My first knife

Over the past several weeks I have been making my first knife, which I finished today.

I started off with an old, rusty file that looked like it had been rotting in a ditch for a few years.  Needless to say, it required a lot of grinding to get it to the right size and shape, not helped by the fact that it was already hardened.  My grinder performed well as I breathed new life into the steel.

Shout of thanks to Pa Jerry in Mulberry, USA, for the selection of wood offcuts that I brought home after my last visit to the ranch.  For this knife I decided to keep it simple and just used a single block of cherry wood for the hidden tang design.  The guard and pummel are brass with a black perspex insert for visual effect.

After cutting, drilling, epoxy, assembly, shaping and sanding, I finished it off by polishing the cherry wood handle with beeswax to give it a rich sheen as well as protection for the wood.

The blade is 150mm long (6") x 32mm wide (1.25") and 5mm thick (0.4").  The handle is 110mm long (4.3").

Overall, for my first knife, I am very happy with the result.

Enjoy the photos!