new knife bad photo's

[chipper]

The 4" blade was forged from a block of 4340 tool steel. I edge quenched it leaving the tang soft and the edge very hard. The pewter bolster was made from 2 small shot glasses and the antler was off of a mule deer. I know it's rough but any comments or suggestions are welcome. I'm getting better every day with your help.

Regards
Hammer Hand .... My new name given by a indian friend.

 

[Raynor]

Awesome knife, that's nice. :thumbsup:

I have a forge that was my great grandfathers, need to dig it out. I've never used it, has the original hand crank blower and all. Take a long time before I could ever turn out anything that nice though.

 

[snagg]

loyd:
It looks great to me. I like that style of knife.
snagg

 

[davy]

 

[LRB]

My only suggestion is to choose a more suitable steel. 4340 is pretty low on carbon, and is not going to hold an edge well. 1084 would be a good choice for what you are doing, and for a knife of that size would not cost much over a dollar. Other than that, it looks pretty good.

 

[fatboy]

Nicely done! nothing wrong with that

 

[anvil1231]

Looks good to me Loyd anvil

 

[shmrck1]

Loyd,
Looks great to me!!!
snake-eyes :hatsoff:

 

[Tinker2]

Loyd

I like it a lot. Keep up the good work.



Tinker2

 

[BS]

Very nice knife, but why the upturned handle?

 

[blacksmithshoppe]

I know it's rough but any comments or suggestions are welcome. I'm getting better every day with your help.

You have a very nice knife there. Don't say its rough, I always leave a few hammer marks in my blades. I just like the look of it, makes them look like they came out of a Blacksmith shop on the frontier. Not to mention people will know you forged it and didn't grind it on a wheel.
Nice work.
Jeff :thumbsup:

 

[chipper]

I'm no good at bending antlers yet and the up turned handle actually feels kind of cool once you get used to it. I'm going to try the bending thing here pretty quick. Boiling antlers for 1 and a half hours sounds fun.

Regards

 

[BillinOregon]

Loyd: Yours looks way better than my file knives. I really like your crescent moon rendering. Let's hear it for forged, not ground, blades.

 

[LRB]

What's wrong with a ground knife?

 

[BillinOregon]

Hi Wick: Nothing wrong with ground blades. I just have an indefensible bias toward hammered blades in the perhaps mistaken belief that they were what human beings relied on in a metal blade for most of a couple of thousand years. But I am sure early users may well have ground blades out of pounded iron blooms using nothing but sandstone and elbow grease.

 

[Bob Riegl]

:applause: Heck, that's a mighty fine looking knife. I'd be mighty proud to wear it, warts and all. Nice handle and scrimshaw is a real great touch. I never tried to make a knife, seems like a daunting task to carry off well. Congratulations :hatsoff:

 

[spitfire]

Nice knife :winking: !Would make a good skinner.

 

[LRB]

Just curious. I've tried both ways, and pretty much settled on grinding, since we don't have to use sandstone anymore, although I will forge for those who demand it and are willing to pay extra. I do not tolerate the heat as well as when I was younger, and since the end result is the same, I would just as soon grind with a nice fan blowing across me.

 

[BillinOregon]

Wick: You need to move out to the bracing cool air in the West, and then that heat can be most welcome, especially in winter.

 

[LRB]

I am thinking of moving north a state or two, but mainly to get away from "rat land", Disneyworld, for those who don't live within 50 miles of it, but I still prefer grinding anyway. I have nothing against forging for those who like doing it, as long as they don't make outrageous claims as to it being superior in some magical way. The laws of physics govern both methods, and I just choose to make knives by the cooler method of the two. A forged blade still has to be ground, or filed, and after a proper heat treat the result is, or should be equal, if everything went right in the forging. Take care, and good luck in your endeavers.