PeterM Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 This is the first piece completed from my new forge and the first knife I've done completely forged-to-shape including bevels. I wanted to make an 'fashion mountain man's belt knife with a rough forged finish and minimal embellishment. It is SCREAMING sharp!! My hands are blistered and my arm is jelly, but and I'm pretty proud of this first effort.Blade: 7 1/2" x 3/16"(+/-) 1084 with forward taper, 260 grit belt finish on bevels.Handle: 4 1/2", spalted and figured Red Maple heartwood, 1/8" brass pins w/ tung oil and buffed conservator's wax finish.Sheath: in-progress Comments, criticism and advice for future pieces would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Real nice looking belt knife, Peter. Good job. Thanks for sharing it with us. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterM Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 Thank you George. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 I think you are quite properly proud of that knife. It is remarkably fine for a first knife! Pretty fine in any case. One little suggestion is that the final bevel appears to be a bit steeper than I usually like. It looks as though you have done a nice job all around though, thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shimanek Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Looking good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterM Posted May 5, 2011 Author Share Posted May 5, 2011 Thanks folks! Bigfoot - This is my first forged knife... well, second actually, but it is my 54 knife overall. Everything else I've made to this point has been stock removal. I just got tired of grinding blades so I bought a forge and an anvil in order to broaden my range a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithl Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 I like it, nice job forging. Do you like forging better or stock removal. It makes it nice to save time and have less stock removal. Regards Keith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golgotha forge & anvil Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 superfine IMHO ! great job... Gene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterM Posted May 5, 2011 Author Share Posted May 5, 2011 Gene, Keith - Thanks for the kind words! Keith - As I'm just a novice smith, I find forging a difficult process.... hammer control, fine shaping, even holding the steel is cumbersome..... so its a bit more work than simply shaping and cutting bevels with my grinder. I imagine (read: "hope") the control will come in time as muscles strengthen and I become more familiar with the process. However, while I find forging difficult, I also enjoy the challenge and it just plain ole' fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caotropheus Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Gene, Keith - Thanks for the kind words! Keith - As I'm just a novice smith, I find forging a difficult process.... hammer control, fine shaping, even holding the steel is cumbersome..... so its a bit more work than simply shaping and cutting bevels with my grinder. I imagine (read: "hope") the control will come in time as muscles strengthen and I become more familiar with the process. However, while I find forging difficult, I also enjoy the challenge and it just plain ole' fun. Peter. I only forged 6 pieces of cutlery and I am still complaining about the same issues you wrote on this post. I agree with you, it is difficult at the beginning but on my last knife, the work started getting easier and within 2.5 hours of forge work I had a piece of 5160 brand new leaf spring transformed into a KSO (knife shape object) ready for annealing and start filing and polishing. My first knife took 3 days to forge out of flat stock and I managed to crack it, so...Just do not give up and keep forging. Out of the 6 knives I made, the first I cracked the blade while forging, the fourth cracked at the ricasso while testing it and the fifth I burned it in the forge because I started doing other stuff and forgot the blower on with the knife inside the charcoals. The most important is that I am satisfied learning with my mistakes. Nice piece of cutlery you've got over there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterM Posted May 9, 2011 Author Share Posted May 9, 2011 Keith - I'm working on a rather large knife at the moment and its giving me fits. The pointy end doesn't want to stay down, the raised clip won't stay raised, and the recurve won't stay re-curved. So, along the way the blade has just gotten thinner, and thinner, and thinner. At this point the blade is +/- 1/8" which is a bit thin for an 11" blade. Frustrating!! I may end up scrapping this nice piece of 1084, but in the process I've created "something", had a work out, and learned a few things. That's the fun part for me. The lesson learned here though, is..... I'll practice on some cheap mild steel for a bit! Good luck and enjoy your knife making efforts. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Very nice and I like the Size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidsmither14 Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 amazing knife great job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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