First Knife - WIP - Several Questions

[warreng8170]

Hey guys, I thought I would be brave and post up some pics of my first knife as it takes shape. It's a file-knife that I am working on with a local knifemaker who is trying to get me started. The first day I spent with him, we annealed the file and hammered it out just a little. We also cut the profile and he ground the main bevel for me on his surface grinder. I then took it home with me and spent a little time this weekend sanding out the grinder marks.

Here are my questions.
1. The idea of hammering it was to knock down the teeth on the file but still leave a little of the file pattern. Unfortunately that has made the surface slightly uneven so you can see the big dark spots up near the spine. Is there any way to clean that without doing any more sanding? I am afraid if I sand much more, I will lose the tooth lines. Is there some kind of chemical bath I can use to disolve that black grime? This would also help clean up the area around the ricasso.

2. How scratch-free should the blade be before heat-treat? I have sanded at 120, 220,320 and 400. I know there are two deep scratches near the plunge lines from the grinder that I need to work on, but it seems that there is still quite a few hairline scratches that bother me. Not sure if I should be worried about them or not.

3. With regard to sanding, should I be sanding from tip-to-plunge line or from spine-to-edge or does it matter?

4. One last question, do you guys think the handle is out of proportion to the blade? I am thinking it is a little too long. I know I need to clean up the index grove, and I plan on putting a slight curve into the bottom of the handle, but should I also shorten it a bit? The blade length is 3.5 and the handle is 4.5.

Thanks for looking and any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Carey Quinn]

Warren,

I knew when I saw your pen work you would catch on to this knife making stuff quicker than a lot of us have.

First, I wouldn't worry too much about the discoloration until after heat treat because you will have to clean that up anyway. If it's just grime, try hot soap water or some kind of solvent (break cleaner?) and a stiff brush. After heat treat, soak in household vinegar for several hours and scrub with steel wool or a scotch brite to get the scale off.
Even if it won't all come off, it is kind of in keeping with an old file and will look fine.

Most folks finish somewhere between 220 and 400 before heat treat and probably just because we're anal, usually the final sanding is done along the length of the blade. A lot of folks alternate directions with each grit to more easily see previous scratch marks and get rid of them. If you don't get rid of a scratch at 220, you'll never get rid of it at 400. Getting rid of the scratches by the ricasso will be much easier before heat treat.

There are still some of the file teeth left along the blade edge. They need to be completely gone so they won't cause stress risers during the quench. Stress risers bad - like in broken blade bad.

Most full handles are about 4 1/2" long. With shorter blade they may sometimes look a little out of proportion but it's your design and your knife and you get to decide what looks good to you.

You are well on your way to having a good looking first effort that you will be proud of for a long time. Enjoy the ride and have fun.

Hope this helped,
Carey

 

[LR Adkins]

Warren, you're doing a good job. Follow Carey's advise and I think you will be very happy with your knife.

You are the designer if you feel the handle is too long do what you think looks right. Personally I would make mine a little shorter. Look at some of the knives posted on this forum, it might help you decide.

Larry