Constructive criticism and thoughts please!

Nick Schreiber

Nick Schreiber

Well-Known Member
Hello All,


This is my first post here and I just completed my third knife. I am just figuring things out as I go so I would love everyones constructive criticism and thoughts on my latest finished product. I know it has its flaws but I’d love to hear from everyone else. This is a chopper of my own design although it was certainly inspired by another I saw on social media. The blade is made from 1080 and is 11 1/2” long. The handle is brown micarta with stainless pins. Everything was hand sanded to 600 and the handle finished with tongue oil. If you have any questions or want any other details please ask! Thanks in advance!68892
 
First off, that is different and I like different so I think the design is cool (most likely it will not appeal to all though). The main advice I would have is pin placement. They all appear to be too low on the handle and the third pin is too close to the pommel. I like to draw a line near the ricasso to indicate where my scales will end then I draw dots where I want my pins. If it all looks good I mark the holes with a center punch. The only other advice I would have is your plunge lines are fairly washed out but everybody does this in the beginning. Go to Ed Caffery’s website and search for “cleaning up plunge-lines” it will help a lot. Overall it is a very, very solid third knife and I think you are on the right track for sure.
 
Thanks Chris! I’ll check out that website and make my plunge lines better. And you are right about the pins. The first two were originally centered but after I got the scales installed I hated the feel of the handle and decided to modify the shape so it made the pin locations off center. The third was done too low. I’d love to take a class on knife making but around here you have to take the forging class first. If you have any other online class or webinar suggestions I’d love to check them out.
 
Schreiber815 said:
f you have any other online class or webinar suggestions I’d love to check them out.
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If you are an adult I would start by listing your City and State because there may be a member close by that would let you come to their shop and observe. As far as online resources, Ed's site is very helpful. I also like Walter Sorrels on you tube, he does good videos and does not cuss too much. You can use the search feature here and find stuff on plunge-lines. Are interested in stock removal or forging?
 
Yes, I am an adult. I’m 37 and live outside of Newberg, Oregon. I have watched a lot of the Walter Sorrels videos. As far as You Tube videos go I find them to be pretty well made and reasonably informative. I’ve tried searching some topics here but haven’t been able to come up with much. Maybe I’m just not using the search feature correctly. For right now I am only interested in stock removal. I built a mini propane forge for heat treating purposes but don’t have the tooling and equipment for forging at the moment. Once I feel reasonably comfortable with what I’m doing I may venture into some forging. I’ll post some info about myself in the new members section soon.
 
You are doing exactly what I was going to suggest which is stock removal first unless you already forge stuff. I took up blacksmithing (hobby) years ago and then fell into making knives. Most of the books I have read have been on forging knives so I think youtube will be a good bet for SR info. There is one exception, I read Murray Carter’s book 101 knife designs and I picked up a couple of great design tips plus many different knife templates you can use to expand your skills. I am not a huge fan of his general purpose or neck knives but I really like his kitchen knife style. If you want to do some kitchen knives I would get the book for sure.
 
I would echo Chris' thoughts mostly. I would also add that as a beginner you might do yourself a favor and tone it back on size. That's a really big blade for #3. I would recommend getting really good at 7"-8" hunters and drop points before tackling the big ones. I'm no expert either, but even though I can make a great 8-9" blade, stepping up to 11, 12, or bigger is big change. I bounced around a lot when I started, eager to try new things, but I think my grinding really improved when I sat down and made a batch of 10 of the same knife.
 
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