Okay okay I know this is pretty rough. Most peoples first knife looks a lot better than this but it is still my first knife and means so much to me.
I didn't really do any research on my first knife other than I think one video from Walter Sorrells on how to make a fixed blade knife. I watched the video and ran with it. This "finished" knife is made from an old chop saw blade for the steel, aluminum pins and Russian olive wood handle.
Why make a knife?
When I was 13 years old, I was in a gear shop and saw a knife very similar to the one pictured above. this was one of the first knives that really caught my eye and made me stop to check it out. I had no idea why I liked it so much. All I remember was that I stood there thinking how great a fixed blade knife would be while hunting and camping because it is so much more reliable than a folder, ( I had just had a folder fall apart on me during a 250 mile bike tour in Southern Utah.
I don't remember the price of this knife but I think it was around $300. I started thinking to myself, 'you know, I cant afford this but I bet I could make it', that was the line that started it all. I went home and began cutting away at one of my dads old saw blades with a side grinder and a dinky old 3x12" belt sander... I know, I know laugh all you want but hey it was more about the process for me than the finished product.
The Process
When I made my first knife and even my first 10 knives or so, I never planned to sell them so I unfortunately didn't record much of the process at all. As I moved along though and began making blades for my friends, I start taking pictures and really focusing on what I was doing.
Ill show as many of my early photos as I can.
On my first knife, I was cutting out the rough shape and hit the point of heat treating. Heat treating is a very tricky process if you don't have the right stuff. I eventually got it hardened but not without melting a plastic bin with hot oil, melting a leaf blower that was too close to my fire, digging a huge hole in my parents backyard for a coal fire and burning down most of the surrounding dead grass and fence... it was bad.
A 'finished' knife?
After a lot of trial and error I reached the final product witch is what you see here. now I know this looks [pretty bad but when I finished this blade I knew I had a long ways to go but the important thing to me was that I knew I found a hobby.
Making this blade wasn't about the product I had in the end, it was about spending time outside learning and growing to better myself at this craft. after I made this knife, I immediately got to work on the next one. non of these where very good at all but I kept at it and made sure each knife was better than the last until, 9 years later, I ended up with the knives I have today.
Although I take so much pride in the final products I make and sell, it is still all about the process of working with my hands to create something unique and special. The growth I have found from this hobby is so much more valuable to me than the money I get from selling these blades. I strive to continue making knives and making sure that I leave each one better than the last.
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