Stacked Leather Hunting Knife

[justvincentf2]

This knife would be only my fourth attempt at making a knife! I have spent much time learning new tricks and methods since my last knifemaking adventure, and due to some recent inspiration, I had decided to make this knife:

1080 Steel, a stacked leather handle, hand-cut brass guard, and a brass butt-cap(attached by peening the tang).

This time, to attach the guard, i soldered it on, so it would most certainly stay secure, and polished the blade to a mirror finish.
 

Also, I finished, sanded, and waxed the leather handle to a moderate shine, and shaped it to be secure but comfortable in the hand. Leather is one hard material to shape from my experience.

In addition, i differentially tempered it, and lightly etched it, but the hamon line is only very slightly visible due to the polishing process... my lesson learned with this knife however, was to let the refractory cement cure onto the knife where i want the hamon line, or else it may get scratched off by coal in the forge...

What kind of feedback can you guys offer?

[Daswulf]

Nice for a fourth knife in my opinion. 

Only thing I can advise on it is when working through the grits sanding it, make sure you get out the last grits marks before moving to the next finer grit. Looks as tho there are still sand scratches in it.  

[JHCC]

Can we get a photo of the spine?

Also, photographing on a neutral background with an even, diffuse light makes it much easier to see (and thus critique) the details. There are some weird reflections on the blade that make it hard to judge (for example) the shapes of the bevel and plunge lines.

[justvincentf2]

JHCC -These may be a little bit easier to see on... clearly I'm only a beginner of this art however i was particularly happy with this piece.

 

Daswulf... i've come across those lines on every knife i've made. i shape the knife mainly on the contact wheel of my sander. perhaps that is the cause of those striations on the blade? i've never minded them 

[Latticino]

Definitely on the right road, nice distal taper in particular.  A couple of things to consider to bring the design a little closer to what is a typical aesthetic/function convention for modern bowies (not bashing your design, just recommendations - and many of which I struggle with in my knives):

1. Use a more rectangular profile for your ricasso, the curvature "down" on the blade edge side not only does not match the handle width, but it makes it harder to use the part of the blade closest to the ricasso on a cutting board.
2. Add a choil to make it easier to sharpen
3. Work on making your plunges a little more crisp
4. The handle looks a bit outsized in relation to the blade.  I think a bowie style blade can be a bit thicker (and the handle a little thinner)
5. Keep working on the precision fit between the blade, tang and guard.  You are really close, but that is one place where enthusiasts are especially particular.
6. The guard is visually thin.  I know that this is a product of the brass material you used, but an extra couple of stacked pieces of brass, perhaps with a contrasting material between them, would have been a nice touch.  The don't all have to be the same size, just give the illusion of thickness.  Sorry I'm not sure of the correct technical term (bolster perhaps) and I know I'm not describing it well.

[D.IVO]

  The handle is too big for such a small and thin blade and looks like there are gaps in the leather washers. A buffing wheel is great for finishing leather handles, try it.

 I would never differently temper such a thin blade, specially being a bowie, because it will likely bent when put to heavy use . The recasso needs to be more pronounced and you could add a choil before it to make easy to sharpen.

 

[justvincentf2]

38 minutes ago, Latticino said:

Definitely on the right road, nice distal taper in particular.  A couple of things to consider to bring the design a little closer to what is a typical aesthetic/function convention for modern bowies (not bashing your design, just recommendations - and many of which I struggle with in my knives):

1. Use a more rectangular profile for your ricasso, the curvature "down" on the blade edge side not only does not match the handle width, but it makes it harder to use the part of the blade closest to the ricasso on a cutting board.
2. Add a choil to make it easier to sharpen
3. Work on making your plunges a little more crisp
4. The handle looks a bit outsized in relation to the blade.  I think a bowie style blade can be a bit thicker (and the handle a little thinner)
5. Keep working on the precision fit between the blade, tang and guard.  You are really close, but that is one place where enthusiasts are especially particular.
6. The guard is visually thin.  I know that this is a product of the brass material you used, but an extra couple of stacked pieces of brass, perhaps with a contrasting material between them, would have been a nice touch.  The don't all have to be the same size, just give the illusion of thickness.  Sorry I'm not sure of the correct technical term (bolster perhaps) and I know I'm not describing it well.

Thanks so much, I appreciate the advice and suggestions. My problem with the guard is that i find it incredibly difficult to fit perfectly (which i guess just comes with experience) since its all by hand filing the piece bit by bit. I think the addition of a thicker guard would be a great idea. Also, would making my plunges more crisp simply entail being more careful during the shaping process? or is there another way i can bring them out more efficiently?

7 minutes ago, D.IVO said:

  The handle is too big for such a small and thin blade and looks like there are gaps in the leather washers. A buffing wheel is great for finishing leather handles, try it.

 I would never differently temper such a thin blade, specially being a bowie, because it will likely bent when put to heavy use . The recasso needs to be more pronounced and you could add a choil before it to make easy to sharpen.

 

i actually buffed the handle up to a pretty high shine and then waxed it. the pictures dont do it much justice...

and for handle size I started learning knifemaking with much larger blades (as backwards as it may seem) and have gotten smaller over time, and i guess I'm just used to larger handles. they feel more secure to me