Building myself a new knife.

[Rippy]

It was a busy week at work and I wasn't "feeling it" till today. I got coffee'd up a started buffing the blade. It is not my favorite thing. In fact it's probably my least favorite thing on a knife project. My knives are split about 50/50 between mirror finished and satin finished. A good satin finish takes about as long. the problem with mirror finishing is that some scratches don't show up till you polish for a while. Then it's back to the sander to sand some more with a real fine belt. Anyway, here it is after polishing the blade area. The flash showed up on the hollow grind area making the blade look two tone. It's not.

Next up is pinning the finger guard material to the blade. It will be silver soldered as well. The silver solder fills any gaps between the guard and the blade and prevents any moisture from entering the handle from the blade end. This prevents corrosion from starting in places you can't get to to clean.

Here is my soldering iron setup. I made a aluminum forked attachment for soldering finger guards. I used to use a torch but this heats more evenly.

The blade has been masked off with duct tape to keep the solder flux (acid) from etching the newly polished blade. I use a low temp (430*F) silver solder to prevent over heating the blade and changing the temper.

After soldering I will have to neutralize the flux with hot soapy water. Next up will be rough shaping the finger guard prior to gluing the handle together. Later folks.

 

[Rippy]

I cleaned up the solder joint and then rough sanded the finger guard to shape. I will sand it with the wood together to finish it.

Here it is glued up with 30 min epoxy. The glue jig insures that I have a tight gap less handle. I also use this jig to hold all the pieces up against the finger guard when I drill the thong tube hole. There is a greased 1/4" rod stuck through the thong tube hole to make sure the holes in the wood and steel line up when the glue is dry. It will sit over night now before I continue.

 

[memaquay]

That's some pretty fascinating stuff! I've sometimes thought about knife making, but after seeing the skill it takes, and the precision, I can see that my "good enough" school of making things wouldn't translate into a usable knife. Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[Rippy]

That's some pretty fascinating stuff! I've sometimes thought about knife making, but after seeing the skill it takes, and the precision, I can see that my "good enough" school of making things wouldn't translate into a usable knife. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Nonsense Mem. I won't show people the first knife I made from scratch I'm so embarrassed by it. But it did cut fine and I'm sure your's would too. It is a rewarding way to pass some time in the winter. Hand made knives make great gifts for special occasions too. Lots of ways you can go about it. This is just one way of knife making.

 

[stripperguy]

Rippy,

The knife is looking great, and your thumb is looking....uhmmm, the same!! At least it doesn't look worse!
I can see you've been doing this for a while, with all the specialized and refined tooling and fixtures.

 

[Rippy]

Well I got some more work done tonight. Sawed it out but it still looks a little blocky doesn't it. I have duct tape on the blade yet. I'll remove it when the handle is done.

Next I knocked some excess wood off with a coarse belt against the 8" diameter contact wheel.

Then I changed to a 3" contact wheel on the sander for some slack belt sanding with a coarse 1" belt.

I just roll it against the belt to get the desired shape.

Here I'm grinding against the 3" wheel to get some radius in the pinky area.

A little more slack belt grinding against a 220 grit belt.

A little off the butt.

Almost done with the knife build. At this point I will let the wood settle for a few days before finishing it. Even with well seasoned wood when you remove this much exterior wood it's a good Idea to let the newly exposed wood sit in case it would shrink a little. Before finishing I will ad a piece of 1/4" nickle silver tube in the thong tube hole. See you all later, I'm going to check on the stripper build threads. Dave

 

[Rippy]

Also, I decided that being Oldie Moldy did such a good job on his knife sheath tutorial I don't want to suffer by comparison. So I won't boar you with my substandard leather leather work. I may include one pic of the knife in the sheath. Later and thank you all for putting up with knife work on a canoe website. Dave

 

[memaquay]

Very nice! Do you oil the handle when it is done, or just leave it dry?

 

[Rippy]

Very nice! Do you oil the handle when it is done, or just leave it dry?

I will sand it to 600 grit then buff it on a lose buffing wheel. It will sort of glaise the wood to seal it. I will also wax it with Renaissance wax periodically.

 

[oldie moldy]

Wow Dave, reading and then re-reading this thread I'm really impressed watching a craftsman at work. The whole science of how to work metals is something I've never experienced before. It's been a privilege to look over your shoulder.

I remember reading how important the village blacksmith was to the medieval village; his forge was one of the linchpins of the economic structure. Without him there wouldn't have been an 'iron age'. The villagers held him in respect second only to the local priest. I can imagine the wonder and awe from the on lookers, as a glowing lump of pig iron was worked into some tool vital to the harvest. I feel much the same wonder watching your work here. Thanks for sharing!

Best Wishes, Rob

 

[Rippy]

Rob, Thanks for the kind words. The villagers around here think I'm bat crap crazy. They may be right. Dave

 

[oldie moldy]

Well Dave, by their lights you probably are bat-crap crazy, but it's my kind of crazy too. You get a knife in each hand and I'll get my axe and back to back we'll bugger the lot of them!

No, I doubt it'll ever come to that; it's just a self-inflicted wound that this modern world suffers from. They don't use tools, don't know how, ignorant of craftsmanship and very disparaging of the working man. And the working man, when summoned to repair something for them, does he ever return the favor. The repair bill, when presented will have items on it that haven't been invented yet.

And so it goes....

Rob

P.S. Did you ever wonder where all this talk about "bat crap crazy" and "crazy as a crap house rat" and so on, come from? In my limited experience animals are too busy earning a living to act crazy; that seems to be a field unique to humans.

 

[memaquay]

From the online "urban Dictionary"
batshit crazy
A person who is batshit crazy is certifiably nuts. The phrase has origins in the old fashioned term "bats in the belfry." Old churches had a structure at the top called a belfry, which housed the bells. Bats are extremely sensitive to sound and would never inhabit a belfry of an active church where the bell was rung frequently. Occasionally, when a church was abandoned and many years passed without the bell being rung, bats would eventually come and inhabit the belfry. So, when somebody said that an individual had "bats in the belfry" it meant that there was "nothing going on upstairs" (as in that person's brain). To be BATSHIT CRAZY is to take this even a step further. A person who is batshit crazy is so nuts that not only is their belfry full of bats, but so many bats have been there for so long that the belfry is coated in batshit. Hence, the craziest of crazy people are BATSHIT CRAZY.
Dude that guy on the corner wears a tinfoil hat and ripped all the wires out of his house so the government couldn't listen to his thoughts.

Really?

Yeah, he's batshit crazy.

 

[Rippy]

Well Mem, when you put it that way there may be hope for me yet. I still have all my house wiring and I quit wearing my tin foil hat cause it felt cold on my bald spot.

 

[canoencowboy]

i quit wearing my tin foil hat cause it felt cold on my bald spot.

haaahaaahaaa!

 

[Rippy]

Very nice! Do you oil the handle when it is done, or just leave it dry?

Thanks Mem. Ever since you posted this I've been second guessing myself on this. On Curly Maple I use a 50/50 mix of boiled linseed oil and gum turpentine. Apply several light coats letting dry between coats and then when it don't want to take much more I buff it and wax it. Normally with Black Ebony I just buff and wax. But thanks to you now I got to put on twenty hundred light coats of oil, let dry, then buff and wax. See you in about a week.

PS Sneaky Canadians, I'm sure that's what you had in mind when you posted it. Well there,,,,you've played me like a fiddle.

PSS Two can play this game you know. I'll see you over on your build thread.

 

[memaquay]

You better warm up your tinfoil hat and put it back on, I ain't smart enough to play anyone's fiddle! Got to go to the dump now, that's my intellectual stimulus for the day!

 

[Rippy]

Might be just getting bored watching oil dry on my knife handle. Or cabin fever or both.

 

[Rippy]

I ain't smart enough to play anyone's fiddle! Got to go to the dump now, that's my intellectual stimulus for the day!

Ya, like we say about sneaky people in my neck of the woods, "dumb like a fox".

 

[stripperguy]

Rippy,

Where's the new photos?! Don't tell me you're lounging around watching Olympic ice dancing! C'mon, I need to see how that thing is turning out...