My First Ever Custom Made Knife

[James Combs]

Been a member of SMC for several years now but this is a first post in the "Neanderthal Haven" forum. I wanted to post a custom made knife so did a search of SMC for "knife making" and most of the posts for knives showed up here so I am assuming I have the right forum for this post.

I received an order from a customer friend wanting a custom knife as a gift for a friend of his. After telling him I had never made a knife before and that I would need to practice first, he said, "that's alright, make one for me"!! So here is the practice one. I have named this little knife "Beauty" in anticipation of one I will call "Beast"(see final pic for why). Beast will be the one for his friend.

Knife "blade" info from the blade manufacturer:
The blade is cryogenically processed during the heat treating process for optimal edge holding capabilities. It is:

440C Stainless Steel Satin Finish
Overall length: 7-5/8"
Blade length: 3"
Blade width: 1"
Blade Thickness: 1/8"
Thong Hole
Hardness HRC 57-58

All components are American made

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The bolsters were really rough cut.
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Antler was provided by the customer.
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Fitting the antler "scales" to the blade and drilling/pinning them in place. After every thing is fitted all the components are put together with epoxy.
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The final results after much grinding, sanding and polishing.
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Continued in next post:

[James Combs]

Beauty needed something to sleep in and to rest on. Here is a solid cherry(walnut accents) presentation box for the knife and a little stand to display it when it is not out hunting.

As given to the customer.
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A suggested display in his family room/den or bedroom.
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The presentation box is solid cherry with Walnut accents at the corners(walnut dowels into the corner joints) The reliefs in the lid are for the snap(got it a little shallow...err....ahh I mean I thought I would add a distinctive design feature. ;-).
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The knife sheave is a little darker then I wanted, also a first. I used a light brown stain but apparently too much.
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Let me know what you think.

EDIT: Almost forgot, there is another first for me here as well. Note the logo on the blade.

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Custom knives should have a "Makers Mark" on them so that meant coming up with one and then acquiring stencils of it plus learning the etching process. It is an electro-chimical etch. I have this 16" stainless steel ruler with probably a dozen practice etches on it. "Electro" meant I needed a power supply as well so I modded and old PC power supply for the job and made a stainless steel "wand" to use on the stencil.

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Another Edit:
In re-reading the post later I noticed I forgot to add a pic. This will give you an idea of the "Beast". Picture this as the handle/grip with the blade to the left. Looks beastly as far as I am concerned. This will most like be a hidden tang knife versus the full tang shown above.
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All comments are appreciated.

[Steve Kinnaird]

Very nice.
Thanks for sharing.

[Jerry Thompson]

I have a collection of hand made knives that collected over several years. As near as I can tell your knife is equal to all and better that several. I love drop point knives. I do not care for 440c st but that is a matter of preference. I have to users made from D2 and they hold up well.
I have two Wootz blades by Steve Shwarzer but I have never used them in the field.
If I were still into collection knives I would be asking you about one.
Great work.

[Reinis Kanders]

I like it!

[James Combs]

Steve, Jerry, Reinis, my apologies for the late response to your posts. I was reviewing some of my older posts and noted that I had not responded to your posts in this one. I have this as a similar post on other forums and sometimes I forget which ones I have responded to. :o Just turned 70 and I think there is some sort of 70year switch in my brain that turned off a big chunk of it. :rolleyes: Thanks for posting and for your comments.


Very nice.
Thanks for sharing.


I have a collection of hand made knives that collected over several years. As near as I can tell your knife is equal to all and better that several. I love drop point knives. I do not care for 440c st but that is a matter of preference. I have to users made from D2 and they hold up well.
I have two Wootz blades by Steve Shwarzer but I have never used them in the field.
If I were still into collection knives I would be asking you about one.
Great work.
Jerry, this being my first knife and not knowing much of anything about knives or the metals they are made from I just picked a stainless because I knew it would look good. If I make any more I will do some research on steels before committing to a particular one. This blade was available in D2 and a couple others but again SS looks nice. BTW do you have your collection posted anyplace?


I like it!