mdwest
AH ambassador
A thread inspired by @MarkCZ ! Im guessing there are more than a few guys on here that have made a few of their own blades... show us what you've got..
I'd been building my own bolt action rifles for a couple of years.. so I already had all the metal and wood working tools on hand needed to give knife making a try.. and had thought about doing it for a while.. but never really took the plunge until @Gert Odendaal gifted me some beautiful African hardwood the last trip I made to South Africa.. Not knowing what else to do with it.. I set out to make a few knives and use the wood for handle material..
I was pretty proud of the first few blades.. but looking back.. I now realize they were crap lol... grind lines were uneven.. I kept making mistakes that created visual imperfections that were hard to fix etc (bumped the blades while shaping handles.. not realizing that simply taping the blade up well while working on the handle is an easy fix for this sort of thing..).. I also built a couple of jigs for both the blades and handles which helps A LOT in keeping everything correct and consistent..
Fast forward several months and about a dozen builds later.. and I think Im finally making a few things woth actually carrying/using..
Im a long long way from being even close to capable of creating something as nice/useful as @Von Gruff .. but Im having a lot of fun out in the garage playing.. and find it satisfying that I can build a practical tool for myself..
Here's a pair of 4" spear points I made for myself and my favorite hunting buddy (wife) a couple of weeks ago..
Steel is 440C stainless.. simple brass pins.. and the handles are from a piece of really nice African Wild Olive..
I toyed with leather sheaths for the first several knives I made.. but have found my leather skills to be severely lacking.. I can crank out a leather sheath that is "ok".. but dont have the skills to really make something "nice" just yet.. leather is still a work in progress..
I did find it super easy to build a kydex press though.. and super easy to make a quality kydex sheath in about 1/10th the time it took me to make a leather one.. attached a couple of knock off Tek-Loks to the back.. and the project was complete.. Lefty version for me.. and Righty version for the boss..
Who else out there is making knives?
I'd been building my own bolt action rifles for a couple of years.. so I already had all the metal and wood working tools on hand needed to give knife making a try.. and had thought about doing it for a while.. but never really took the plunge until @Gert Odendaal gifted me some beautiful African hardwood the last trip I made to South Africa.. Not knowing what else to do with it.. I set out to make a few knives and use the wood for handle material..
I was pretty proud of the first few blades.. but looking back.. I now realize they were crap lol... grind lines were uneven.. I kept making mistakes that created visual imperfections that were hard to fix etc (bumped the blades while shaping handles.. not realizing that simply taping the blade up well while working on the handle is an easy fix for this sort of thing..).. I also built a couple of jigs for both the blades and handles which helps A LOT in keeping everything correct and consistent..
Fast forward several months and about a dozen builds later.. and I think Im finally making a few things woth actually carrying/using..
Im a long long way from being even close to capable of creating something as nice/useful as @Von Gruff .. but Im having a lot of fun out in the garage playing.. and find it satisfying that I can build a practical tool for myself..
Here's a pair of 4" spear points I made for myself and my favorite hunting buddy (wife) a couple of weeks ago..
Steel is 440C stainless.. simple brass pins.. and the handles are from a piece of really nice African Wild Olive..
I toyed with leather sheaths for the first several knives I made.. but have found my leather skills to be severely lacking.. I can crank out a leather sheath that is "ok".. but dont have the skills to really make something "nice" just yet.. leather is still a work in progress..
I did find it super easy to build a kydex press though.. and super easy to make a quality kydex sheath in about 1/10th the time it took me to make a leather one.. attached a couple of knock off Tek-Loks to the back.. and the project was complete.. Lefty version for me.. and Righty version for the boss..
Who else out there is making knives?
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