Dakman72 Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 This my first post. I'm 17 and have been forging for about a year and a half. I feel like I have the basics down, well, as well as someone can who's been forging for year and a half. But practice makes perfect right? :P Anyway I had made a few railroad spike knives like most people do to start and I felt like making something a little more grown up. It started as a large two handed file that I cut in half. I hammered out the tip first and then forged out the taper. Then I did the bevels. I was going for kind of a hunting knife style and it came out how I wanted. I ground out the tang on the bench grinder and filed and sanded down the blade before heat treat. I just used warm water. When I tested the blade with a sharp file it skated across like I've read it was supposed to do after a successful heat treat. I tempered the spine to a light purple and did the tip and edge to wheat brown. Finished sanding down to a mirror finish and buffed it out on the buffing wheel. The handle is a hidden tang style stuck into deer antler. The guard is brass as well as the butt cap, which is pinned with copper, which I thing is a nice contrast of color. All in all I like it and am proud of how it turned out. Sorry for the long read but I know you guys like knowing how it was done. How about some pictures of it? :D Hope yall like it! (sorry for the not awesome picture quality) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loneforge Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Keep them coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapremac Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Fine job !!! Welcome aboard ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Looks a lot better than my first knife! Keep it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheoRockNazz Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I'm upset and happy at the same time when someone does such a great job on their first knife - mine wasn't nearly as good haha. Do you have a top / spine-down view? What are the dimensions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 That is a really well done knife,,,,and as a first piece you must be proud.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakman72 Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 Thank you for all the compliments! The blade itsself is 4" long, tip to guard, and 1.25" at the widest point, spine to edge. From tip to butt, in a straight line, it's 9" long. The spine I feel like is where i messed up the most. I ground to much off leaving it 1/8" thick at the back of the spine to just less that 1/32" at the tip. But that's just one more thing to fix next time I guess. :lol: I'm always learning and that's part of the fun to me. Here is the spine Hope yall enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakman72 Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 The reason I feel like i got caried way with the grinding is becasue I didn't want the file teeth to show, and i was a little to worried about the final finish and how it would look, which led to the thin spine. But like I said, just something I'll have to be aware of, and to fix next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BM454 Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 I've seen some beautiful knives with the file teeth showing. That's a fine looking either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loneforge Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 When I use a file for forging I anneal then grind teeth off before forging. This may help eliminate stress risers as well. 1/8" spine width is not too thin IMHO. Make for a good slicer. Darren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikecopXXX Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Very nice job. Does the tang have a curve and pass thru the entire handle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I too am leery of file teeth left in a knife. I tried one, and during the heat treating it ended up cracking in several places. The teeth are hundreds of stress risers just waiting to start a crack in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakman72 Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 Very nice job. Does the tang have a curve and pass thru the entire handle? The tang goes to about half way through the handle and tapers to a dull point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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