Fun little practice project

I've been keeping an eye out for inexpensive (if not downright cheap) knives to practice on. I figure if it's cheap enough it won't matter if I mess it up because it'll have been worth the small cost for the practice.

Cabelas had a Winchester Commemerative knife for only $5 on a pre-Christmas sale so I figured it would do the trick.

I tried a couple of things on the shading on the front. Fine lines following the contours I like, but trying to do it with the same (Lindsay Universal) graver didn't work out for me - could not keep the lines fine enough. Ah well, that's why it's practice.

On the back side I wisely switched to a proper shading graver. In this case, the 70 degree 'Phill Coggan' point. Great fine lines with it. I also switched shading styles to more of a line-art style where all the lines are (theoretically) parallel.

If you want to see more, there's a gallery on my site here

Cool Steve.

I have had pretty good luck at a flea market I like to ride my motorcycle to in the warmer weather. I have gotten some pretty nice knives such as a Buck 110 for $10, an old Case 10 dot for $5, a Kershaw for $5. I have the same philosophy....for what they cost, if I mess them up it's not a big deal.

For a bit more money, I have done pretty well at small Knife shows put on by NCCA (Northeast Cutlery Collectors Assoc). For $60 I picked up a really nice vintage Gerber with beautiful black pearl scales, another vintage Gerber with nice wood scales and a nice vintage pearl Bear MGC lockback for $30.

Now I need to work on my design and drawing skills so I can engrave them.

Peter

neat looking. Nice Job!

Winston