Home made carving knife

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tinkerer
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2018 12:03 pm

Home made carving knife

Post by tinkerer »

Hi all,

I haven't been around this forum much. I've recently gotten back into hobby knife making. I made this small wood carving knife out of an old file, copper plate, vulcanized spacers and a cherry handle. I hope to make a some more knives as time permits.

The file was baked at 400 degrees for two cycles of 2 hours each, allowing to cool to room temperature in between. Then it was ground, making sure to keep it cool.

Anyway, please feel free to offer critique or suggestion. This was supposed to be a 'fit & finish' practice piece, but there are some bad finish parts around the copper spacer. I did get a great (I think) fit between the copper and the steel. The HALO2 stamp on it is my handle on other forums & media.

Please let me know what you think and how it can be improved. Thanks!
carver02.jpg
carver03.jpg
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TPK
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Re: Home made carving knife

Post by TPK »

I don't know a thing about knife making but to my untrained eyes it looks like you did a fine job. ::nod:: ::tu::
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C-WADE7
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Re: Home made carving knife

Post by C-WADE7 »

Nice work! I like the look but as far as retailing (I don’t know if that’s your intention) I don’t think the spacer and cap is necessary. Most of my carving knives are OCCT but I have several other brands, and they are epoxy set blades in a wood handle no spacer or bolster end. I wonder if the copper end isn’t a little large when trying to get in tight spaces , and if it would mar the wood if it comes in contact. Please take this as my opinion as a carver but know I like the look of the knife and appreciate the craftsmanship.
tinkerer
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2018 12:03 pm

Re: Home made carving knife

Post by tinkerer »

TPK wrote: Thu Oct 20, 2022 4:07 am I don't know a thing about knife making but to my untrained eyes it looks like you did a fine job. ::nod:: ::tu::
Thanks!
tinkerer
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2018 12:03 pm

Re: Home made carving knife

Post by tinkerer »

C-WADE7 wrote: Thu Oct 20, 2022 12:29 pm Nice work! I like the look but as far as retailing (I don’t know if that’s your intention) I don’t think the spacer and cap is necessary. Most of my carving knives are OCCT but I have several other brands, and they are epoxy set blades in a wood handle no spacer or bolster end. I wonder if the copper end isn’t a little large when trying to get in tight spaces , and if it would mar the wood if it comes in contact. Please take this as my opinion as a carver but know I like the look of the knife and appreciate the craftsmanship.
Thanks! I appreciate the analysis. I suspect you may be right about the bolster size. Of course, the nice thing about DIY is you have no problem modifying it. I may do that with the bolster.

I'll try whittling with it a bit to see how it performs.

Thanks again.
C-WADE7
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Re: Home made carving knife

Post by C-WADE7 »

tinkerer wrote: Thu Oct 20, 2022 2:22 pm
Thanks! I appreciate the analysis. I suspect you may be right about the bolster size. Of course, the nice thing about DIY is you have no problem modifying it. I may do that with the bolster.

I'll try whittling with it a bit to see how it performs.

Thanks again.
Most of my whittling and carving is with smaller blade knives, and after commenting I thought for a Sloyd or roughing knife the bolster strength would be good and as for size of the bolster for roughing it would be fine. I really like the look and would maybe just taper the end by the blade down 25% or so if it was me.
tinkerer
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2018 12:03 pm

Re: Home made carving knife

Post by tinkerer »

C-WADE7 wrote: Thu Oct 20, 2022 5:14 pm
tinkerer wrote: Thu Oct 20, 2022 2:22 pm
Thanks! I appreciate the analysis. I suspect you may be right about the bolster size. Of course, the nice thing about DIY is you have no problem modifying it. I may do that with the bolster.

I'll try whittling with it a bit to see how it performs.

Thanks again.
Most of my whittling and carving is with smaller blade knives, and after commenting I thought for a Sloyd or roughing knife the bolster strength would be good and as for size of the bolster for roughing it would be fine. I really like the look and would maybe just taper the end by the blade down 25% or so if it was me.
Funny you should say that. I forgot to mention its loosely based around the Mora 120. So I was thinking sloyd but neglected to mention that. Great clarification.
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