Hunting Knife

I'm very proud of this knife. It's by far the most complex knife I've made. Also, this is my first venture away from kitchen knives. I make kitchen knives because I love to cook and bake. However, I wanted to venture outside of my comfort zone a little bit and expand my skills. I mean...that's why we're into making stuff, right? To learn and expand?

The hunter is the bottom one. The top knife is a tanto...and not quite finished. This is right before heat treat.

Selfie!! I put some shine on this one.

Getting the handle ready. There are four 1/8" brass pins, a 5/16" brass tube, and 3/16" brass tube.

All complete. The OA length is a little shy of 8". The blade is 3/16" thick and approx. 4" long. I used an 8" wheel to make the hollow grind. The handle is canary wood.

The canary wood after its first coat of oil. I love the colors and details of this wood. I've only used it on one knife before, and that was a paring knife for my dad. I'm going to reserve this wood for special knives. I don't like that extra dip on the finger cut away...I might reshape that just a bit.

I was using a clamp to hold the blade while I applied shellac to the handle. It slipped from the clamp and landed like this. I'm quite happy that my foot wasn't there. This knife is both heavy and VERY sharp. It would have gone right through my foot. No damage to the knife, just a hole in my crappy shop floor. There's a reason I haven't taken up this floor yet.

I'm very proud of this knife. It was a blast to make. I've got to admit that all day at work today I just wanted to get home so I could finish this thing up. I have another one of the same style in the works. But there's going to be a crazy handle on it...it might take a while though...and I'm not saying anything more about it until it's done.