HEAP of JEEP Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I told my story in the introduction thread, but since my real goal is to become more proficient in knife smithing, I figured I'd introduce myself here too. I'm still very new to black smithing in general, with just a couple of months under my belt. After getting the forge set up and tracking down and anvil and a few different hammers, I spent some time making some tools... tongs, a hardy cut off, etc... and then decided I wanted to try a blade. My ultimate goal is to make pattern welded knives, but since I'm brand new to this, I didn't want to waste a whole of time if I didn't have the right steel, so I decided to do a proof of concept, knife shaped object. Its made from an old Jeep leaf spring, and some mild steel I had lying around from a bumper I fabricated this past summer. I got it to 56 layers, did the rough grinding, hardened and tempered it, then sanded and etched it. Proof of concept complete, so decided to try an actual knife. I started out with a few more layer, so the finished layer count on that one is 72. Its a hidden tang, and the handle is made from some old scrap maple with a strip of walnut in the middle. Its been a long time since I've done any wood working, so I've got to re-learn that, as well as learning about smithing. Over all, for a first knife, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Just from reading up on this forum, I've already picked up a ton of advice, so I want to thank everyone for sharing their knowledge and helping a whole new crop of hobbyists to learn more about the craft. I'm working on my second knife right now, which is going to be a Christmas gift to my brother. I'm actually spending a lot more time on this one, laminating a solid piece of leaf spring in between two billets of the pattern welded stuff, so it has decent cutting edge, and I'll be doing a full tang and hopefully actually shaping the handle a little better. My first one will jsut be sitting on a shelf for my own posterity, but I know my brother will put his gift through all of it's paces, so I want to make it pretty decent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitch4ging Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Welcome Jeep! Nice looking first run. Your PW came out nice. It might flow better if your spine ran flush to your handle, but thats just a thought. No doubt in a year or two you will compare with this one and see how much you've advanced. again, welcome aboard. Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Pretty darned nice first knife. I'm thinking in a surprisingly short time you'll be giving lessons. Sure you need to develop your skills sets but you have the knack and picking up tricks and such is pretty straight forward. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.J.watts Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 With only a couple months it seems your learning curve is straighter than most. Nice blade, I look forward to seeing more of your work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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