First knife for sale

[JHCC]

 While I have made a handful of knives for my personal use and for gifts, this is the first one I’ve made to order for sale. My son’s guitar teacher wanted to give his wife a hand-forged chef’s knife for her birthday (they’re both big fans of Forged in Fire), so he asked me if I could make something for her.  

This is the result, forged from coil spring. The blade is 7” from tip to heel and 1-1/2” at the widest point. The overall length is 12-1/2”, with an ergonomic take “blacksmith’s knife”/“Viking knife” handle. 

The blade is  ground up to 120 grit on the belt sander (the highest grit belt I have at the moment) and wet sanded up to 320 grit. I like the contrast between the polished steel and the brut-de-forge surface, but I kept that entirely on the handle for food safety reasons.  The handle also has a little texture from a small ball peen, for even better grip. 

[JHCC]

Just for giggles, I broke out the old Japanese waterstones and got it to scalpel sharp. 

[Chris C]

Looks good, JHCC.

[JHCC]

Thanks, Chris. One good thing about working on a piece for someone else (especially a paying customer) is that I feel an obligation to take at the finish to a higher level than I’m willing to accept on a piece I’m making just for fun.

[Chris C]

Happy for you.  I'm saddled with a "Perfectionist" personality and I can never charge enough to cover the time I have in a project.  And it doesn't make any difference whether I'm making something for someone else or myself.  Believe me, it's a curse!

[Old Crew]

I like the design also

price .? Everything is mass produced now finding the person willing to pay for handmade can be difficult. My mother is an artist and can’t sell her work well locally but has had success selling in the city. There is the internet but it is not the same as being able to see touch and handle an item to sway you to purchase it.

 

 

[JHCC]

1 hour ago, Old Crew said:

price .? 

$350. He agreed much too quickly; maybe I should have asked more!

(He also got $45 back for what we owed onJuly’s lessons.)

[jlpservicesinc]

Nice work John.     I'm not critiquing at all.. It's lovely.. 

I myself prefer to have the bottom of the handle in contact with something to make it more solid.  I've made knives like this in the past and found the bottom of the handle flexed to much making the knife seem to have less control than I'd like. 

[JHCC]

Thanks, Jennifer!

I considered having the handle loop touch, but decided that I didn’t want any crevices that could trap food particles and would be hard to clean. As a kitchen knife, it’s also not going to need to take the heavy abuse that, say, a bushcraft knife would have to withstand. The handle is also beefier than it looks. The center of the stock is about 3/16” thick for strength, and the edges are beveled down to about 1/16” for a lighter appearance and to round over the outer surfaces for comfort. 

[jlpservicesinc]

good call on the food entrapment.   Care of utensils is really important.

[pnut]

How's it feel in your hand?Most knives that feel good to hold are a pleasure to use.

Pnut

[JHCC]

Quite good. Of course, the problem with working hot metal is that you can’t test it mid-forging!

[ThomasPowers]

That's what APPRENTICES are for!