Made my first knife

[TransplantHunter]

A lot of info on this site as well. Plenty of good steel out there for you to try.

Introduction to Knife Steel Heat Treating from a Metallurgist - Knife Steel Nerds

Heat treating is easy and I can prove it - I taught my seventh grader son how to do it. You can heat treat knives too!

knifesteelnerds.com

Thanks for that! I had found some other resources online and have been kind of plugging through that. Seems like it would be nice if there was a list of steels in order of ease of use. Might be nice for a beginner (like me) to know where to start and how far you could go without needing to buy special equipment. I suppose I could always send the piece out to be heat treated (like if I wanted to make a magnacut) but I like to try and keep things 'in house' and cheap if I can.

 

[adoc65]

Nice looking blade. Nice work!

 

[BobT1105]

Nice job! That’s a good looking knife. I was just looking at belt grinders last night. I’m a rank amateur when it comes to knife making but for an inexpensive steel that’s pretty easy to heat treat at home, I like O1. For my occasional knife making projects, I’ve come to like the Nordic style knives. They are simple and very functional.

 

[longbow51]

Very nice contour. And the cherrywood scales with a nod to your Dad are perfect.

 

[TransplantHunter]

Nice job! That’s a good looking knife. I was just looking at belt grinders last night. I’m a rank amateur when it comes to knife making but for an inexpensive steel that’s pretty easy to heat treat at home, I like O1. For my occasional knife making projects, I’ve come to like the Nordic style knives. They are simple and very functional.

I would love a bench grinder.... but I have precisely zero space for one, nor the funds. Those things are expensive!

I will look into some O1 after I finish up with this 1084. I have really no idea about steel types so I am still in the 'get your feet wet' phase. I am thinking about making a few as gifts for the upcoming holiday season so I will get plenty of practice in the upcoming months. Plus, all the time that it takes to hand grind this stuff down keeps me out of the bars. Win Win.

 

[TransplantHunter]

Very nice contour. And the cherrywood scales with a nod to your Dad are perfect.

I appreciate the kind words! I think my dad would have gotten a kick out of using his lumber to make a knife like this. He was the reason I got into hunting to begin with and he enjoyed making things...