Vince, one can see your army background in that knife. The blade has something of this scandinavian puuko's. It's special and I know that a well-made knife is a very special present for very special friends.
Nice job!

Thanks mate...yeah...bit of background experience there, and you are totally correct when you say a special gift for a special friend.

Cheers, Vince

Vince wrote:

I got plans to make a couple more now.

The result of a craftsman! How many man hours of loving labor does it take for you to craft a knife like that?

Thanks Slim...not really sure how many hours are in it...I did it over the space of maybe 6 or 8 weeks...bit by bit.

It started life as a large metal working file...I heated and softened the metal so I could work it, cut the basic shape with a hacksaw, then went to work on it with a series of files...although I did take the "teeth" off the face of the metal with an angle grinder. Once I have the shape right, the cutting edge bevelled and everything nice and smooth I heat treated it to harden it up, then re-polished the blade. Following that I gently applied heat again, from the back of the blade and quenched it in water. This left the blade still very hard, but able to be sharpened.

I made the handles out of some aussie hardwood and inlaid the .223 case heads for a different touch. I also made and fitted the end caps out of aluminium. Finally I finished sharpening it to a razor edge then made a scabbard for it. I've put a couple of better pics of the finished product below.

I loved every minute of it...so much I now have another 4 files that are destined to be turned into knives. I can't wait.

Cheers, Vince

Vince, my appreciation deepens. Can you post a picture of file just so we can see what you bring life too? Are you using an ordinary file like we have in the US?

Nice work Vince!

Very Nice Vince

Joe

Vince, that is great work. I've always wanted to make a knife, but have yet to get started. I've got a blacksmith shop on my ranch, so I've got the tools. Now, all I need is the "want-to."

Cary

I have a nice knife that I made but I still can't figure out how to post the pic with my message.

Very nice!!

CARY!!! Yer back.

Hoffy...If you have that photo on your computer in "My Pictures" or "My Documents"...All you have to do is click on "Preview". Click on "Browse". Find it in "My Pictures" or "My Documents". Click on it and if it is small enough or you have a way of reducing the size to small. Yer in...When it shows up in "Filename" click on "Submit"....

Ok Bushy I'll try that. I tried that before and it didn't work. Maybe the file size was too big. Yup that did it, thanx Bushy.

Thats nice Hoffy....I particularly like the antler handle. Well done mate.

Cheers, Vince

Thanx Vince. It's also made from a file and the handle is from my very first buck. Shot him with a bow... and yes, it's been USED!!!

slimjim wrote:

Vince, my appreciation deepens. Can you post a picture of file just so we can see what you bring life too? Are you using an ordinary file like we have in the US?

The file I used was a heavily rusted bastard cut metal working file similar to the pics below. The file was a large size file, 10" - 12" long and maybe 1/4" thick.

Cheers, Vince