gabe4183 Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Ok so from start to finish today based on my practice sessions in 2 weeks this is what i came up with after 2 hours --- still needs to be annealed i think ill bake it in the oven a few times. Then hand file the edge since i dont have a grinder? then hardening and buff and polish? I couldn't get the point to... come to a solid point -- i wanted to make a drop point knife but i knida just went with the flow.. Being my first project without alot of smoke blowing.... what are some constructive criticisms? as you can see its about 11 inches total. I feel the twist came out pretty nice but my pliers made some indentations ill have to grind out or something....And perhaps next time i will start drawing the blade out from the heel next time to avoid this minor folding at that location. Thanks for your time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antigoth24 Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Welcome to the knife maker club! You'll find it's extremely addicting! And that's not a bad start you have there, and its always good to learn on inexpensive materials and get the kinks worked out before going out and spending the money on the trickier but better materials and getting discouraged when something doesn't work.... So where you trying to have a curved blade with the drop point? Or were you aiming for a straight blade with a drop point? But excluding those questions it looks to me that you left the edge, particularly the back part of the edge closest to the handle, a bit too thick. While you can file or grind a bevel onto your knife after forging it saves a lot of time if you do it while it's still hot. Were you going for an integral bolster? In the third photo it looks like you put a step just after the handle to become the bolster....or am I incorrect in thinking that? I really like the twist though it gives it some excellent character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabe4183 Posted September 1, 2011 Author Share Posted September 1, 2011 Yea the bolster there has a little place for your finger to rest it's actually fairly comfortable to hold I was a little surprised. I was afraid I'd get the metal to thin. The first day I was messing around I made some re spike paper it was super thin I was trying to make a knife lol. I was aiming for a straight spine drop point knife. When I flatten out the knife it promotes that curve is that correct? I shoulda flattened form the other side to get the curve and then straightened the spine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 OK First spikes are not a great alloy for knives. Next as you pound in a bevel on one side that side gets longer. If the other side remains the same then the longer side will curve toward the untouched side. Luckily this is *easy* to deal with. (My first knife looks like a banana too; sure wish the internet had existed back then...) With the blade *hot*, place it on the anvil on the spine and *tap* the edge so that the blade straightens down against the anvil. This works for even quite thin edges! Though some folks use a wooden or rawhide hammer to tap the edge down to avoid dinging the edge. The other method is to curve the blade before beveling the *other* way, (toward what will be the edge), then as you hammer in the bevel the blade will straighten. The third way is to make a double edged blade so putting in the bevel on one edge will be "fixed" by putting in the bevel for the other edge. Not that you can't anneal in an oven unless it gets wup to steel glowing temps---well over 1000 deg F. You can draw *temper* in an oven though. Quite different heat treat processes! Knifemaking is all about the details! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabe4183 Posted September 1, 2011 Author Share Posted September 1, 2011 I know Thomas but it's readily available materials and the handle was pretty easy to dispatch of I just wanted to finish forging something I had tongs almost made and burned my jaws all up in a series of unfortunate events lol. Besides non knife people don't know the difference between rc levels and that sort of thing. I think I might could make these for my step dads sheriff buddies. I have no experience dealing with wood and traditional knife handles. I might could do a wrapped handle with 550 cord or a handle similiar to what I have. Besides I'm baffled as how to even attemptessing with a c clamp do j draw it out straight then. Square it off he. Start forging. It has all those edges on it. Last time I folded the edges onto itself andnlooked hideous--- not sure how to fix or avoid that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabe4183 Posted September 1, 2011 Author Share Posted September 1, 2011 Double post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big redneck Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Looks great! I am always making spike knives because they are easy to get and they sell pretty good. They are great to practice on if a bad screw up comes along no big deal, just time and what ever you use for fuel. No they are not the best metal to use but easy to come by and there other things you can do with them like forks, steak turners, tent spikes, if you don't mind packing that much weight LOL! I understand metal is metal and if the cash flow is not there for good knife steal then spikes are always on the list. Keep a watchful eye out and tell your friends what you are doing with the forge and what not and you will be surprised what they will bring to you just throw a spike knife there way and every one is happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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