a little somethin'

[Matt22191]

I think this is my sixth or seventh forged blade (maybe fifth?), including one that died in the quench. It's clay quenched 1075 with a mesquite handle and brass guard. (The brass and mesquite came from Todd Hill -- thanks, Todd!) OAL is 15" and the blade is 10". There's a definite but subtle hamon, which I haven't managed to capture in a picture yet. You can just barely catch a glimpse of it in a couple of them if you know how to look.

The balance point is right in front of the choil. I'm calling this a camp knife because that's what it started out to be, though the blade may have gotten a tad thin and narrow to deserve that moniker. My only major complaint with this blade is that -- very obviously -- things went badly wrong as I was trying to etch my mark into the blade. I don't want to talk about that.

[Gene Chapman]

Nice looking knife, I have kept some of my first knives and never regretted it. Now I can write about them and see how I've progressed or regressed

[Doug Lester]

That's the way...uh huh uh hun...I like it...uh huh uh huh

Doug Lester

[toddhill]

That came out great, Matt! I'm liking the choil and the handle. How did you finish the mesquite? Thin is good for knives, imho.

Todd

[Matt22191]

Todd,

I gave your mesquite a few coats of oil, several coats of shellac, and finally a couple coats of acrylic. Then a couple layers of Renny Wax for shine.