First Hidden Tang / Antler Handle

Merle

Merle

Well-Known Member
This was my Christmas Break project since i was home for that week. Decided to attempt my first hidden tang knife.

1/8" thick 1075 with a piece of elk antler from the pet store, mild steel and ABW for the bolster and pommel.

Attempted a hamon but obviously that part was a complete failure; all i got was a extremely faint shadow that doesn't even show in the pics. Must not have soaked in the dirty motor oil long enough ;>)

Sorry the pictures are not great, I'm still learning how to photograph knives. Thanks for looking and any suggestions are welcome!

andy
 

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Nice knife, love the profile. Good job on the handle too. Dunno if it's the light, but it looks old, like it's been around a long time. I like that effect too.
 
The pictures are hard to see detail but the overall shape looks good. Now that you’ve made one you will be making more hidden tang knives!
IMGUR is a good place to host your photos for sharing.
 
Nice job on the knife. I am a big fan of horn handled knives. Each one is unique. Looking forward to the next one.

Taking pictures of knives is tough. Some time ago, Bossdog post several suggestions on how to take better pictures. Use the search function in the upper right hand corner of your screen. It is worth the read.

I can take a decent picture. Sometimes. As a suggestion, either purchase or make a light tent to control the lighting in your pictures. Experiment with your lighting. And, experiment with your photo editing. Really good pictures are hard to accomplish but worth the effort.

The professionals do a great job at taking knife pictures. A couple members on here can take really nice pics. John Doyle, Randy Lucious, OPaul, Anthony Self all come to mind. They post clear, crisp, cool photos of their knives. Most of us struggle a bit with that aspect of the process.
 
Looks nice! To add to what Demo said, if you don't have access to a light tent, try taking your photos outdoors on a cloudy day or towards the end of the day. You will get basically the same effect as from a light tent. Not as consistent as a light tent though. Outdoors will require a bit of experimentation to get the right lighting.
 
Dennis Morland said:
Nice job on the knife. I am a big fan of horn handled knives. Each one is unique. Looking forward to the next one.

Taking pictures of knives is tough. Some time ago, Bossdog post several suggestions on how to take better pictures. Use the search function in the upper right hand corner of your screen. It is worth the read.

I can take a decent picture. Sometimes. As a suggestion, either purchase or make a light tent to control the lighting in your pictures. Experiment with your lighting. And, experiment with your photo editing. Really good pictures are hard to accomplish but worth the effort.

The professionals do a great job at taking knife pictures. A couple members on here can take really nice pics. John Doyle, Randy Lucious, OPaul, Anthony Self all come to mind. They post clear, crisp, cool photos of their knives. Most of us struggle a bit with that aspect of the process.
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Thanks Dennis! For decent pics, you'll get the best results in my opinion in a dimly lit room, with at least 3 clamp on lights using 5000k bulbs, and a light tent. I made my own tent out of foam board and used a white trash bag for the diffuser. With good light and a tent, you can make cell phone pics look pro. There's a video of my low buck tent on my youtube channel, link in my signature.

And the knife, looks great. I've got a piece of elk antler just like that and hadn't been sure what to use it for, now I might try this.
 
Thanks everybody! I will check out the info on photographing and light tents and see if I can improve my picture process. -andy
 
Well I got a $13 light tent from Amazon and can see it will make a big difference! Still have a long ways to go on developing technique, I think a bigger tent would help and want to get more blue fabric for the sides of the tent as well. Thanks again for the guidance everybody.

Andy
 

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Merle - Your pictures are improving. Post a link for the $13 light tent. I am interested.

Here is another tip. When taking pictures make the edge of the picture bigger. Then use your photo editing to size your picture. I tried to edit you photo a bit. I think you can understand what I am attempting to get across to you.

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