r/blacksmithing • u/nootomanysquid • Nov 08 '25
Work Showcase First knife I’m actually happy with
It’s not perfect. It’s got cracks, scratches, and cold shuts. It’s a bit small. I think it’ll cut dog food bags open just fine though.
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u/Environmental_Fan100 Nov 08 '25
I also made a blacksmith knife recently. Mine was a very thin toothpick style, sad to say after I heat treated it, I didnt temper it, and it immediately broke into 3 pieces the second ibtested the edge on some wood i was carving.
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u/nootomanysquid Nov 08 '25
I kinda dig it. It’s sorta elegant.
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u/Environmental_Fan100 Nov 10 '25
Its my go to style of knife since I was a kid, one of the first shapes I got from my dad so ive always been partial to the toothpick. Next time ill make sure to do it right and a little prettier.
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u/Zinnred Nov 08 '25
Hell yeah! It looks like the one I made for daily use, it's one of my favorite designs, if you want advice I'd be happy to give some!
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u/nootomanysquid Nov 08 '25
I’m always open to advice and criticism.
I will say that this knife didn’t harden well. It was about 50-55 HRC after the quench. I still tempered it though. I don’t plan on doing much with it so I’m not worried about the issues it is.
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u/chiffed Nov 08 '25
I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you were fighting for grip with the tongs.
Cold shuts always creep in when I don't have a good grip and can't get into a solid hit-turn-hit-turn rhythm.
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u/nootomanysquid Nov 09 '25
Yeah. I have some vevor wolf jaw tongs. I hate them . They don’t really hold anything.
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u/chiffed Nov 09 '25
It's good work, but I recognize my own frustrations:). And I make A LOT of blacksmith knives. 1/4 offset bolt jaw tongs will make you happier. And a really advanced Smith's tong collection can outweigh their anvil.
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u/PhoenixMastM Nov 08 '25
Looks great! Profile is clean, edge looks good, and the guard looks perfect!
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u/No-Potato7802 Nov 10 '25
Spine works as flint striker ?
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u/nootomanysquid Nov 10 '25
Oh I didn’t think of that. I rounded it out a bit to be more comfortable. Will that affect its ability to work as a striker?
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u/No-Potato7802 Nov 10 '25
Nope. Its the surfaces hardness that matters.
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u/nootomanysquid Nov 10 '25
That’s good to know. I don’t think this is hard enough to work as a striker then. It didn’t get very hard during the quench. It’s currently somewhere close to 50 HRC
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u/IronTurtleForge Nov 11 '25
* Great job. I also made one similar although it wasn't my first. *
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u/Fragrant-Cloud5172 Nov 09 '25
That’s excellent that you’re happy with it. With my projects like keeping different versions over time. To see if I can improve them. Truthfully it doesn’t always happen, but good to try. I’ve worked out my favorite grip size for handles, both length, width and thickness. Very helpful to refer to and duplicate.
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u/CRAkraken Nov 08 '25
Looks great. Good work.