Two Unfinished - better pics

You have talent!
So not true lol. All I did was copy. Literally. Well copied and listened a lot. Hmm .... maybe I’m a talented listener? My wife, Laura, would disagree BIG TIME. Haha

In all seriousness, though, I compare every one I make to the knives of the big dogs like @J. Doyle for example. I would say, that I almost (I at least think that it’s tremendously overrated) don’t believe in talent .... basically, I’m saying why should John’s next knife be better than mine? If I listen to every single detail of every single step, take my time, and be willing to throw a few rejects in the trash ( instead of finishing every crappy one), it should be halfway nice at the end. It won’t look like one of John’s, but as I physically practice those kills on each and every one, they get better. I do everything I can to not make the same mistake twice. As I grind, I’m thinking to myself - leave a little meat bec you got too thin last time - and so on.

As far as design is concerned, I normally find pretty blades and pretty handles and mix and match them. I want my knives to look like a collaboration between: Ralph Lauren, Rolex, Ray Bands, Jimmy Buffet, and so on. I know that’s weird and it’s way easier just to say - look at @J. Doyle ’s knives lol. I keep that style in my mind as I look for handles and blade shapes.

So, like I say zero, absolutely zero, talent on this end.
 
Thanks! Yeah I just wet the scales so the grain would show up. The scales are still at 60 gr on that one.
60 grit? Granted I have some iron wood stashed away and I understand it is very dense but I'm wondering why you would use 60 grit on wood scales. Seems like that is going to leave some deep sanding marks. Just my opinion.
 
60 grit? Granted I have some iron wood stashed away and I understand it is very dense but I'm wondering why you would use 60 grit on wood scales. Seems like that is going to leave some deep sanding marks. Just my opinion.
I use EXTREMELY light pressure. You can actually get a “mirror shine” on steel with 60 grit belts. I kinda think that it’s a waste to use a higher grit at first. Basically, I hog off a bunch of material with the 60’s, then use very light pressure, which is honestly the only way that I can manage to get things flat, and square everything up. Super light pressure causes shallow scratches. I’m 99.99% sure that I’m doing that all wrong lol. Honestly, I use such light pressure that sometimes I go 60, 120, 220, 320, then buff. The attached picture is of a piece of Koa fresh off the 60’s. It’s
just the way I have always done it. Never really thought about it, because it was just a natural byproduct of going slow and using light pressure.
 

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I agree Kevin. I use 60 grit to rough out wood handles. It's SO much faster.

As you said, light pressure is key so you don't take too much.
 
"Palavering" confers that the talking is, by and large, unproductive.

In a work environment, it might be said that "Zito and Doyle been standing around yappin' all day and didn't get nothing done."

Nice knives Kevin.
 
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