First Knife/Post

[SeaSideForge]

So this will be my first post of a knife I have created. This will also be the first knife I have forged out of 1095 ( much easier to work than Rail Road Spikes). Specs are as Follows
Material:1095
OAL: 9 1/2"
Blade Length: 5 1/2 "
Tang(Full):4"
Please comment on flaws and anything I did that was beneficial to the blade(if any).Any critisism is taken and put in the next one making it better than this one-no going back.
Thank you for taking a look.
Cant seem to post pic, I will leave link to Pic.

[jmccustomknives]

1095 easier than the rr spike, that's strange. The first rr spike I ever did I through away because it forged too easy and I wasn't into making "art" knives. As far as yours, the overall design is pretty good. You should be your own critique by using your knives. The more you use them the better your designs get. You can always tell a maker who doesn't use his stuff. I like the brown hemp rope, get some and put it on a cutting board and start cutting. Compair your knife to the best factory or ones made by a pro.

[bnewberry]

I like the flow of the top line (back or spine). The dropped point and angle of the edge to the handle should make this one a good wood working (fuzz sticks etc.) design.

The edge near the tip looks like it could use a bit of refinement. I would also like to see the leather (?) underlayment on the handle be completely covered by the wrap.

All in all I like it!

[SeaSideForge]

Before I would hammer out spikes and hope they'd be an ok shape, but with this one I drew out the tang and it looked how I wanted it to, felt good to do that. As far as the handle goes I will eventually put a real wood on. Im just not a wood genius.

Do you (anyone ) sharpen before you heat treat ? Because after I quenched and tempered this blade it took me 4 hours to sharpen the bevel with a file, it had almost no affect.

[jmccustomknives]

I'll take mine down to at least 90% before heat treating but it varies from maker to maker and personal preferance. If you are doing it with files you may want to take it closer to 100% that way you can finish it out with sand paper. If you are on a budget like myself I picked up a belt sander a Lowes (4x36) for less than $200. You'll be able to finish that blade out a lot faster and work with it easier when hardened.

[Stormcrow]

Looks pretty darn good!

On mine, which have filed bevels, I finish the blade down to the point that all that is needed after heat treatment is to clean up, put a handle on, and put on the secondary bevel, which can be done with a coarse whet rock followed by a fine one and then stropping. No filing for me after hardening.

Lots of folks do varying amounts of stock removal post heat treatment, from just final finish up to all of the grinding on the bevels. But they're doing it with belt grinders (keeping the blade cooled) and not with files.

If you're aiming at the style of handles I do with the leather under the hemp (which you PMed me about), I make the leather go the full length of the handle. The tang has a 1/2" hole drilled in the butt, and the leather slabs have a 1/2" hole in them as well. The hemp goes through the steel and the leather to anchor it at the end of the wrap. A Turk's head knot is a good way to clean up the transition where the handle ends and the blade begins.

Love to hear how this one performs.

[SeaSideForge]

Thanks for your replies. I will try filing before I heat treat in the future. This knife I made to be handy out in the bush, i put a thicker bevel toward the tang for slpitting and heavy work and then a finer bevel going up the blade. It is very sharp and would be good as a kitchen knife with a differnent handle arrangment-not much of a wood chopper. I probably will not personally use it to much because i have no use for it now and plan to be making a better one this upcoming weekend. In fact I may try selling it cheap.
All in all its a good knife for your average camper, not for someone like myself who is out in the bush for a week or two without break... i need a bigger knife for that, which i plan to be forging out soon.

[Stormcrow]

All in all its a good knife for your average camper, not for someone like myself who is out in the bush for a week or two without break... i need a bigger knife for that, which i plan to be forging out soon.

I thought having a blade longer than four inches out in the bush was a sure sign of being an ignorant greenhorn with a tiny wingwang. ;)

[SeaSideForge]

Your confusing my status as mountain man with your average weekend warrior . A mountain man needs what I like to call a "get sh-- done knife" . Your are correct that a green horn would harm himself with a large knife of great intensity. But in all seriousness I'm young but I know what I'm doing so I'll be fine. And most of the tIme I'm too lazy to carry an axe if I do a minimalist trip so that's my reason for a larger knife. Not to compensate for other things haha .

[Stormcrow]

I'm poking fun at the mentality of "small knives are all a person really needs in the wilderness", not you. :) I live in central Texas, where simply to walk from one place to another may need a machete. I say what wilderness you're in and what you're doing in that wilderness determines your needs, not someone else's opinion.