3 similar blades WIP ***Now including KITH updates***

So I am still waiting to get the first two blades back and to get the handle block for the last knife, but just so people don't think I pulled out and stopped in the middle of a WIP:p
This is where I was just before sending the first two out for HT

DSC02634.jpg


DSC02635.jpg


The blood wood handle feels OK in hand, but I would like it to have a bit more drop in the back so I will either file in some slight finger grooves or when I start working on the wrought iron pommel I will make it some what over sized towards the bottom and sculpt it there so it will look like a bit of an extreme spaced sub hilt.

Yes those are worm holes in the Apple handle, but they are solidly in there and are not flaking out. When I first cut out the rough shape of the handle I noticed the worm hole so I started loading it up with crazy glue. I ended up putting a complete tube into it before it stopped soaking it up. I really liked the look of this wood and I figured if I didn't like the way it looked I could just find something else, but I had to try saving it first. I still like the way it looks and natures imperfections suit what I see as the knifes personality. I tested the glue repair by trying to dig into the spots with a awl and could not make any sort of significant dent in it so for now it is staying and I have till I glue it up to change my mind if needed
 
Samael said:
I'm really just jumping in here to subscribe to this thread, but you know I cut that bloodwood for you with a handsaw, right? Quit yer moaning.

Looking good, George. I look forward to seeing more.
Click to expand...

So that must have been a real SOB to cut with a hand saw:eek: To date it has been the densest wood I have come up against.
 
Unless my brain's addled from booze (always a possibility), that apple wood was stabilized. Shouldn't have been too unstable.
 
unky_gumbi said:
So that must have been a real SOB to cut with a hand saw:eek: To date it has been the densest wood I have come up against.
Click to expand...

Things that are worse: Ebony, lignum vitae, ironwood. As I said to you a long time ago, it's just a nice, really dense, really stable hardwood. As in hard wood. It's popular for flooring. Now you know why.
 
Yes the Apple is stabilized, and I didn't even notice the worm hole till after I rough cut the handle shape. It was very porous, but there were no gaps in the sawdust. The crazy glue was just a preventative measure. Another note on cutting the apple, even though it is stabilized, it didn't have that nasty chemical scent that every other stabilized wood I have handled did. I still had the nice sweet smell of apple.
 
That reminds me of an ongoing conversation I've been having with Mark "It's a Burl" Farley. Every type of wood has such a distinctive smell that you can often tell what kind of wood it is just from the smell. He's been known to send me scraps and ask me to identify them by the smell. (Which doesn't always work that well, but it's a fun game to play anyway.)
 
I can tell some woods by smell, but not many. I can't remember who did it, I think Rowan Atkinson, but there was a comedy skit where a guy was identifying wood by its sent and another guy was doing all he could to mess it up.
 
So here's the latest update on this WIP. I sent the first two out on August 8th for HT, in the course of 7 hours they moved from here in Iroquois Ontario to Brockville Ontario, 30 miles west of here. If that wasn't an extended period of time for that short first leg, it then took 8 days to go from Brockville to Mississauga Ontario a mere 225 miles further west. After that it took another 5 days to travel the longest leg of the trip 2040 miles arriving at its destination late in the afternoon on the 22nd. Naturally this time of year I can see Rob at Knifemaker.ca being busy with more people needing his services trying to make up lost ground during the summer, so I figured a week or so would be reasonable for them to get to my order, and I was right. The blades are on their way back now, 7 days after they arrived at their destination. Now I have to wait for Canada Post to get them back to me. The notice I got said the expected delivery date would be the 7th of September, that is almost a full month from the day they left here:grumpy: I honestly think I could have hitchhiked there and back in the same amount of time and that is if the parcel arrives on the expected date, and I figure it will take longer then that if the trip there was any indication. I don't expect to see them back here before the 12th or 13th. Needless to say I think Canada Post just lost a parcel customer and I will be switching over to UPS, Fedex, or Puralator from now on or until I start doing my own HT. The worst part is I will be sending Rob more blades and making a belt/steel order before my first two get back.

I also still haven't received the handle block I ordered from Its A Burl about the same time as the knifes were shipped out. All I know is that it left the sort facility on the it 9th, I was expecting that one to take a bit of time, but this is starting to push it. I can't even track it because all I get is the date it left and nothing more, no sign of it anywhere in either tracking system.

Can you tell I am getting a little stir crazy waiting on this stuff to arrive? Its a good thing I don't rely on turning over knives to make a living:eek:
 
Sorry to hear about that... unfortunately both CP AND the borders seem against us when it comes to getting things in a timely manner. Not to mention how much more our shipping costs are compared to a friends to the south... I feel your pain!
 
The cross border shopping is always slower, but the shipping times on this side of the border is because I moved to a small town and I really think Canada Post dropped the ball in Brockville, 8 days to go 4 hours away:confused:
 
That really sucks. But if it makes you feel any better, the Postal Service here in America seems to be doing its level best to become equally as incompetent.
 
Well Sam I have 2 packages inbound from south of the border, the block of wood from Mark, and my stencils from Ernie. The stencils were ordered last week and the block of wood was shipped on the 9th, lets see what gets here first:p and will they beat the blades:eek:
 
Well if we are throwing up predictions.... you will get your wood first, stencils second and blades 3 days later :D
 
I am kind of hoping that the block gets here tomorrow, but I am not going to hold my breath. If the block gets here a couple of days before the blades I can get it all rough shaped in and send the last of the Bowies out for HT, no I do not think they are going by Canada Post. I may give it one more try, but I will mail from Brockville if I do. I am hoping to get my check before Mark's 3 day sale is over so I can get some wood ordered up so it is here before my next project, I will also be ordering a bit of steel and some more belts so everything comes together at once, and if I am lucky it will be just as I finish up whats sitting on my bench right now.
 
Well it looks like you didn't get the trifecta because the stencils came in yesterday, the block of wood is still in hiding, and according to Canada Post, the blades are resting up in Ottawa to make that last 45 minutes of their trip back to me. I should see the blades around next Friday:p.

Now that the Kith has started, I need to decide whether or not to enter it this year. When I first joined BFC and saw it, I thought wow what a great idea. Then last year I wanted to enter it, but my elbow surgery put me in a position that there was no way I could have made a knife. Now this year I have the 3 knives in this WIP, a kitchen knife I am making for my mother, and 2 other EDC like knives I am working on, so there are 5 potential knives I could offer up. I am also making a steel and belt order this weekend, so I would have even more material that I could start from scratch from to enter a knife. Only thing is that I am most likely going to be starting another treatment for my elbow, platelet rich plasma injections, and I don't know how they are going to affect my ability to work on knives. I will know more by the end of next week, but I think this little EDC in 154CM sitting in front of me might make it in to the Kith. I guess I should get it in the mail today so I have a chance to get it back before the Kith deadline:p
 
Well no blades, or wood today, so much for having a busy weekend:( I did just placed an order with knifemaker.ca for some steel and belts so I wonder if that order will get here before the handle block does. This is the main reason I don't do much cross border shopping, while there are good deals and some real nice products south of us, you never know how long something is going to take to get here.

USPS tracking on the handle block
us_tracking.jpg


Same parcel Canadian tracking
Candadian_tracking.jpg


It will be a month next week since Mark shipped out the block and it is missing still:grumpy:
 
OK I got the first two back from HT today, I was so excited to be able to get back to work on them that I didn't take any pictures:o Its OK though because I didn't do much to them. First thing I did when I got home was unbox them to see how they tested on the Rc scale. The recurve came back at 60 and the one on top in the last picture came back at 59.5. Next I gave a quick sanding in the recurve to get the guard back on, while I had everything square to the spine I didn't stay square through the thickness:( Its OK because it isn't that far out I just have to take it down about the thickness of good quality paper to get it right. While I had it together I decided that I didn't like the black spacers and made copper ones and got them fitted as close as possible before getting to a good smooth finish between the handle spacer and guard. Right now I am setting up my file guide so I can get the shoulders perfect tomorrow, then I start sanding the blade out to its finish grit. I probably wont get to it till tomorrow afternoon because I have a doctors appointment in the morning, but I will take pictures from start to end now.

I have decided that the third knife will be my KITH knife so these first two will be practice for the that.
 
subscribed!
 
unky-G,
Those are coming out great.
I am impressed with the improvement you have made. With these being representative of what you will make for the KITH, I will be real happy if I get your entry.
I know I am hard on you from time to time, but this shows what planning on paper; sticking to it; and putting in the elbow grease can produce........... a superb knife.
I may use this thread as an example of the improvement from the first knives shown to the new ones.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top