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Hello, this is my first forged hidden tang knife that might make it to completion,the blade is 1075, 0.140 thick 6"1/2 long,1"1/2 wide.

I have a hammer mark in the heal, should I leave it,or raise the edge? Also I was wondering single gaurd or double,any comments

Are apprieciated, thank you

Scott

Looks nice Scott! I would raise the heel and a single guard. A well finished knife has a higher value. Make your next one with the wider heel.

Thank you george

Yes, I would definitely remove that hammer mark also. For a hunter sized knife, 1 1/2" of blade is tall. Looks like about 1" of ricasso height then? That leaves you quite a bit of room to proportion everything back up if you need to. A 1" ricasso height on that size knife is plenty tall too.

Scott, after doing this for over 30 years, going through the ABS Journeyman and Master testing, one solid piece of advice that I can give when it comes to issues like this is that if you can see it, get rid of it. Train yourself to do it instinctively until you will eliminate any issues or simply scrap the blade if you can't, even if it was twice its size and made from complex damascus. It is good that you asked but also train yourself to do it independently from any other input as you will become your own toughest quality control guy. I would advise to never fall into the trap of looking at another known bladesmith's knives and saying "he left those scratches on his so I am all right leaving them on mine", that is a dangerous path and not the one that leads to all the extraordinary knives you are seeing Journeyman and even Apprentice smiths make today, so even if you see it on somebody else's knives, no matter how famous, if you can see it get rid of it. The sooner this becomes habit the better because every single one that you let slide, even at the beginning of your career will haunt you later. The ones that need not haunt you are the ones where you honestly didn't see it because your just eyes weren't there yet, and you can honestly tell yourself that you did your very best at the time, that is all one need ask of themself.

Oh yeah, and I say go with a single guard as well <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' /> .

Good job grinding on that one, Scott! You don't need my advice....George, John, and Kevin nailed it.... raise the blade edge and narrow the ricasso....go forth and make!!!

Alright, first I want thank everyone who replied, especially kevin, that is good sound advice. I would have liked to have left the mark and said it was a forged blade.

And taken the easy way out, but I know the easy way is not the best way. back to the grinder thanks again all.

Scott

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.......back to the grinder thanks again all.

Scott

Or back to the forge and make another, paying closer attention with your new-found knowledge/experience.

No doubt, there are countless blades that never made it to become a finished knife because of a flaw.

I have personally thrown dozens of blades into the creek.<img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//tongue.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' />

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Or back to the forge and make another, paying closer attention with your new-found knowledge/experience.

No doubt, there are countless blades that never made it to become a finished knife because of a flaw.

I have personally thrown dozens of blades into the creek.<img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//tongue.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' />

Yes Karl I might be able to finish this one I've been doing plumbing and air conditioning for as long as kevin been doing knives but knive making is very new to me.

I sure apprieciate all the help from everyone .

Scott

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Or back to the forge and make another, paying closer attention with your new-found knowledge/experience.

No doubt, there are countless blades that never made it to become a finished knife because of a flaw.

I have personally thrown dozens of blades into the creek.<img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//tongue.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' />

Rather than how many nice knives they have done, I like to judge a maker by how many scrap buckets of blades they have accumulated. The guys with no scrapped blades are either not learning anything or will settle far too easily to get any better.

And Scott, don't feel bad at all, that spot were your forge mark is the single most common spot for such blemishes, as Karl is saying, we all learn this one. When I teach an Intro to Bladesmithing course I love it when the students first hit the grinders, that is where they learn where they are really at in their forging skill. About an hour later I usually see them back at the forge taking much more time and being much more careful with their hammer blows <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' /> .

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Rather than how many nice knives they have done, I like to judge a maker by how many scrap buckets of blades they have accumulated. The guys with no scrapped blades are either not learning anything or will settle far too easily to get any better.

And Scott, don't feel bad at all, that spot were your forge mark is the single most common spot for such blemishes, as Karl is saying, we all learn this one. When I teach an Intro to Bladesmithing course I love it when the students first hit the grinders, that is where they learn where they are really at in their forging skill. About an hour later I usually see them back at the forge taking much more time and being much more careful with their hammer blows <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' /> .

Lol I've got one started

personally I like to send out my oppsie buckets to the scrap guy before they get to big... I they look at me funny sitting in the corner and make me feel all funny..

MP

Some great advice Scott and I will go along with it. Do some grinding to take care of the area and learn from the experience. We all have scrap buckets, you ought to see some of my winners. Single branch guard for me too. The thing is, with every knife, make the best one you can. Don't settle for I guess it looks okay.

Brion

Thank you Brion I did what was suggested, and I was pleased with the results. I've layed out the single gaurd I'm thinking oval single. I have some wrought iron 1"1/8

that's been forged down and twisted. [learned that on this fourm] a lot of first time for me just a few

Prepared with Rutland for hamon

Heat treat in a new paragon

Quench with clay

Hand sanding from 220 to 2000 grit

And gaurd and handle on a hidden tang

I must say this is quite rewarding. Thanks to all the response to this thread

Scott