I made a head knife.

[battlemunky]

I ordered a Leather Wranglers PERK and it takes a while for them to get to the order so in the meantime I figured I'd take some inspiration from other members here (notable @chuck123wapati) and make my own round/head knife. It's currently curing in the vise and as soon as its done I just need to finish the handle, pretty it up some, and sharpen it. I used an angle grinder and a few sanders to get it where its at. Did my best not to overheat the blade but I did see the tips discolor from heat. I'm hoping to sharpen past that part and hit hardened steel IF I broke temper on it. Anyway, without further ado, here is the state the knife is right now and how it started:

 

[chuck123wapati]

Great start its gonna be a nice knife and a good learning experience. Yup you can sharpen back down to the temper easily if needed just take your time.

[dikman]

Good one, should be a nice blade when finished - and it didn't cost too much! Off-setting the head and handle is an interesting idea. I've made a couple the same way and I've been thinking of making a 1/2 head knife. I don't need it but I like making things.

[battlemunky]

Thanks @dikman! I did the offset based off a few designs where the offset is supposed to allow the different points to attack at different angles and do different cut jobs. This is my first round/head knifey thing so I don't even know what to do with it other than push cuts and roll cuts and some skiving. I've got to learn control, I noticed that during test cuts while sharpening.

I've got it mostly sharpened, which is super tricky compared to a normal knife. I've gotten sharpening dust all over the handle so I hope it'll clean up or else that whole character development part of its life has begun early. 

[RockyAussie]

Looks like it should be a good one. I do think the timber and bottom rivet may be a bit too low for belt sharpening though.

[dikman]

These things are actually quite dangerous to sharpen on a belt grinder! One of mine caught at the point and dug into the aluminium guide wheel on the grinder. It took a small chunk out of the wheel!

[zuludog]

3 hours ago, dikman said:

Good one, should be a nice blade when finished - and it didn't cost too much! Off-setting the head and handle is an interesting idea. I've made a couple the same way and I've been thinking of making a 1/2 head knife. I don't need it but I like making things.

Have a look at YouTube videos by J H Leather. She does most of her work with a 1/2 head knife

I made a Japanese style leather knife from an old plane blade, so that's another possibility......as if you don't have enough to do 

[battlemunky]

10 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

Looks like it should be a good one. I do think the timber and bottom rivet may be a bit too low for belt sharpening though.

What do you mean? I do most of my sharpening with a Lansky sharpener or sandpaper and a mouse pad. I'm interested to understand what you are getting at though, in case I get a belt sharpener and I'm not seeing in my mind how the timber and bottom rivet can get in the way. Help me see, please. When I was profiling the edge on the bench sander, the handle wasn't on and it was still a bit tricky.

[RockyAussie]

For myself not being a hobbyist time is an important part in how I go about doing things. Like most I used to sharpen with stones etc but now days I find I can sharpen very well on the belt sander what is required in a couple of minutes followed up with some Tripoli polish on a rag wheel. As I keep the blade always facing away from the belt rotation I have never had any catching issues as described by dikman thankfully. There are a couple of pictures below to show what I use and what I am saying is that it would be hard to get much of a tapered edge if the handle gets in your way from you doing so. I will also put in a video link that shows why I like to have a broad taper on my knives.

 

Edited August 18, 2020 by RockyAussie

[dikman]

Sharpening knives edge up on a belt grinder is common practice but a head knife is not a normal knife shape! I should have done it edge down, as Brian did. I should have known better. Using a polishing wheel will tend to round off the edge, unlike using a regular strop, however it is quicker to get a sharp edge and when time is important it only takes seconds to touch up the edge.

Zuludog, I had a look at J H Leather's site and she has some good stuff on there. I like that "half-head" knife as you don't have to keep watching where the other point is! I'll make one later, when I finish off all the other jobs I have.