#4 Completed

[Herbey De Hoyos]

Ok guys I have completed knife number 4 and need some honest feed back.
This one is a spin off of Tom Browns Tracker with the saw ommitted and scaled down in size. It was done using only files and sand paper with the exception of a drill for the pin holes. It was done by stock removal, steel was heat treated 3 times and oil quenched, tempered at 300 degrees for 3 hours and acid etched with ferric chloride for 25 minutes.




Steel: L6 (I believe, old mill saw blade)
Handle : Red Oak finished with linseed oil
Cutting Edge: 2 3/8"
Draw Blade: 1 7/8"
Overall : 8 5/8"
I dont think i forgot anything.

As always all criticism is welcome.I need all the help I can get.

[MixonKnives]

I love that knife design. I've loved it ever since I saw it in the movie "The Hunted".

I'm not totally sure when my love for knife making began, but I think that movie lit the spark. I've always said i'm going to make one of those. Now I almost HAVE to. But i have a few power tools, and I think i'll use them

None the less, I have great admiration for the way that knife came out, especially with only using files. Truly awsome man. Keep it up

Michael

[Herbey De Hoyos]

Thanks Michael I had a lot of fun making this knife and I can say that I am really hooked now. Not using any power tools has really helped me in to value a custom made knife whether power tools were used or not just the fact that some one put the time and effort to make them just that "custom". Now dont get me wrong there are some production knives that I really enjoy but now i dont put them in the same category
Once again I'm glad you liked it

[SKIVIE]

Way to go Herbey. Looks like quite a user. You did a really nice job on that blade. Keep up the good work !

Shane

[Herbey De Hoyos]

Thanks Shane I decided to try the acid etch after seeing some of your etched blades. Radio Shack said they could order me the ferric chloride whenever i needed it and could have it for my the very next day
thanks again for you comments

[TexasJack]

Nice job! Quite a different design.

We need to point out your work when some of the 'newbies' are asking about what machinery to buy.

Sure would like to see you use something with a finer grain than oak!

[Herbey De Hoyos]

Thanks for the compliment TexasJack the only reason i used oak was because that is all i have at the moment and besides that my other handles were still "square looking" so i needed the practice .
I did stop by the local cabinet shop today and picked up some scraps of mesquite and fairly good piece of pecan for free so going to try my hand at those for a while, im the process of making another knife just like #3 except this time im not going to dye the wood and plan on using the mesquite for the handle .
once agoin thanks for the compliment.

[TexasJack]

Mesquite and pecan are both pretty sweet! Looking forward to seeing the next one.

BTW, I don't do compliments. I just call it like I see it.

[Chris Daigle]

Well, I can't deny your dedication to make it with hand tools. That would have driven me bonkers! 0]

And I can see an improvement in your handle shaping. Again, are you using simple sand paper for that? One suggestion I might give to speed things up, is to buy some shop roll from somewhere like Harbor Freight. Just tear off a strip and with your knife chucked up in a vise (or whatever you use) just go back and forth in a shoe-shine motion. It really helps with the finger groove areas that are tough to get at. The nice thing is, if equal pressure is being applied, both sides get sanded symetrical...or at least better than one side at a time. It does a real nice job of rounding things over. And best of all? It's cheap!

Way to progress!
Chris

[Herbey De Hoyos]

Actually on this knife i did use some abrasive open mesh (180 grit) that i found in the plumbing department it is 1 1/2" wide but i cut it in half so it would work in the finger grooves
Thanks Chris and i just happen to have a lot of patience when it comes to something that i enjoy doing and the fact of not having a lot of spare money to spend especially around the holidays i have to make due with what i have

[Cadillac Forge]

very nice for 4 wow!!