Knife project

[Odyssey]

Oh, I know where Ohio is. If I portage my canoe down my street, put in on the river and take that south to Lake Erie, I only have to follow the shoreline till I get to Long Point Ont., and cross at this narrower spot to Pa. ( I could stop at Erie. I hear there's good shopping there.) Just a few more miles down shore and I'd be at Cleveland's Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame!! I think I'd pitch my tarp right on the beach.
What the heck, I might as well keep going to Iowa. How much further can it be? My second day might be a tad long, paddling all the way to Chicago. Might just get windbound, and take a layover day off. It is the windy city, right? And then there's all those Italian beef sandwiches, pizzas, hot dogs and beer. Next I'd paddle up the Illinois as far as Peoria. After that, there's a helluva carry from Peoria to ...where was I going?

 

[Rippy]

Make you a deal Brad. You leave home right now in your car you can be here tomorrow morning. Polish up Stabby while I'm at work and I will assemble the handle when I get home. See you tomorrow evening. Dave

 

[Odyssey]

Make you a deal Brad. You leave home right now in your car you can be here tomorrow morning. Polish up Stabby while I'm at work and I will assemble the handle when I get home. See you tomorrow evening. Dave

Oh, I see. I do all the hard stuff, and you get to assemble it. lol
No worries Dave. Take some time off from the shop duties. We'll all catch up on this project when we can all slack off together.
Keep Stabby safe until then.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

After reading all this razz a ma tazz about battoning I thought I might try it with Stabby when he's done just for kicks. Might be the only thing he's good for besides stabbing.

You can baton with any knife, I suppose, and Stabby is certainly long enough. What's the spine thickness? People seem to prefer batoning blades to be in the range of 3.8 to 6.5 mm. That long swedge on the front wouldn't be baton friendly because you strike the baton mostly on the blade tip.

I was afraid I was boring every body.

Not at all. I think Stabby pricked knife interest here and batoned up some of the other knife threads. I know it sliced open my dormant interest in getting a fixed blade. Several of us have now bought new knives as a result of these threads. And they've all been educational.

So, no, you haven't bored us. But you have helped bankrupt us.

 

[Rippy]

Oh, I see. I do all the hard stuff, and you get to assemble it.

That was my plan Brad, it sounds like it fell through.

 

[Rippy]

You can baton with any knife, I suppose, and Stabby is certainly long enough. What's the spine thickness? People seem to prefer batoning blades to be in the range of 3.8 to 6.5 mm. That long swedge on the front wouldn't be baton friendly because you strike the baton mostly on the blade tip.

So, no, you haven't bored us. But you have helped bankrupt us.

Glenn Stabby's spine is 3/16" or about 4.75 mm for those using the commy metric system (just kidding). IMO knife design seems to always involve priorities and compromises. The ultimate battoning knife would probably be a pain in the arse for any other chores. Stabby was designed first and foremost to look stabby to satisfy some emotional need I had at the time. I did not want to stab anyone, I just wanted a cool stabby looking knife. I really don't believe this design is optimal for much anything. After I started building it I decided that just for fun I would use it some on trips when it was done. If I were to build what I thought was the most usable functional knife compromise it would be a drop point blade design about 3 3/4" -4" long with a 5/32" spine (about 3.9624 mm comrade). IMO that would cover most knife tasks that I would do. I haven't watched any battoning vids yet but I assume that you are striking the blade with a piece of wood to drive it through another piece of wood. The squaw wood I collect to burn is seldom more than 3" thick (7.62 cm). As far as the tip goes you are right about it not being batton friendly, but I'll burn the batton when I'm done anyway.

I think that many knife purchases are more emotionally driven then we realize. Glad I could help spur the economy. Dave

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

commy

Stabby was designed first and foremost to look stabby to satisfy some emotional need I had at the time.

comrade

I think that many knife purchases are more emotionally driven then we realize.

The knife market segment for defensive, fighting and "tactical" knives is huge. As far as I can figure out, most of this boils down to a stabbing knife to dispatch commies and other bad guys. You will know if you fall into this segment if, whenever you go out to use your new knife, you dress in all-black Nomex clothing, Kevlar body armor and night vision goggles.

I agree knife buying (or making) is largely driven by emotional factors, especially when one already has enough knives to do 95+% of the cutting tasks one will realistically encounter. I think emotional buying (or making) with regard to hobbies is very rational and satisfying, as long as you have the money or time to do so and are not compromising something else. I've spent more than 100 hours this past month researching, watching and intellectualizing about different types of knives and their specifications. I've decided that there are numerous mid-sized fixed blade knives that can meet my actual real world needs, which are modest, so I will simply buy knife that most appeals to me aesthetically and emotionally.

 

[memaquay]

Yes, I'm done with the knife market, I'm stuck on guns now.

 

[Rippy]

I hope you're happy Brad the slave driver. I put in some time on Stabby tonight sanding out scratches. I got the hollow grind sanded down to a 900 grit finish. Got to do the flat surfaces yet before power buffing it.

 

[Odyssey]

I hope you're happy Brad the slave driver. I put in some time on Stabby tonight sanding out scratches. I got the hollow grind sanded down to a 900 grit finish. Got to do the flat surfaces yet before power buffing it.

1) I'm pretty sure those scratches were already there. I didn't touch anything. Honest. I'm good at remembering stuff.
2) I drove like an idiot all night just to get there in time for my polishing chores. It was a long drive. I think I polished the wrong Stabby. You left it in the cutlery drawer in the kitchen, right? If not, make my apologies to your boss. You can just make her a new steak knife for the next project. Actually, you'll want to make a whole set of them, so they all match. She'd like that.
3) a) I backed in the wrong driveway at first. I may have knocked over your neighbour's mail box. How are you at making mailboxes?
b) Dave Dave Dave. Sheesh. leaving the backdoor key under the mat was helpful, so I could get in, but that isn't a very original hiding place for it, now is it? I left the backdoor key in a pair of boots outside the backdoor. In the left boot to be exact. Now that's a smart hiding place. No-one will think of looking there.
4) You're all out of coffee. Did I mention it was a long drive?
5) I don't recognize this scarf I came home with, but I like it. Can I keep it? Smells like...Chanel No. 5?
6) I'm kinda tired. I'll let you finish the rest of the Stabby project. It was a long drive.
7) It was Idaho, right? Or did I have the wrong Ohio?


ps I just found a key in my boot. Where the heck did that come from?

 

[Rippy]

Brad just keep the scarf and give it to one of your tree nymphs on your next outing. Must have been at the wrong Ohio cause we don't have mail boxs. Got to pick it all up at the post office. Sorry I was out of coffee I'll be better prepared next time. Dave

 

[Rippy]

Last night I finished finish sanding Stabby Joe on the knife sander. For some reason yesterday I gave Stabby a middle name. I didn't plan it, it just rolled off my tongue and I liked the sound of it. I didn't ask Stabby if he liked it, he doesn't get a vote. I'm the boss of him. I don't want you all to get the wrong idea that I talk to Stabby, that would be a silly thing to do before he's done. Brad, I got some more coffee, come on back and look over my shoulder. I don't mind, just don't blow in my ear, it distracts me.

Quick recap. Prior to heat treating I had done all the shaping to the blade in the annealed (soft) state. After rough sawing the blade, using my knife sander I sanded the profile to desired finished shape. Next I concave ground the bevels with a 60 grit belt. When close to depth I used progressively finer belts to refine the surface finish till I got to a 240 grit finish. After trial fitting the handle pieces the blade was ready to be heat treated.

After heat treating the blade surface needs further refinement before polishing. You might ask "why didn't you do that while the steel was soft". I'll tell you why, I have to take off a micro thin skin layer and a small amount of scale that happened during the heat treat process, and 240 works good for that. Sanding tip. When sanding with fine paper or belts frequently blow out the sanding media with compressed air to keep it cutting. I keep an air hose on my lap and blow off the belt every few seconds. So starting with a 240 grit belt I worked my way finer till I finished with a dull 3M brand 9 micron microfinishing belt (= to about 900 grit if I remember correctly). At that point a sharp belt will leave a satin finish and a dull belt will start to shine the metal to where it will reflect. Next comes power buffing to a mirror finish. Hopefully I'll get that done today. After that it is smooth sledding all the way down the hill.

Power sanding had already been covered earlier in the thread. I will take more pictures of the next steps on to the end of the project.

Got to get back to work. Brad is breathing down my neck again. It's probably a good thing or I would never get anything done. That's what friends are for. Dave

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Two names: Billy Bob, Emmy Lou, Stabby Joe. Y'all got a Southern knife there.

I can't recall in this avalanche of knife postings, but are you putting a convex edge on SJ? I understand that's relatively easy with a belt sander.

 

[Rippy]

I can't recall in this avalanche of knife postings, but are you putting a convex edge on SJ? I understand that's relatively easy with a belt sander.

Stabby Joe has a concave grind and will have a slightly convex edge. Both convex grinds and edges can be easily achieved using the "slack belt" area on a sander. SJ's edge will be made even more convex when I buff it to razor sharpness. When one of my knives gets slightly dull I touch it up on the buffer. I seldom have to go to the sander first. Some times this edge profile is likened to a apple seed shape. Davy Ray

 

[memaquay]

Sincerely,

Billy Bob

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Sincerely,

Billy Bob

Those people aren't Southern. They have teeth.

 

[Rippy]

Power sanding had already been covered earlier in the thread. I will take more pictures of the next steps on to the end of the project.

Sorry Billy Mem, I know that it's been picture challenged lately. I'm working on it. Is there anything in particular up to now that you want to see? Davy Ray Bob Stabbyson

 

[memaquay]

Well, I'm pretty stupid, can't read instruction manuals, but I like picture books me. But I need the words to be kind of "Cat in the Hat-ish". What was that thing you said about using a buffer to re-sharpen? That sounds pretty cool.

 

[Rippy]

No Title

Well, I'm pretty stupid, can't read instruction manuals, but I like picture books me. But I need the words to be kind of "Cat in the Hat-ish". What was that thing you said about using a buffer to re-sharpen? That sounds pretty cool.

Hey, hey, hey,,, it's a very good day! It's a good day for a sharp knife,,, eh!
Buff and buff, the steel is tough, but a dull knife makes Dave so gruff,,,, so buff, buff, buff till it's enough.

Is it sharp? Will it shave? LOOK AT THAT!!! IT SHAVES A DAVE!!!

 

[Rippy]

No Daves were injured in making the above post. Buffers are dangerous till you are used to them. Then they are still dangerous. You have to buff "off" of the edge or it will grab and throw the object you are buffing. Mine is a 1 1/2 HP 3600rpm machine. With a 8" wheel the surface speed is approximately 90 MPH.

The wheel I use for sharpening is a spiral sewn buff which acts harder and catches edges less. I also use it for rough polishing. On the other end of the buffer is a loose buff for finishing that I have a lot of respect for. Speaking of buffing I should get back to work. Dave