Newbie introduction

[J.Lec]

Hi all I'm 29 yrs old and live in Alberta Canada. I'm married ,and have a 3 yr old daughter.
I've been interested in making my own knives for quite a long time but only recently got the ambition to actualy do it. So far I have completed 2 knives and have 3 more ready for HT.
Knife #1

8" OAL 4" BL made from 1/4" 5160 with bubinga scales

knife#2




10.5" OAL 6.5" BL made from 1/4" 5160 with WSSI stabilized black and red dyed box elder burl.
# 3,4,5



all 3 of these are 3/16" 440C
curently in the process of building a 2x72 grinder and aquiring all the steel and wood I can lay hands on lol in fact I found this beauty a couple weeks ago while hunting

140+ lbs of birch burl cant wait till it's all dryd up and ready to become knife handles
thats all for now
l8rz, Jay

[Ray Rogers]

Welcome aboard, Jay! Nice looking knives you have there. As for the burl, you might have something there if you can dry it correctly and keep it from cracking. If you do get it dried (could take a couple of years) sending the blocks that you cut out for professional stabilizing would be a good idea. Birch is a fairly light weight, soft wood and it responds well to the process .....

[ranger1]

Welcome Jay,
Looks life your off to a great start. I really like that #3 knife. Keep up the great work.

[J.Lec]

thanks for the warm welcome guys.
Ranger1 that 3rd knife is actualy the last one I did. the actual order is as follows
#5 started as a scrap peice of 440C that I practiced my grinding on, then went back and fixed it up into what u see now. I'm unsure if I'll ever actualy finish that one.
#1 was my first real attempt. while it's not real pretty it sure does a good job on the deer

#2 was next started out with no plan just grabbed a chunk of steel and started grinding this is waht I came up with. only finished this one up a few months ago. Took it moose hunting with me at the begining of the month and all the guys used it at least once during the week. had loads of good comments.

#4 is a knife that I had been doodling in one form or another ever since high school

#3 will be my hunting knife. while I like #'s 1 and 2 being that they are 5160 they take some extra care to protect from rust. when I'm out at moose camp it's wet muddy and cold the whole week and I'm not always able to keep them as clean and dry as they should be. so the stainless one will (IMO) be better suited to those conditions.

[CJS Knives]

welcome Jay, your knives look great! you are going to find some great people and even better information here on this forum. anything you want to know, just ask!

that Burl is a great find! let us know how it turns out!

Jeff

[ckluftinger]

Welcome, Jay. I've been on this forum since last February, and I've learned more here than I could have by reading any book. A great bunch of very knowledgeable folks here, and lots of good ideas! Judging from your work you're way ahead already.

[J.Lec]

thanks guys. Ive been bitten by the knife making bug in a bad way. I cant wait till my grinder is done so I can get serious.

[john smith]

Welcome to the network
lots of great people and info.
Looks like your off to a great start

[Kostoglotov]

Welcome aboard. Its always a lot of fun to use the tools we make

[CJS Knives]

sometimes i enjoy making the tools more than i do making the knife! i like the challenge of the engineering the tool. coming up with a solution to a problem has a lot to do with it too!

make sure you post your pics of the new grinder on here for us to see!!