Kurt ain't the only one makin' knives

[JimBridger]

Sorry for posting tons of pictures, but I'm really happy with this knife and I just couldn't choose. I hope they are worth the loading time for you. Here's a bunch of shots of my latest scandinavian knife, my first folder.

OAL: 5.5"
Blade length: 2.5" distally tapered and fileworked
Steel: 1/8" thick O-1
Pivot pin: 3/16" stainless steel
Handle pins" 3/32" nickel silver
Handle material: 1/4" black linen micarta

First some shots of it disassembled and unfinished.

Comparison shot next to my Fallkniven U2
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Open
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Closed
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And here it is all finished up!
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The filework on the spine acts as a grip to help open the knife easily with one hand.
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The blade stop working properly.
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An in hand pic.
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And finally, a nice close up of the bevel.
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I hope you all like it. Total time spent designing and then making this knife was around 30 hours. I have learned more making this one knife than I had ever learned making full and hidden tang knives. I now know what to do differently next time to really speed up the process. I would encourage anyone who has been making fixed blades for a while to give a folder a try. You will get hooked!

[TRS]

Very nice Jim! I like that a lot!

[KurtHuhn]

Very interesting, Jim! I don't think I've seen anything quite like that before.

[Alan L]

That IS interesting... How does the spring engage? Or is it a friction folder and the "spring" just a spacer? I can't figure out the geometry from the exploded views.

[JimBridger]

That IS interesting... How does the spring engage? Or is it a friction folder and the "spring" just a spacer? I can't figure out the geometry from the exploded views.

It is just a friction folder, but unlike others I have seen, I eliminated the protruding lever that usually sticks way out the top of the blade. For my knife, the filework on the spine acts as a grip to allow you to open the knife one handed. No liners and no springs in this knife. My next will have liners for sure and I'm going to use a pivot held in by torx screws. The stainless pivot pin on this one was nerve wracking to upset. I may adapt this knife in the future to become a slipjoint or maybe a linerlock, but I'm really happy with the outcome. My goals for this knife were to make a folder with a thick blade and a Scandinavian grind that wouldn't appeal to the mall ninja crowd.

[smokindawg]

Very nice Jim.............. I have a question. Where would one start out making his first knife....... Well second actually, as I made my dad a large antler handled bowie when I was a teenager. Does someone sell a reasonably priced kit that I could try my hand at to get started? Any tips and tricks for a beginner?

I also have a supplier where I could get some good stainless sheeting for parts if I find I like making them.

[KurtHuhn]

Look at:
http://www.knifekits.com
and
http://www.texasknife.com

Both sell knife kits, some bowie-ish, though you might be on your own for antler if they're out.

As far as stainless, be on your guard. "Stainless" rarely makes for a good blade steel. Be sure you know what alloy you're getting, and that you have the right equipment to heat treat it - or know someone who does.

[JimBridger]

+1 to what Kurt recommended. Also check out Jantz knife supply. Between them and Texas knife supply you should have just about everything you could possibly want. Not all stainless is bad. Many of the kits come in VG-10 which is a great steel. 440C is another good stainless choice. It's no supersteel, but it does the job. Avoid any kit that does not tell you the exact steel used. If it's good steel they'll tell you up front. If you are a little more adventurous, why not try making your own blade? You can get a piece of O-1 for $10-20 which is a great knife steel and fairly straightforward to heat treat. Even easier would be a piece of plain carbon steel like 1075, 1080, or 1095. If you want to try to make your own blade with little investment, try getting one of the thicker sawsall blades and make a small full tang knife out of that. My first was out of a sawsall blade. I annealed the steel with a propane torch, cut the general shape out with a dremel, shaped the rest by hand with files and stones, and heat treated with the torch. It wasn't perfect, but was a great way to learn the basics and principles of knifemaking. Check out the newbies forum on knifeforums here http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showforum.php?fid/46/. Any other questions you may have should be quickly answered there.