2013 Christma/Winter KITH Final Edit of Rules

Lousy pics again, but here is the small knife. Guard and handle are oversize and will be blended down once its all glued up. I think I am going to use a unidirectional carbon fiber spacer on this one. I set up my mill this weekend, thinking the guards would be a snap, but my 3/8" collet, the only one I needed was not in the box. There was a second 5/8" collet in the 3/8 package. :grumpy: I tried to use the drill chuck but I ruined two guards that way. :grumpy::grumpy::grumpy: I'll redo the large knife guard tomorrow. I wasn't happy with the plunges on this knife, so I reground them. I am back at 400g, and will get the finish sanding done tomorrow, then glue up the handle. The large knife is final sanded and polished. Once the guard is cut, it'll be glued up as well.

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That's a good looking knife Randy.

I just need to hand sand the bevel and clean up the file work a bit and it will be ready to put the handle on. I plan to use a walnut/cherry combination with black paper mycarta liner/spacer.
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Chris

That handle will be very sharp looking!
 
Life is very hectic at the moment over here. But something good is also going on :)
I have coming tuesday off and reserved for working on this one.
I won't enter officially before I am certain that I will have it finished in time, but this is what I have going on for this years KITH:

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You like? :D

Keep us posted as it goes together. Looks good!
 
Zaph! When I scrolled and this pic popped up, I said out loud "oh my gosh" This blade totally blows me away! Love the sleek lines and the Damascus is so clean and defined! Great work! I am hoping to get one of your little forges this X-mas or at least one of your burners!!
 
Wow, thanks. I thinks that the highest praise a non-drinking buddy ever gave one of my knives. I just sent it to Richard J to get it sharpened yesterday, so it will hopefully be back in time. For that matter, my backup for the KITH was in the same box, so if Richard doesn't get them sharpened, I'll have to drop out. Wow, that might not have been a good idea to send both knives. Oh, well! I trust Richard.

Thanks.
 
Zaph, your knife is done. We have the week to get sheaths ready, so don't worry!
 
In the middle of moving my shop, so things have been a bit crazy lately. Finally got some time to work on my KITH knife again this weekend. Should be able to get it done in the next few days... if not, I have a couple completed knives ready as backups.

A little more worried about getting a sheath done in time, though...
 
Sheaths don't have to be anything special. A folded piece of leather with a welt to prevent the blade from cutting the stitching is all that is needed. A knife block or stand is fine as well. I am pretty lousy at sheaths myself, and am learning as I go.
 
I didn´t officialy enter because I was not 100% sure I´d make the deadline.
And I won´t without rushing, so I won´t enter.
I´ll keep the blade and design for the 2014 KITH if there will be one.
Still thnx for running this Willie
 
Sorry to hear that Hengelo. Your blade looked good so far. As far as 2014, I would be willing to do it, but if more experienced makers want to host it seniority wins in my books.

I am nearly finished the small knife, and I have the large knife guard pressed and JB welded on. I have about an hour left on shaping the guard on the small knife (based on previous experience. Silly me, I forgot to drill the pin hole prior to sanding the blade. I did temper the tang back, so I should be able to drill it again, even if I miss the original hole. It would be easy enough to look at the earlier pictures, but I decided that was too close to the guard, so I did another hole a bit farther back, and don't have a pic of it. The handle gets sanded progressively finer with each coat of Danish oil. It is well balanced and feels great in the hand.

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Just got it back from Richard! Richard does a great job of sharpening and finished the tip exactly as I knew I wouldn't be able to. Heading over to one more place to look for rayskin. Still haven't found any that I like. Still working on sheath design, maybe a stand or box.
 
Both of my knives are finished. The handles are still tacky, so I'll get pics up tomorrow. I am very pleased with both, but the larger knife is the nicest knife I have ever made.
 
Zaph, I was at Tandy today, and they had a bunch of nice ray skin. Have you looked at the local Tandy? I like Ostrich skin, and bought a half hide of that, plus a half hide of 8oz veg tanned leather. I'm good for leather for this year AFAICT.
 
Yep, just left Tandy. One piece of Red, but it wasn't the color that I wanted. Trying to get ahold of SPAKnives to see if he still has any left, otherwise I can order some from Wisconsin and still get done in time.
 
It's too bad you are in the states, I could have picked one up and sent it to you. No way would you get it in time from Canada though.
 
Leifjl, quint,zaph, and my two make five complete. Edit: rwn2000 completed his as well. Looks like six completed at this point. Two others were nearly done so maybe they will be posted later today. The only person to post they couldn't complete in time was hengelo.
 
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I'm considering mine finished, unless I find a better piece of stingray skin for the Same. Do we only have two finished knives?

Mine is clamped up, waiting on epoxy to set. Most likely won't be ready until tomorrow :(
 
Mine is clamped up, waiting on epoxy to set. Most likely won't be ready until tomorrow :(


It's traditional for the KITH to be delayed an extra week :) I know I'd love to be able to get the piece of rayskin that I really want to finish it rather than say "Good enough." Perhaps we could extend the knife completion to be the same as the sheath completion date?
 
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