Turkish damascus bowie, extensive WIP

[A C Richards]

This is really cool. You have me slapping my forehead, oh what a headache. Your process just makes sense. GREAT WORK.

[Manuel Quiroga G.]

Thank you guys.
Yes Mariano, I will use the hole in the collar as a guide to make the hole in the scales, and then pass the pins through all 3, guard, collar and scales. Of course guard and scales have blind holes...

[Manuel Quiroga G.]

Hi to all.
This last stages always seem to take more time and achieve less.

Today I went to the surface grinder with the frame, and left it with 5,40 mm, same as the recasso.



I super glued the paper drawing, and then in the grinder took it to the final shape




Then I did the collar.
First I copy the guard shape



And then scribed a line to use as guide to make the collar evenly smaller than the guard, in the sides.





After grinding that difference it looked like this



The I marked the collar to make it coincide with the recasso.




The I set the support of the grinder to an angle 3º less than 90, or bigger, depending on how you look at it.





Then I prepared the german silver spacers






More tomorrow, thanks for looking

[Bill Behnke]

Manuel, I have a question about your twisting fixture. How are the bars held in place? Is there a screw to lock them in or do they rest in the holders?

Really enjoying this WIP. Thanks, Bill

[Manuel Quiroga G.]

Bill, they rest in the holders, that are made to fix tight. I make them interchangeable so it can be use for different sizes of bars. But so far I always used the 10 mm size.
And the spring in the handle side also helps.

[Manuel Quiroga G.]

A few drops of super glue





Checking that everythings is perpendicular









Superglue to the bond collar and scales, tighten with the brand new fix I learned from John White's WIP yesterday (isn't internet great?? Thank you John for that tip!)



Making the hole in the scale



Checking...



This is a useful resource, I apply epoxi to the back of the handle, and add a nut. The epoxi will hold the nut in place which will let me grab it to the filling clamp I will use later on, and will also keep the scales from opening up while grinding them down.






That is it for today, thanks for looking

[Wulf]

I'm really enjoying seeing this come together. Thanks again for taking the time to put together such a detailed WIP

[John White]

Manuel,

You're welcome!

This one's looking good. Love the oval shape of the frame handle, and some nice mammoth.

John

[The Virginian]

I love this thread. So educational!

That knife ain't bad either.

[Manuel Quiroga G.]

Good evening friends,
It is a risk to make this WIPs in real time, not doubt about it... Many things can go wrong, and sometimes they do.
The mammoth scales didn't make it, those little bastards start bending, to the point I had to discard them, maybe the where not fully dried out...
I didn't have a mammoth replacement so I chose to finish it with a piece of hardwood.
Supposedly it's urunday, but I don't see it similar to the pictures I've seen of other pieces of it, either way it's really nice looking, and REALLY hard, a real pleasure to work with.

I wanted to be sure not to mess it up this time, so I waited until I was sure every thing was OK, and I think now everything is.








(Super glue there...)



This part is all similar to the first ones, so not much to see show here...



Debonder





This time I did everything buy hand, didn't want the heat to mess anything up











(that is a safe file as backing for the sandpaper)









Fileworking the spacers, first time I do that by the way





Pretty happy with the result though







And finally finishing the guard



Tomorrow is etching day...

[RogerP]

Bummer about the ivory, but I think the wood will look great.

Roger

[The Virginian]

Waiting for the next update . . .

I need a fix!

[Manuel Quiroga G.]

Hi, I finally finished this one today, I'm really happy with the end result.
First I have the last pictures of the progress:

This was just before etching:



(I'm one step from trying a take down... )

Nail polish





Etching



Heating up the manganese phosphate



The blade, after a deep etch I made the parkerizing



That is how it came out, the shiny parts where not very covered this time...



Removing the parkerizing from the "whites" with a 2000 grit sandpaper glued to a little piece of steel.



Same with the clip



Then I did the guard, collar and frame





After sanding the frame, the handle looked like this



Epoxing the guard to the blade



And then epoxi the whole piece



Next day...



(that was again a 2000 grit)











Oil for the wood



After that I did some light buffing and the knife was ready for the final pictures:

[RogerP]

Just stunning - bravo Manuel!

Roger

[peterinct]

EXCEPTIONAL damascus Manuel! The end result looks GREAT!

This has been fun following the progress.

Peter

[Wulf]

I love the pattern in the frame. Very striking!

[Manuel Quiroga G.]

Thank you guys!

[Rodrigo Sfreddo]

Great work Manuel! I'm really impressed how fast you're improving! All the work was very well made, thank's for sharing your experience with us.

Un gran abrazo hermano!

[Manuel Quiroga G.]

Thank you Rodrigo!
Your words mean a lot to me.

Un abrazo!!

[SpyderPhreak]

That turned out just stunning!!! This was an amazing WIP write-up you did. Thank you for sharing with us! What a beauty!!!

BRAVO!!!