I’m to the point of applying the finish for my handle. As the title implies this is my first attempt at a hidden tang hunter. The guard fit up could be a little tighter, but practice makes perfect. I’m using tru oil for the finish so I’ll be starting on the next knife while I spend the next several days getting this handle finished and the knife sharpened. Thanks for looking, and I welcome constructive criticism!
A few more pics from different angles would help to provide any constructive commentary.
“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.”
Hey Joshua, hopefully this will show the guard fit up a little better. I’ve bought a filing jig, and I hope this next guard will fit up a little tighter.
@Devon Mills, I think this is a very good first attempt. It's difficult to critique something from two photos online, but I'll give you some feedback. See attached photo while you read and keep in mind, that these are just my opinions.
The proportions look right. Without knowing the stats on length and width of the handle and blade, it's difficult to assess, but it does "look" right.
The handle looks unplanned and very organic in form. The heel of the handle has a recess in the style of a carved or sculpted handle, but it lacks definition and looks kind of washed out.
I like how you tried to bring the front of the handle (where the index finger rests) into the bottom line of the ricasso. This is something I always try to accomplish on small knives, and even on larger ones. It might be the angle of the photo, but it looks like it is off just a bit.
The blade shape is nice with the subtle dropped point and the finish looks good. The edge is a constant curve to a rounded choil. That bugs my eye. I think it would look and work better if there was a short and straight edge at the heel of the blade. Nothing wrong with the rounded choil, I do them often enough, but if you had ground that edge just a little straight toward the heel, you could have gotten a square choil and made the blade a little more dramatic.
All in all, it's a really good job.
For guard fitting tips, I suggest reading the post in the forum section "ABS University" on guard fitting from 2016: Fitting A Guard – Topic For September 2016 – Handles and Guards – American Bladesmith Society Forum
The ABS University section is chock full of advice from different smiths on how they accomplish different tasks.
“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.”
Those are some excellent links Josh!
Devan, the only other thing I would add to Josh's is getting into your plunge lines to clean them up. Could be the light, but looks like there are some deeper scratches in there that don't flow into the plunge all the way. Using some type of form (bit of hardwood, or I know some people will wrap sandpaper around their files or a metal rod, different types of sanding forms, etc.) to get in there is one big thing that got stressed to me as I'm making my presentation knives.
A couple of videos show some similar types of jigs to what I've seen some MS use, and you can see how he has to get right up in there and do a bit of a flicking motion to not get those hard stops.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I4x4QLpfnk&ab_channel=NickWheeler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2g_-ZoogBw&ab_channel=HungerForThePine
