Knife Making |
Knife Making |
Jun 28 2012, 09:40 PM
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#1
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Moderator Group: Members Posts: 4,459 Joined: 25-August 09 From: way on up thar Member No.: 6,983 |
Time to learn something new. (I blame Woody for this)
I am going to build a custom knife... and hopefully many more after I get skilled enough. I've learned a lot through the internet and am ready to get started, I'll post my progress. Hopefully I won't screw it up too bad. So far.... I bought a fixed-handle knife blank. The overall length is 7" and the blade length is 3-1/4". It is 1/8" thick. Good steel - 440c with a hardness of 56-58 RC so it should hold an edge really well. This blade style is called "Western Skinner" and will make for a nice fish & bird knife when completed. While I'm waiting for parts... I decided to practice some decorative file-work today. I plan to incorporate something like this on the Skinner. This is a vine pattern that I practiced today on a piece of leaf-spring metal that Woody gave me (also 1/8" thick). I used several different needle-files to do this work. I'm ready to try it on the real thing. -------------------- /l ,[____], l---L-OlllllllO- ()_) ()_)--o-)_) BLACK SANDS MATTER! Very Happy CP Lifetime Member CP CORE TEAM Referral Code CE213 |
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Jul 8 2012, 08:54 AM
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#2
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Moderator Group: Members Posts: 4,459 Joined: 25-August 09 From: way on up thar Member No.: 6,983 |
Thanks! I'm hoping that maybe some other folk here might want to try it. Many of us are very outdoorsy and crafty and I think it fits well. You and Dan would be naturals at it, try! It's not really hard to make a basic functional knife and it's a lot of fun. Don't "need" a bunch of tools or money either... heck, the early settlers and cowpoke made some excellent knives back in the day without a fraction of the tool resources or electricity that we now have. The build I'm working on here is going to end up costing me less than $30 total.. and that's only because I had to buy the steel and wood.... and added the vine-pattern which will require purchasing epoxy pigment. I won the "Western Skinner" knife blank on eBay for $6.51 (such a deal for heat-treated 440C!!!), and (also on eBay) purchased the handle slabs (scales) for about $10. I spent a couple of bucks on the right sized brass rods for the handle scales... which I can also use on future builds. I'd like to make some nice kitchen knives at some point too.
For now, I won't be able to update progress much until later in the week. I may add another (smaller) brass rivet to the handle near the ricasso area for more durability and I'll post that if I do it. I have to order some black pigment that is compatible with the filler I will be using for the vine-pattern (which I hand-filed into the top of the tang). This will be one of the final steps of my knife before finishing but I have to wait for the pigment to get here. -------------------- /l ,[____], l---L-OlllllllO- ()_) ()_)--o-)_) BLACK SANDS MATTER! Very Happy CP Lifetime Member CP CORE TEAM Referral Code CE213 |
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Jul 8 2012, 02:18 PM
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#3
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Moderator Group: Members Posts: 4,459 Joined: 25-August 09 From: way on up thar Member No.: 6,983 |
I may add another (smaller) brass rivet to the handle near the ricasso area for more durability and I'll post that if I do it. Drilling to add another rivet to this part of the handle. I done broke the wood! On both sides of the knife. Not to worry... this was a weak point in my handle design and needed to be addressed. My solution was to put a small peened rivet there. I'm glad I finally screwed something up with this build, it was going waaaay too smooth. Can't say I didn't see this coming. I have a plan. -------------------- /l ,[____], l---L-OlllllllO- ()_) ()_)--o-)_) BLACK SANDS MATTER! Very Happy CP Lifetime Member CP CORE TEAM Referral Code CE213 |
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Jul 8 2012, 07:08 PM
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#4
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Moderator Group: Members Posts: 4,459 Joined: 25-August 09 From: way on up thar Member No.: 6,983 |
I have a plan. The plan didn't work out so I removed the handle and will make a new one. No biggie, I like the practice! This time I'm not going to buy exotic wood. That stuff was strange to work with. It was hard, but kind of brittle. Not pleasant to breathe when sanding it either. I'm going to use my own wood this time, which the knife is sitting on here.... good ol Maple and it won't cost me a dime. -------------------- /l ,[____], l---L-OlllllllO- ()_) ()_)--o-)_) BLACK SANDS MATTER! Very Happy CP Lifetime Member CP CORE TEAM Referral Code CE213 |
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