My 8th knife.

D

Drago

Guest
I do not consider myself a custom knifemaker, but I am trying to learn. Here is my 8th knife.

Well this is one I thought was a lost cause. I screwed the grind up with my old grinder and threw it on the bench to never be found again.



I was learning to grind with my new grinder, so I decided that instead of screwing up good steel I would find a scrap and get my sea legs with that. So I found this pattern (already heat treated 440c) laying around and thought, “Hey I will see if I can fix it”. So I tried. The blade is flat ground with a hollow ground swedge. It is a utility knife and is super sharp (I am talking touch my arm and the hairs start flying). There are still a few flaws, but I am confident I can fix those on the next one.



The handles: Jenny (my wife)decided she wanted to make some custom micarta, after seeing the custom knife we got Alex (my brother) for graduation. We did research and got the stuff she needed together. She tried this the other night and had a few difficulties and she was not able to make it as thick as she wanted to due to the epoxy setting up. We ground on the slab of micarta after it had hardened and thought that it would look pretty good if it had been thicker.



Well I had just “finished” (at least as well as I was going to) this knife so I told her I was thinking about trying her material and she wanted me to. So I got the material together and all I could find to fit the pre-drilled holes in the knife were brass pins (I originally was going to use natural g-10 so brass would have looked good on that) I wish I had stainless, but it is a Frankenstein as it is so why not?



Here is what I came up with. I actually like it and I will be carrying it as an every day carry. I made a very well fitting kydex sheath for it.



What do you think?
 

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Well, considering you screwed it up on the first try, and the handle material wasn't as thick as you wanted, it turned out pretty nice.

Larry
 
Nice save,....
* Custom rag/roll style micarta is hard to keep in stock everywhere,..she should make more, in 1/4 inch slabs cut em 1/4x 2x 6 scale sets,and shes got a winner.
 
That looks great. It's nice to salvage a knife and make it a good user. Love the micarta. Definitely someone should make some custom rag micarta. I love the stuff that has twists and such in it.

Great to see you progressing.

Charlie
 
Well, considering you screwed it up on the first try, and the handle material wasn't as thick as you wanted, it turned out pretty nice.

Larry

Yes sir! All things considered.... at least it cuts like a laser...

Nice save,....
* Custom rag/roll style micarta is hard to keep in stock everywhere,..she should make more, in 1/4 inch slabs cut em 1/4x 2x 6 scale sets,and shes got a winner.

She plans on making more and I will let her know those dimensions. She realy enjoyed it and was real happy with they way this one turned out in the end.

That looks great. It's nice to salvage a knife and make it a good user. Love the micarta. Definitely someone should make some custom rag micarta. I love the stuff that has twists and such in it.

Great to see you progressing.

Charlie

Thanks! She is going to try the twisted stuff a little later (we will have to see if her work schedule will free up).

I am just trying to learn every time I am in the shop and minimize my repeated mistakes. I did a lot of stuff right on this one that I have screwed up in the past.... I also did some new wrongs as well, but now I know better.. Life is boring if you are not learning stuff... right?
 
I am not a fan of the blade shape, however that is more personal opinion that is not too say that I don't like how it turned out. I am one of those that likes more pointy loooking blades. I do like the way the Micrta turned out however, I really like the varitation in colors. If she cuts like you say then she's a keeper, as well as the girlfriend that makes Micrta! :D Out of a possible 10 I would give it a 5+ and alot of that is the blade shape and (I know I will take heat for this but, I am not a kydex fan) it just seems so impersonable. Kind of like cuddling to afish wrapped in was paper! OH SNAP,....... did I say that outloud!!!!
Sometimes when a project is going bad I find putting it aside usually give me a whole new insight into it at a later date! You find out you was :bud: for no reason! Plus it always gives insight into, "damn, I won't do that again"!

Having babbled on I will say this I am about to make a new leather cutting blade for sheath making and after seeing this one I have a feeling it will look a lot like it, except or the kydex! "Shudder"
 
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I'm still a noob at this so take it fwiw. Personally I think the blade shape is kids of quirky. It almost looks like it wants to be a wharnie but also trying to be something else.

Other than that however I think it turned out well, all things considered. I really like the look of that Micarta. Even though it's not as think as you would've liked it I think it turned out rather well.

I can't tell if it's the pics or not but the lanyard hole looks a little chewed up? One side looks round other looks kind of octagonal.

However it's sharp and holds an edge which is the important thing, so considering it's your Frankenstein knife I think overall it's a great for what it is.
 
I really like this knife man.
I actually think the blade is perfect for the intentions of the knife. The rag micarta also looks very cool. Its cool your wife jumped in and wanted to make it.cool 1
I like that you strayed from the normal blade design and handle shape and pushed your creativity.

The sheath also looks good.
Lookin forward to what you post up next ...2thumbs
 
Nice one Drago! I like your style bud.

Keep it up2thumbs

Chris

Thanks bro!

I'm still a noob at this so take it fwiw. Personally I think the blade shape is kids of quirky. It almost looks like it wants to be a wharnie but also trying to be something else.

Other than that however I think it turned out well, all things considered. I really like the look of that Micarta. Even though it's not as think as you would've liked it I think it turned out rather well.

I can't tell if it's the pics or not but the lanyard hole looks a little chewed up? One side looks round other looks kind of octagonal.

However it's sharp and holds an edge which is the important thing, so considering it's your Frankenstein knife I think overall it's a great for what it is.

Hey I am a noob too so.... I appreciate the comments. the blade shape is a little different, but to tell the truth I get tired of making warnies, clips, and spear points all the time. I wanted to try something different and you never know how something will work unless you try it. It is designed more to slice and that it does very well. Never intended this to be a woods knife or anything.

Yep gotta love her for wanting to get involved. There will be more micarta from her for sure she loved it.

The holes...... that is one of the things I learned on this one. Do not rush stuff or try to take short cuts..... even on "easy" things like countersinking the lanyard holes. If you rush you can screw things up. Like I did and made the octagon. Anyway. I am going to use tubes next time in my lanyard holes.

It is decent for what it is. Like I said I am a noob too. I can tell I am getting better at somethings, but I am still making mistakes and still learning. Thanks for an honest assesment. I can't promise you that I will stick with standard blade shapes though..... I think these funky things are fun.

I really like this knife man.
I actually think the blade is perfect for the intentions of the knife. The rag micarta also looks very cool. Its cool your wife jumped in and wanted to make it.cool 1
I like that you strayed from the normal blade design and handle shape and pushed your creativity.

The sheath also looks good.
Lookin forward to what you post up next ...2thumbs

Thank you very much for your comments. The micarta did turn out better than we even hoped and there should be more knives from me using this stuff. I just need to find some shop time. Jenny is very interested in the same stuff that I am (knives, guns, and out doors). She is even looking foward to going back to Blade this year and she has been talking about it quite a bit. I am very lucky to call her my wife.

Yes, in the batch of knives that this one was in, this was the fun/creative one. Like I said above I have to try things once I get it in my head that it may work well and would be a little different.

I have already had a request from a guy here at work to make one similar to this design, but 1" longer blade and 1.5" longer handle. I will have to see how that turns out.
 
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Nice save Drago!

Should make a great shop and every day knife.

Oh, and if the wife is actually helping beyond "It's ok.", "That's pretty," or "I don't like it!" she's a keeper! LOL

There are a few VERY good husband and wife knife making teams around. Hope you both stick at it.
 
Nice save Drago!

Should make a great shop and every day knife.

Oh, and if the wife is actually helping beyond "It's ok.", "That's pretty," or "I don't like it!" she's a keeper! LOL

There are a few VERY good husband and wife knife making teams around. Hope you both stick at it.

Thanks! The good thing about saving a knife is I can keep it.....
She is my biggest critic that is for sure. Every piece I make she looks over and tells me what to fix and where I have messed up. She humbles me that is for sure. I often get the "its nice, but...." from her. I like it though, having another set of eyes looking at something really helps.
 
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