuff!

I was told a nice tip from an old blacksmith...to use the back of an old drill bit to heat up the hardened area you need to drill. Let it cool, and then drill as normal. To anneal the hardened area. Only as a last resort! Oh yes...very nice knife by the way I meant to comment yesterday but ...

Looking good, push on and up.

Good work. Nice blade and handle shapes going on. Like has been said, not making the marks helps. Draw filing is laborious but works a treat to get things flat/straight. You're going to have to file/sand until you can't see anything but the grade of file/paper that you are using until moving to the next grade of file/paper that you want to finish on. There were a lot of strokes in my comment not nearly as many strokes as I take filing/sanding lol. All the best.

Nice neck knife blank Nate. I too had a railway track anvil to start off with and have now got a proper anvil. A 1945 english anvil. The difference is phenomenal. I was lucky to get an oak stump for the railway one and an ash stump for the real anvil.

I love, love, love this knife.

Thank you all for comments. Basically a slot cut out of the top of the handle for the tang to fit in. This pic might help...was early in the making.

Finished this knife yesterday for my brother in law, who is a fireman. 01 steel with walnut handle and stainless finger guard. Blade is 5mm thick and 4 inches long. Overall length is 8.5 inches.

Thank you Dylan! Thanks for the tip Will, I'll definitely use it at some point. Also I forgot to say, I never dislike critique.... Especially when it is so nicely put! Cheers.

Thank you Will, as usual a great comment from you! As Thomas has correctly surmised, the end pin should have been a lanyard hole. (Didnt have hollow brass rod at the time) Maybe it won't look odd on the next one, I think this is going to be my standard bushcraft design now. I've taken advice about the front of the handle being too wide and improved accordingly. Thanks again! You got me!

Hi all, just a quick couple of pics of my latest bushcraft knife. Heat treated O1 steel with Jatoba handle scales. Blade is 5mm thick, just over 4 inches long. Overall length is 9 inches. Has a nice weight and quality feel to it. The photos don't really do justice on the wood. It has lovely chatoyance and when you look at it from different angles it has a 3D effect like a hologram. Thanks for taking a look.

Wow. That really is something else!! I'm quite astounded. The stitching is amazing. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you both very much for your advice. I'll be sure to listen and learn!

Ahh... I kind if just figured it out from a couple more of his posts. I thought these where antiques. Very nice all the same good work!

Great work!

Really interesting, how old are these pieces?

I do my knives by stock removal, but I want to start getting in to forging. I have a nice little forging setup that I have been practicing on....made a simple fire rake for my coal forge, some little tool brackets, some other attempts at things and have been playing around with blade shapes. Once I'm a little more confident, I will definitely try out some Damascus. I completely agree it would be much more satisfying to have made it myself. Thanks again, and watch this space for some homemade Damascus and a sheath lol. D.IVO, thank you very much for your comment. The pins have red epoxy inside them. Cheers.

Thanks again Will for your reply and input. I wish I'd made the Damascus but I'm not quite ready for the process so it was bought. Dimensions 130mm long, 35mm at widest part and the blade/metal is 5mm thick. Rosewood is something I haven't worked with before but always been interested in...it turned out better than I could have imagined! I have some Buffalo leather that I'm going to fashion into an upsidedown neck sheath. Thank you again. Mat.

Latest neck knife that I've done. Second knife that I've made to order. Heat treated 15n20 & 1095 steel Damascus blade with rosewood handle scales and red mosaic pins.

Thank you Will!

This is the first knife that I've made to order, the guy is more than impressed! He wanted it made for a specific sheath so I had to work around that. Heat treated tool steel with English oak scales and brass pins. Oak was finished in a two part, water based varnish. Came out very nice. Shave sharp! Next order is another Damascus neck knife, this time with rosewood scales and mosaic pins. Thanks for looking.

Amazing, really love this knife! I think it would be nice with a matching bone sheath, just an idea. Think I'm going to be trying to make something similar to this (doubt it will be of the same high standard) Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for your honest feedback, I think you're AWESOME! I know at you mean about the center pin...it just felt right regardless of aesthetics....it felt better structurally. Bevels are definitely something I need to work on. Working on my kit, got an amazing person helping me out!!! Thanks again! Im definitely intrigued because what I thought was a scandi grind seems to be not or is.....I dont know....somebody call Thor Someone will get my sense if humour one day!