I managed to finish my first two knives
The first one I made was a RR spike in a Brute de forge style. I put a cold bluing on it to give it a Gunsmoke Gray coloring.
The second knife was also forged out of a RR spike with the head cut off. It has a hidden tang and Zebra Wood handle. The guard was fashioned out of mild steel and polished. I put a Plum Brown finish on this knife. It's 11.5 inches overall and the blade is 6.5 inches.
Ordered some 1084 stock to make my next knife. Trying to forge the ricasso was a bear! Then I left it a bit to long and made the blade look a little out of proportion. Learning through mistakes as they say.
Both knives were oil hardened and sharpened well with the edges holding up.
Really looking forward to the Intro school in April!
Great job! <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
(certainly better than my first one's) <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />
Jonathan Stanley
Apprentice Smith
Robert,
Those look very nice for first timers <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> I really like the blade design and overall proportions of your "Brute de Forge" knife. Your comment about the ricasso on the other knife got me thinking, and if you have not already looked into it, check out the "golden ratio" or "golden mean". I find it fascinating, and it has helped me considerably with my design proportions. Just curious, did you edge-quench the blades or full-quench them? What temperature did you use to temper them? And lastly, how thick are the blades? I'm sure you will have a great time at the Intro class in April (I took it in March of 2012). Anyway, overall nice job <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//cool.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='B)' />
Thanks for the nice comments guys! The spike knife is just under 1/4 " tapering to the tip of the blade. The hunting knife is 1/8" at the ricasso and tapers to the tip. I did a full quench on both blades. I don't have the equipment to do edge quenching yet. I went through all the steps like it was 1084, and drew the spine with my propane torch. I kept the edges in a pan of water. I took them to a straw color near the edge, and they were a blue, purple color at the spine. I'm going to make a couple of blades once I get my 1084, and test them before I finish any more. Just trying to learn a little before I get in the school. Thanks again!
Pretty good for first knives Robert. One thing you can do if your ricasso is too long is shorten it, by moving it up from the tang side. This is where a shoulder filing device comes in real handy. As Ed states the golden mean will give you a good place to start in determining ricasso size.
You will enjoy the Intro class in April. Jim and Tim are great instructors.
Brion
Brion Tomberlin
Anvil Top Custom Knives
ABS Mastersmith
