Carbon steel hunting knife

[Bruno]

Something i forged to figure out the sequence of steps to squeeze a block of steel into a knife shape with a press. I think I'll go with the black and orange for a handle for 2 reasons: i like it, and it's one tbat i made from bone from the cheap leftovers bin at a knife show. Plus since the knife is carbon steel i want some color in tbe handle.

 

[verndahl]

that is something i haven't seen you do before(a hunting knife). I like the shape so far.

 

[RezDog]

It’s looking like a good start.

 

[Bruno]

It's rare but I do them from time to time.
I like doing them occasionally but I don't really have a customer base. These are never orders so I just make one and eventually put them up for sale. Maybe if I make some in nice damascus or wootz people will want to buy them for a price that I am willing to make them. I make pretty decent money on my razors. Much less on my kitchen knives. But in the carbon steel hunting knife segment, the competition is murderous simply because that's where many makers end up. If I started making these in quality, I'd either have to sell them close to break even, or be left with them.

This is one I just sent to the customer.

 

[RezDog]

Nice looking knife Bruno. Great shape, the fit up look tight, and I am a big fan of the black left.

 

[Bruno]

I like it too, and it has the benefit of being much easier to finish, provided the forging was done properly and the geometry checks out.
It was my intention to do the new knife like this. But unfortunately I had an oopsie with one of the shims between the press dies and I had to grind it clean.

 

[Bruno]

The knife is finished. I soldered the guard locked to the tang. That was a good idea. I used red solder flux to make the solder flow easier. That was a bad idea. The red stuff wicked everywhere and ruin the finish on the guard.

 

[verndahl]

Nice! What the handle made of? How's it attached?

 

[Bruno]

The handle is fossil rib from Walrus. It was colored black by Deniz from MermaidSupplies. I stabilized it in bright orange epoxy resin. I like bright colors. And I like working with fossil bone because it tends to be porous and have holes which is a big plus for allowing the resin to get exposure.

I hollowed out the handle, and after dryfitting, I filled it up with 2 part epoxy and sunk in the tang which is nearly the length of the handle. I also cut some grooves in the tang to give the glue some extra hold. The one thing I do regret a bit now is not using a really bright neon green glow in the dark dye for the resin. That would have been cool too.

 

[32t]

Neon green glow in the dark makes me think of you!