Kitchen knife, learned a ton!

[Awrksmokey]

Hello, I recently made this kitchen knife for my dad. I learned sooooooooo much! I forged it out of some old tool. Unsure in the metal. I learned how to draw file, and got a lot of practice in with it on this knife (even though i’m still really bad). I tried to work a small distal taper in and I think it worked out okay, but I could do better. On the handle I had to use some creative thinking, I was originally going to put a guard on and file everything flush, but I did not have a small enough drill bit, so I messed around with a copper plumbing pipe until It worked. The wood is from a tree in our backyard, I don’t know the species of tree, but it looks pretty cool. I decided to file the angles on the handle and made it a sort of octagon shape. Then I hand sanded everything. Every night for around a week went something like this:

Dad/Mom: “Come to dinner, Smokey!”

Me: “In a minute, I just need to finish sanding this part of the handle!”

Dad/Mom: “It’s been five minutes, the food is getting cold!”

Me: “i’ll Be right there!”

*I finish an hour later, everybody has finished dinner, and I have a lot of homework to do*

 

Criticism welcome! (Sorry bout the bad pics)

 

[sfeile]

Overall not bad. There looks to be a little bit of a warp in it. The edge looks uneven, but that is an easy fix if it is. (may just be the photo messing with me a little.)

For a kitchen slicer like that, in my opinion, a full taper from edge to spine is much better than a short fat bevel at the edge. It cuts cleaner and with less effort without pushing apart what you are cutting as drastically. Say you are cutting a big onion, that short taper pushes your slice away and makes your cut start to go crooked because you are basically driving a thick wedge in there. It also cuts a little harder because of the thickness of the edge.

A full taper will glide through easier and allow a straighter cut because your wedge is now much thinner and longer so it is displacing less in a short distance. Hope that makes sense, I'm not always the best at describing things.....

Also for your wood. Not sure if you meant you went out and cut a piece off the tree, ot it was an older tree that had been down for a while. The reason I mention this, is if you cut it off it is still green wood. There is a chance it will crack as it dries maybe even a little more so now that there is a hole in the middle of it.

Not bad for an early attempt though, and as long as you are learning with each one, you are making progress.

[Awrksmokey]

Thanks! I fixed the warp, and I am going to keep checking for the uneven edge, but I'm not sure where it is. It might just be the photo, but I'll keep checking. The thing you explained about the bevel cutting onions makes a lot of sense. I should have thought of that before. I've had the wood for around 3 years now, and I think it's pretty dry, we kept it in the basement and it is very dry there. I hope it doesn't crack. Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it!

[SLAG]

Mr. Sfeile,

Would a few pins help prevent cracking while it dries?

They also enhance the bond between the metal and handle.

Mosaic pins are available for sale  or easy to make.

They look really nice too.

SLAG.

[sfeile]

Smokey:

It looks like there is a little bit of a dip in the edge right where the belly curve starts. Again, it could just be the way it is photographed and the light shining funny on it. If you have had that piece of wood in a basement for three years, it should be plenty dry.

Mr. SLAG:

Pins will help the bond most certainly. The problem if the wood was green would be that it shrinks as it dries. Any place you make a hole and then secure that hole with something that doesn't move (such as epoxy or a pin) it increases the chance of a crack at that point as the wood shrinks around it.

Smokey is pretty safe with this one as his piece should be plenty dry if it has been cut and stored for 3 years. I just wasnt sure from his initial post if he had just cut it directly from the tree in the yard, or if it was a saved piece that had been kept for some time.

[SLAG]

Mr. sfeile,

You are correct and the SLAG, is a trifle chagrinned.

SLAG.

[sfeile]

5 hours ago, SLAG said:

 

Mr. SLAG

I didn't intend to cause any ill feelings, and I apologize if I came across in a way that did. I hope it is not from something I said, or the way I said something.

[SLAG]

Mr. Sfeile,

There are no ill feelings whatsoever.  Apologies are not necessary.

My post was not clear.

Chagrinned, the word,  denotes surprise and embarrassment.  (mine).

I am fine.  But I endeavor to maintain high standards, and my aforementioned post was sub-par. (a little obsessive-compulsive,  yeah).

I do appreciate your 'concern'. 

Your post was a grace note, from a gentleman.  (You).

Best regards,

SLAG.

[sfeile]

Mr. Slag,

I just wanted to make sure it was because of something like an "Oops, I knew that" instead of the way I worded something. I'm not always good at explaining/expressing things correctly. I have to think to do that, and it makes my brain hurt.

[SLAG]

Mr. Sfeile,

Take  2  aspirins, and call me in the morning,

HAH!

Regards,

SLAG.