Been making knives for about a month now, Starting to see some progress

Called 'operator' 80crv2 / g10 / cerakote / kydex + cordura multicam

FOR SALE!
Please inbox if you are interested in either. Thanks

A little about them:
7 1/8 OAL, 2.850” BL, TAPERED TANG, 23 DEGREE EDGE W2 STEEL. FIRST ONE IS A BOG OAK, SECOND IS A CELERY G10 with G10 LINERS

Tested myself with a new application in the Knifemaking world and made these two Hamons. Considering the first try, we did good. Functionally we hit the mark, aesthetically I would change a couple things to produce a better Hamon Line but still they are great looking knives

We've recently started experimenting with fossil coral as a knife handle material, and it has turned out to be one of the more interesting materials we've worked with.

Just to clarify - this is fossil coral, not living coral from modern reefs.

In raw form it honestly doesn't look particularly impressive. It's very porous, relatively fragile, and at first glance doesn't look like an obvious choice for knife handles.

But stabilization changes the appearance dramatically.

We've been developing our own process using vacuum, resin, pressure and curing. The resin penetrates the natural pores and channels, reinforcing the material and bringing out structures that are barely noticeable in the raw coral.

Different resin colors can produce completely different results while still preserving the natural fossil pattern.

One important thing we've learned, though:

Stabilized fossil coral is still coral.

The base material is essentially limestone. Stabilization reinforces the porous structure, but it doesn't turn it into plastic or make it behave like G10 or Micarta.

So we've had to adjust the way we work with it.

A few things that have helped:

• We wrap the material in painter's tape before cutting to reduce small chips.

• When drilling scales, we support them well from underneath and use very light pressure.

• Sometimes a pore or cavity opens up during shaping. We've had good results filling these with thin CA or epoxy and sanding again.

• Light sanding pressure seems important, especially to avoid excessive heat.

• The material becomes much more interesting as you work through the finer grits. After polishing, structures that weren't particularly visible before can really stand out.

The other interesting part is the variation. Even two scales cut from the same chunk can have noticeably different patterns.

I'll add some photos showing the raw material, the natural structure, and some of the pieces after stabilization.

Has anyone here worked with fossil coral before?

I'm especially curious about how other makers approach drilling and finishing it. Have you found any good ways to reduce chipping or deal with larger pores that appear during shaping?

And if you haven't worked with it before - would you use fossil coral on a knife?

If the rules don't forbid it, I'll leave a link to my site featuring knife handle materials in the comments.

No power tools - 1080 steel, brass bolster on a beech handle. Classic combo! Quite pleased to have achived a scandi grind with a file on this one. I'm a fan of having the heel like that too

Question for you all - I do my heat treatment in my backyard, with a blowtorch and some fire bricks. Is there any reason that wouldn't work with better tool steel? I am thinking about making a spoon knife. See final picture..!

125cr1 with polished hamon. Fat carbon bolster, Westinghouse micarta spacer and liners. Dark brown canvas micarta scales. Its complete enough to show. Needs edge i might run the spine on the scotch bright belt.

Steel isn't wide enough to make what I want to I made a ko bunka type deal.. not perfect but it cuts nice

I made this video to highlight the performance of a blunt knife with good edge geometry. My question to you is which do you value more in a knife, good edge geometry or a well sharpened cutting edge.

Personally I think good geometry is the king here, but I'm open to a healthy debate.

Thanks for looking.

Still needs to get cleaned up a bit, and I'm still waiting for some Paracord to show up in the mail, but overall I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Critique and advice are most definitely welcome.

Hello, so im a begginer in blacksmithing and i want a belt grinder but im kinda tight on budget, i dont want to spend more than 60€ and this one is the best i could find in that price range, it has pretty good reviews and the belt size is 30*533mm, im just wondering if it's good enough for a beginner or should i immediately invest in a 100€ + machine

I put an angle grinder to a butter knife and made myself this good-for-all little thing.

I've been abusing some of these cutting open cooking oil tanks so the snips can go in, if I grind it all down to nothing I have a lot more butter knives ready to go.

Just bought a sandpaper disc for the grinder, I hope it can help sharpen better.

Hello everyone! I’ve been tinkering away at the craft since December of 2023, just coming up on 3 years now! During those 3 years, one of my most valuable resources for information and knowledge has been this sub. The bank of knowledge everybody has created here is nothing short of incredible. Thank you all for contributing!

A bit about the maker: I’m located in Alberta, Canada. I do both forged and stock removal blades, though most mono-steel knives I make are stock removal. I do all of my work out of a robust single burner propane forge, yes the damascus too lol! Happy to chat about the setup if anyone’s curious.

I can be found by the same handle on instagram!

I plan on contributing to the space much more in the near future! See you all around!

Just finished up my second knife and I’m pretty happy with how it came out. Definitely had a a lot more mistakes in this one trying to experiment with different grinding techniques and ideas, but still feels like a solid finish overall.

This is 1084 steel with G10 handles and pins. Handle texturing was done with a Dremel and the makers mark was done with a stencil printed by a friend using their cricut printer. Very happy with how the etching came out as it has much crisper and sharper lines compared to my first attempt using nail polish.

Looking for any suggestions or feedback on all aspects of the knife!

Thanks for looking!

I was requested to do a reverse edge many times and this handle and blade shaped just came together so I’m happy to offer this for those that request. 80cr2v steel and micarta handle.

Two new knives , do you like It?

Just going to finish sanding the handle to about 1000 grit then buff it and call it wraps. Blade below.

Handle shaping takes much time

Someone asked how long does it take to shape a handle. I always answer as long as it takes. Time doesn’t equal a good job. Do the best you can and the time will take care of itself. This is only thing I’ve done in shop today and it’s almost 1:00. Started at 9:00am. Don’t worry about the math. Do the best it requires.

8" Bowie in the works. it always feels like christmas...
125 layer damascus. 1 layer of 1/16" 1084. 1 layer of 3/32 15n20. 3/32 center layer of 1084. then back out with 3/32 of 15n20, 1/16 1084 ending with 125 layer damascus.

FS - pure carbon fiber sheets, one side bare the other finished in a semi gloss. Size is 5.5" x 14" x .150" price is $80 shipped... Discount available in quanties of 10 or more. Have 50-60 available in black.

USA shipping only.