Knife 2 - The Malibu Skinner - WIP

several times! i was looking for scratches. You did a seriously great job on this.


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several times! i was looking for scratches. You did a seriously great job on this.


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Thank you very much again! It really wasn't that bad since I followed directions lol. Skipping grits and rushing takes up wayyyyy more time. My grandmaw always says that lazy people work the hardest... so true!


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And that's what I meant by I bet you zoomed in... I knew you'd be lookin for scratches... and there are some. Now I'm praying that peters takes it easy on her lol.


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Great job! Keep at it and you can only get better! I have one piece of advice that will help the overall flow of the knife. Nothing against this knife it looks great, but if you were to match the angle of the front of the scales to the angle of your plunge line it would really improve the flow. Keep up the good work!
 
Great job! Keep at it and you can only get better! I have one piece of advice that will help the overall flow of the knife. Nothing against this knife it looks great, but if you were to match the angle of the front of the scales to the angle of your plunge line it would really improve the flow. Keep up the good work!

Thank you, sir! I took my eye off the grinder for a split second and went too far. Been chasing the problem since.... really just making it worse. Now I'm afraid that if I square it up with the plunge line, it will be too close to pin, right?

The funny part about all of this is that the future owner has never owned a knife. He's very green when it comes to hunting. Last year I watched him roll around on the ground while he "cleaned" a nice whitetail doe. He thought it would be better to skin the animal on the ground at my parents house. Lol. Anyway, I looked down and noticed that he and the deer were actually rolling around in a huge pile of dog poo (Great Dane). Lol. Now he will be able to more easily clean dog poo and blood off of his knife.

Couldn't ask for a better bro in law though.


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Thank you, sir! I took my eye off the grinder for a split second and went too far. Been chasing the problem since.... really just making it worse. Now I'm afraid that if I square it up with the plunge line, it will be too close to pin, right?

The funny part about all of this is that the future owner has never owned a knife. He's very green when it comes to hunting. Last year I watched him roll around on the ground while he "cleaned" a nice whitetail doe. He thought it would be better to skin the animal on the ground at my parents house. Lol. Anyway, I looked down and noticed that he and the deer were actually rolling around in a huge pile of dog poo (Great Dane). Lol. Now he will be able to more easily clean dog poo and blood off of his knife.

Couldn't ask for a better bro in law though.


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LOL!! Great story!

SAY!! That knife looks great! You kept the edges crisp while getting that high polish. The line are nice too. You are really advancing quickly!
 
LOL!! Great story!

SAY!! That knife looks great! You kept the edges crisp while getting that high polish. The line are nice too. You are really advancing quickly!


Thanks!! That's very motivating! You guys have helped me so much!!!!


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Now I'm afraid that if I square it up with the plunge line, it will be too close to pin, right?


You are correct, and I'm sure he was giving you advice for future knives. I agree with Jeremy 100% on this. If you match the angle on the scales to the angle of the plunge line it really looks great. Since your plunge line is apt to end up where it ends up, a good idea is to leave some meat on the scales until the blade is done so that you can match them up then. Trying to get a perfect plunge line angle is very difficult, whereas setting the angle on the scales after the fact is super simple.

The knife looks great. No knife will ever be perfect. We have to keep in mind that as knifemakers, our ONLY method of changing something is to remove more material. You will eventually cross the point of no return where removing any more material will only hurt things rather than help. At that point, it just is what it is. So long as you did the best you could at this moment, that's all you can do. You know what you need to work on going forward. It's important to recognize things you'd like to improve rather than seeing everything as a flaw. A big scratch is a flaw. A gap between the scales and tang is a flaw. Design elements you aren't totally thrilled with are not flaws, that's an opportunity to improve.
 
You are correct, and I'm sure he was giving you advice for future knives. I agree with Jeremy 100% on this. If you match the angle on the scales to the angle of the plunge line it really looks great. Since your plunge line is apt to end up where it ends up, a good idea is to leave some meat on the scales until the blade is done so that you can match them up then. Trying to get a perfect plunge line angle is very difficult, whereas setting the angle on the scales after the fact is super simple.

The knife looks great. No knife will ever be perfect. We have to keep in mind that as knifemakers, our ONLY method of changing something is to remove more material. You will eventually cross the point of no return where removing any more material will only hurt things rather than help. At that point, it just is what it is. So long as you did the best you could at this moment, that's all you can do. You know what you need to work on going forward. It's important to recognize things you'd like to improve rather than seeing everything as a flaw. A big scratch is a flaw. A gap between the scales and tang is a flaw. Design elements you aren't totally thrilled with are not flaws, that's an opportunity to improve.


A personal lesson I've learned on any kind of project: Resist the urge to point out every flaw to anyone looking at your knife. The things that are egregious to you will often go unnoticed by the casual observer. Let them enjoy the end result as it presents itself to them. The painful boo-boos are for you alone to sit with and contemplate the next build.....Jmo.
 
A personal lesson I've learned on any kind of project: Resist the urge to point out every flaw to anyone looking at your knife. The things that are egregious to you will often go unnoticed by the casual observer. Let them enjoy the end result as it presents itself to them. The painful boo-boos are for you alone to sit with and contemplate the next build.....Jmo.


Two things jumped out at me in that piece of advice!! We are often are own worst critics and what we see as flaws are rarely seen by anyone outside the field of knife makers!
One thing I like to do is take pictures, as the old saying goes, "the camera never lies". I have taken pictures and I saw something in the photo that I had not noticed before. You look at the photo and say there is scratches there, or this needs to be dressed down a bit and you go back to the knife and now you see the flaw!!! The camera never lies and, it often sees things your eyes overlooked!!

For the other thing, another seasoned maker, Ed Caffery once told me be sure the maker was asking for advice/critique. Because often you may run across, "its my first and I don't think it too bad". Notice not once did the maker actually say, I would like your opinion or critique on this knife!! So if you feel the maker truly was wanting a critique then ask them if they want a few suggestions! Totally trashing someones knife does nothing to further their abilities!!

I showed my first knife to a MS once upon a time. Not knowing he was a MS, all I knew was that he made knives as well. He took it in his hands looked it all over from one end to another, smiled and handed it back and said, "yes sir that looks like a good user"! And then I was introduced to one he carried in his pocket. One he said he had not sold because it had flaws. Really, if this one was flawed what did the others he made look like???

It was not till much later I realized that was probably the kindest thing he could say! Once I learned more about knife making, I realized that the fit and finish was very lacking! The knife turned out to be a good user, as it has skinned many a deer! I kept it and still used it. The knife has been re-handled but, knowing what I know now. Wow, he could have told me what a POS it was. However he told me something that encouraged me to go on and strive for better!

Kwzito, your pieces look real good and if you are seeing flaws then you are learning and that is something you should do with every knife you make!!!!
 
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Thank you, sir! I took my eye off the grinder for a split second and went too far. Been chasing the problem since.... really just making it worse. Now I'm afraid that if I square it up with the plunge line, it will be too close to pin, right?

Yes, as John said I was giving advice for future design. We have all been there chasing a problem like that before. I have a box full of problems that I go back into every now and then and pull one out to fix it. I can't remember who said it, but a knifemaker said. Every knifemaker makes mistakes, it's how well you fix your mistakes that makes a good knife.
 
You guys are the best and thank you all very much for the kind words. It's very reassuring, encouraging, and inspirational. It also makes me even prouder of the hard work I'm putting in. I also must say that without y'all's help, I would be in a much different place in the learning curve. The education I've received from you all is priceless and has literally changed my life. Great advice above; I'm taking it all in.

Now for the good news!!!! I cracked the DIW scale. So I've "thrown" together some satin wood and ebony with a greenish grey spacer. I'll stay parallel to plunge on the front in. How far should I get from plunge line on front in? 3/8? Is there a rule of thumb? Now that I'm looking at the pics... the scales look like Duracells.

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d0b0049471719a0146de77991f3bac42.jpg



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You guys are the best and thank you all very much for the kind words. It's very reassuring, encouraging, and inspirational. It also makes me even prouder of the hard work I'm putting in. I also must say that without y'all's help, I would be in a much different place in the learning curve. The education I've received from you all is priceless and has literally changed my life. Great advice above; I'm taking it all in.

Now for the good news!!!! I cracked the DIW scale. So I've "thrown" together some satin wood and ebony with a greenish grey spacer. I'll stay parallel to plunge on the front in. How far should I get from plunge line on front in? 3/8? Is there a rule of thumb? Now that I'm looking at the pics... the scales look like Duracells.

1c567001a4683245dd6a033421810841.jpg



d0b0049471719a0146de77991f3bac42.jpg



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....Only because they do not have the handle shape yet...don't stress...they'll look nice.
 
Wow! I like what you did with the handle material. It looks good!

Thank you! Again, compliments like that from real deal knife makers let's me know that I must be on the right track. Thank you all for all the help.


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