Second slipjoint, please critique honestly

[Brian.Evans]

Finished up my second slipjoint last night. I'm excited to have a knife I can be proud to carry, instead of my first attempt, which was an abomination of a knife.

Specs:
Steel: 3/32" A2 @ 61 Rc
Heat Treat by Peter's
Covers: Brown Canvas Micarta
Pins/Liners/Bolsters: Nickel Silver
OAL Open: 6.4"
OAL Closed: 3.5"
Bolster to Tip: 2.8"
Plunge to Tip: 2.4"
Thickness: .40"
Hand rubbed 320 grit finishing the blade, 800 inside the liners and buffed on the covers. I need to go back over the handle again though, it looks like.
The edge is .0015" right above the sharpened bevel. I ran it about ten strokes on each side on a very old 400-600 grit silicon carbide stone, then stropped. Very easy to sharpen with that thin edge, even though with its high Rc.

All numbers are rounded to the tenth, that's why they don't quite add up exactly.

I am pretty upset, I think I grabbed a piece of stainless rod for the pins instead of nickel silver. You can see the pivot looks like a different metal entirely. Live and learn. I'll make sure I never do that again!

Bear with me, there's going to be a bunch of pictures. I couldn't get my makeshift photo booth to work, so like McDonalds, you get a bunch of mediocre instead of a little great.

The scuff marks are where I messed up and laid it too flat on the very first stroke sharpening it, not leftover grinding marks. I am not going back and fixing it, because its going to get a lot more dinged up before this is all over. I would never send one out like that though.

Wow, this look horrible close up. The covers look like poop, and the nick is horrible. I'm buying a dovetail cutter for my next one.

In hand:

Now, what good is a knife if it can't cut? No good I tell you! So.....lets cut! It was late last night, so I grabbed some leather scraps. This is roughly 8/9 oz. leather, about 1/8" or 3mm for our metric friends. I actually did all the cutting before I took the rest of the pictures.

What I began with:

It shaved hair easily before the test.

Cut 126 pieces of leather.

Shaved afterwards.

I wanted to get a video, but I didn't have a videographer to take it. The cuts weren't sawing, they were easy, clean slice, slice, slice, slice over and over. I was very happy with the laser like cutting of this blade, especially given the very marginal sharpening I did. I'm going to take the edge up to 1000 or even 4000 today and see how amazing this edge can get. Very happy with Peter's Heat Treating.

Critiques, comments, criticisms welcome and encouraged. Tear it apart, I want the next one to be better. I already have a long list I want to fix on number 3.




I have watched/read the development of several "critique my knife" threads. There are two ways most people go about it.

It starts one of two ways:
1. This knife is so awesome, tell me how cool I am, it is the best knife ever.
2. This is the knife I made.

It continues:
1. Tell me how cool this is and pat me on the head.
2. I know it has problems. Point them out and let's discuss them. I need to know.

Finally:
1.a. Yay! Pats on the head. I'm so great. I'm going to go make more mediocre knives! Yay me!
1.b. What?! Indignant surprise! It's not as good as I thought?! Just don't tell me anymore. I want to pretend everything's ok.
2. Thanks for the feedback. The next knife I'll fix all the problems. I want to be better.

I hope I've come across as number 2. That being said, can you or anyone else help me get better? I'm serious, I want feedback, be cruel if you want, but I can't stand making crap, I want to make good knives.

Specifically, I need help pinning cover material and bolster material. Also, general fit and finish help.

I have watched/read the development of several "critique my knife" threads.

It starts one of two ways:
1. This knife is so awesome, tell me how cool I am, it is the best knife ever.
2. This is the knife I made.

It continues:
1. Tell me how cool this is and pat me on the head.
2. I know it has problems. Point them out and let's discuss them. I need to know.

Finally:
1.a. Yay! Pats on the head. I'm so great. I'm going to go make more mediocre knives! Yay me!
1.b. What?! Indignant surprise! It's not as good as I thought?! Just don't tell me anymore. I want to pretend everything's ok.
2. Thanks for the feedback. The next knife I'll fix all the problems. I want to be better.

I hope I've come across as number 2. That being said, can anyone help me get better? I'm serious, I want feedback, be cruel if you want, but I can't stand making crap, I want to make good knives.

Specifically, I need help pinning cover material and bolster material. Also, general fit and finish help.

 

[BRad704]

For a second slipjoint, it looks good to me. *pat on the head*

I like your choice of materials.
Excellent job on the nice edge!

Couple of things that caught my eye though...
I don't generally go for a swedge on my slippie. I think you distracted from the knife with the un-even swedges.
You already know about the nail nick. I actually use a dremel cut-off wheel in it's arbor, chucked up in my drill press. Then tape and clamp the blade in a small vise and gently nudge it against the wheel until I am happy.
Are you using any type of washer? or relieving the inside of the liners to form a washer-area? I ask because your last pic shows some radial scratching from the blade touching the liner.
Hiding the pin... is your nickel silver all from the same place? There are better guys than myself to speak to this one, but you should be able to find materials that will blend together seamlessly.

All that said, you really did well at creating a unique and handmade pocket knife. I would say to carry that one daily and mull over it yourself. Then start on the next knife with that one on the bench beside you. Actively think about what you don't like about the first knife and try to improve on the next one. Rinse, Repeat. And all this 'advice' is worth less than what you paid for it. Just don't quit grindin!

 

[Brian.Evans]

Thanks Brad. I particularly like the pat on the head. Haha.

I think I might have either mixed stainless and nickel silver or two different types of nickel silver. I'm pretty upset about it. I really wanted to get it right.

I messed up big on the grinds. I have noted it on several tests, and I think I have it narrowed down to the platen on my grinder. I am working on upgrading it with angle iron and glass platen, so the next one should be much better.

I did not relieve the liner. I will try to do that on the next one. I know it's expected on customs, but honestly it doesn't bother me on my personal knives. I do want to incorporate it because it is "supposed to be there."

I have since added a sharpening choil. I waffled back and forth initially about adding one. I went back to the grinder and added one after playing with it a bit. I like it better with the choil.

Thanks for your suggestions. Exactly what I needed. Keep them coming guys.

As an aside, I'd like to make a liner/frame lock sometime soon. Do you ever share any if your patterns?

 

[cnccutter]

Brian, pat pat pat... good job on your folder.

the things i see the need improvement are things that come with more practice, and more patience.

the plunge lines need to really stop and not exit out the top of the blade. i struggled with that on my first few blades. we always feel "just one more touch" on the grinder. that's usually followed by oh s*** !!

A second result is you over grind the blade and it becomes to small visually for the blade/handle look.

as for the nail nick, the forked end is definitely distracting. I use the drill press and vise like Brad or a dovetail cutter in the milling machine. the angle also could have been rotated a bit more to line up with the liners better.

milled liners are fine to get rid of the radial scratches but you can also use washers. i have used both and its a toss up which is better. they both have their advantages.

oh did i mention more practice? :biggrin:

keep it up. each one gets easier and better.

Erik

 

[BRad704]

I plan on using washers for my next slippie to see how that works out. I really like shadow pattern slip joints, so I will be doing that, plus using a 1/8" threaded pivot instead of peening a pin. Non-traditional... but i like it.

For relieving liners, I used layout fluid, scribed on my relief-area and then went to the drill press again. Basically using it like a mill, with a carbide flat bottomed cutter. You can bump the drill press table up into the bit, so your liner is sandwiched in there under pressure, and then turn it on and guide the liner around by hand. You aren't drilling a hole that could bind, but you still have to pay close attention or you'll slip up. Even on your personal knives, you'll like it once you do it. And the best way to show someone the quality of your work, is to pull your own knife out of your pocket and let them inspect. You don't want to have to explain "oh, I would have done better, but this was just for me".

But like Erik said... try the washers and see how you like that too. I guess I'd go phosphor bronze 0.005". Just make sure to account for the extra thickness when making your spring.

 

[C Craft]

I have carried a slip-joint knife of some kind since I was old enough to carry one. So drawing from that experience and what I know about fixed blade knife making as well as a few traditional folders. I will say this first, I won't pat you on the head! :3:

I think you already know you got some issues too work through and since you know them, well then it up to you to find a way that works better, to obtain better results. In some cases that is just practice, practice, practice but, I am sure you already know that as well! Before you make your next one find a method the allows you to get the "nail nick" looking like you want it too. That way you know when you do it on the knife "for real" that you have a process that can be replicated time and time again.

I noticed that the heads on the pins look a little uneven. Are you using a creating a countersink for the pin to mushroom into as it is peened out? Someimes depending on the material that really helps as it allow the head to have some place to mushroom into and usually creates a more even mushroom. With certain material such as bone, antler and a few others it can real critical, as it can keep the handle material from spliting! As you are peening the heads keep moving around the head so that the pin doesn't mushroom more on one side more than the other becuase, when you start to sand down the handle and the pins, that one sided mushroom comes back to haunt you as it suddenly appears back again!

As you have seen the camera will pick up on any flaw that the naked eye overlooks, so use a camera as a tool. When finished take pics and see if you see any flaws. When you get where you can't see any flaws, then more than likely no one else is seeing them either! The more knives you do the easier it will become to keep the "oh oh's" from popping up! For a second slippie I think it is pretty good!

 

[dan van]

I would say that for a first knife it is ok, but you need to learn to slow down maybe. I would suggest that you could improve on it by doing more hand work (sanding) to fix that gash in the back of the handle scale. Dan