6th knife 3rd with known metal actually finished.

KnuckleDownKnives

KnuckleDownKnives

Time to make the doughnuts..
Joined
Feb 12, 2015
Messages
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Ok so I'd like some critiques on where I'm at with this one. I know I have some areas of improvement. Mostly due to lack of patience but def better than all my others. 1084 homemade digital camo handles.











 
Looks pretty darn good rub a lil wd40 on the handle to make the colors pop, and your plunges look off a bit but still a very nice job
 
Nice job overall! I would only suggest tapering the front of the scales and rounding the edges of them some.
 
i4Marc said:
Nicely done!
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Thanks. Marc.. Good name... Not many of us out there with the "c"....

tump said:
Looks pretty darn good rub a lil wd40 on the handle to make the colors pop, and your plunges look off a bit but still a very nice job
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yeah I got them off a little bit. Trying to transition from Jig to freehand. seeing the image (4) on my PC instead of my phone and they look worse than they really are in the pic. It's actually a lot closer to center than the image looks but they are off some, more on the radius than the centering. Wow that picture def makes it look bad.

The knife before this one I chased the plunges trying to fix them and get them perfect and chased them a lot further than I should have almost completely ruined the knife.. I decided to stop on this one while they were "acceptable" for being # 6 and didn't ruin the knife. Time to make/purchase a carbide file guide.

Matt R said:
Nice job overall! I would only suggest tapering the front of the scales and rounding the edges of them some.
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Thank you and thank you for the suggestion.

Maelstrom78 said:
Good 'un. Round aaaalll the sharp corners left on those scales.
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Thank you and thank you for the suggestion.
 
Nice work Marc! Aside from what has been said, I would rethink the mosaic pins with that handle material, but that's in the eye of the beholder, and many may like it. Pretty impressive for an early work for sure.
Patience is surely the key to better work as you note. I found I had to really learn to enjoy each step to slow down. The rush to finish is an evil driver ;)
 
nice
but I see a sharp corner in the first pic that could really benefit from a radius blend
 
Very nice! It looks pretty good to me & yes "chasing the plunges" can be maddening when trying to get it just right. A bit more rounding would be nice for blending as was already said, but I really like the pattern you have with the camo pattern.

One thing that jumped out at me is the rear pin location. Next time can the shaping be done on the grip to put the contour lines so the center of the pin ends up at the uppermost area of that island? I think it would look good if it was sitting at the top of the mountain & not on a side.
 
looks good. i do not see anything in left field. just very fine points and most have been mentioned. plunges: before i had a file guide, i would carefully wrap 4 layers of masking tape around the ricasso, as a stop so i do not run 80 grit accidentally across the ricasso, and where each plunge stops will be fairly even. not as even as a file guide, but more even than doing it by eye for us beginners. i used to keep trying to get my plunges even, fixing each side trying to match the other until there was almost nothing left. i came up with this idea. i use some blue marking fluid on the edge, and mark my .025" scribes along the edge. i take a square, and scribe across where the ricasso will start. then, 1/8" or 3/16" away i make another line where i want the plunges to start. i clamp the blade in a vise and carefully scribe the curved lines of my plunges, as in the diagram. when i grind starting with 36 grit, i stay totally forward of the plunges. when i switch to 80gr, i grind just a little past where the plunge curves start. when i go to 120gr i sculpt the along the line, but leave the line there. after HT i can usually still see the scribe lines, if not they can be scribed on again and grind right to them, then smooth any bumps when i go to 220gr. this has helped me not grind away my plunges to nothing trying to get them even, maybe it will help you.
 
The scales look like they are different thicknesses. Looks like a useful design. :thumbup:
 
I really like the overall design/pattern of the knife. I'd echo the suggestions made here already. Use it for a few hours and you'll likely find a few hot spots or areas that you may re-profile on the handle.

Other than that, you seem like you're going a very good direction. Keep at it!
 
Brock47 said:
Nice work Marc! Aside from what has been said, I would rethink the mosaic pins with that handle material, but that's in the eye of the beholder, and many may like it. Pretty impressive for an early work for sure.
Patience is surely the key to better work as you note. I found I had to really learn to enjoy each step to slow down. The rush to finish is an evil driver ;)
Click to expand...

Thank you for the compliments. I'm with you on the pins. With all that is going on with the camo solid brass would have been better.

HSC /// said:
nice
but I see a sharp corner in the first pic that could really benefit from a radius blend
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Thanks Harbeer.

noseoil said:
Very nice! It looks pretty good to me & yes "chasing the plunges" can be maddening when trying to get it just right. A bit more rounding would be nice for blending as was already said, but I really like the pattern you have with the camo pattern.

One thing that jumped out at me is the rear pin location. Next time can the shaping be done on the grip to put the contour lines so the center of the pin ends up at the uppermost area of that island? I think it would look good if it was sitting at the top of the mountain & not on a side.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm working on getting my shaping better and pin placement has been plaguing me.

john april said:
looks good. i do not see anything in left field. just very fine points and most have been mentioned. plunges: before i had a file guide, i would carefully wrap 4 layers of masking tape around the ricasso, as a stop so i do not run 80 grit accidentally across the ricasso, and where each plunge stops will be fairly even. not as even as a file guide, but more even than doing it by eye for us beginners. i used to keep trying to get my plunges even, fixing each side trying to match the other until there was almost nothing left. i came up with this idea. i use some blue marking fluid on the edge, and mark my .025" scribes along the edge. i take a square, and scribe across where the ricasso will start. then, 1/8" or 3/16" away i make another line where i want the plunges to start. i clamp the blade in a vise and carefully scribe the curved lines of my plunges, as in the diagram. when i grind starting with 36 grit, i stay totally forward of the plunges. when i switch to 80gr, i grind just a little past where the plunge curves start. when i go to 120gr i sculpt the along the line, but leave the line there. after HT i can usually still see the scribe lines, if not they can be scribed on again and grind right to them, then smooth any bumps when i go to 220gr. this has helped me not grind away my plunges to nothing trying to get them even, maybe it will help you.
Click to expand...

Thank you and thanks for the tip. My next tool is def a carbide guide I believe.

Willie71 said:
The scales look like they are different thicknesses. Looks like a useful design. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Thanks Willie. It must be shadows or something in the picture. Here is the press I use to make the material. The camo is 19 layers which comes out .0" something just under .25" when pressed





This isn't the camo, but it came out to an exact .025" end to end.



 
knife to a gunfight said:
I really like the overall design/pattern of the knife. I'd echo the suggestions made here already. Use it for a few hours and you'll likely find a few hot spots or areas that you may re-profile on the handle.

Other than that, you seem like you're going a very good direction. Keep at it!
Click to expand...

Thanks Andrew.
 
Yes it is. I think If I used a better epoxy resin vs the polyester resin I'm using I could get a better finish.

 
Kevin McGovern said:
what is the last grit you are using for finishing your scales?
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Believe it or not 1000 grit cork. My current available belt selections are 36 80 120 220 norton bluefire aluminum zircona and 36 80 120 3m cubritron 984 ceramic and 400 800 1000 Hermes silicon carbide cork. I haven't tried hand sanding the scales, all I have is HF sand paper up to 1000. But I personally feel it's the type of resin. Just cheap bondo polyester fiberglass resin. I want to switch to west marine 105 epoxy and 205 slow hardener. I'm using a very slow speed on the belt when sanding, especially on the higher grits. I don't think the resin I'm using is getting 100% saturation into the fabric. It's bonding very very good, but I think a thinner harder epoxy will give much better results. IMHO..
 
I have used bondo resin several times to do what you are doing. Maybe you are applying too much pressure and not enough resin remains?
 
Maybe, not sure. I measure the fabric with calipers, divide .25" by that number and use the closest whole number of layers that is smaller. The camo one in the OP is actually 2 layers short of my intentions because it started setting up too quick to get the last 2 layers in. I was shooting for 19 and only got 17 before the resin started gelling up so I clamped it up real quick before it was completely botched. From my understanding though the resin should completely impregnate the fabric and not really fill gaps.

Maybe my next one I'll try 15 layers and see how it goes I still have most of a gallon I plan to use before the switch. I don't really plan on doing any more denim unless someone specifically asks for it or I make something for around the shop and don't want to waste material on it. I think the denim is 8 layers IIRC. I buy the camo by the yard from ebay, so it's pretty consistent when I measure it. I personally don't mind the slight grippyness it has, but it would be nice to get a better finish. I have plans to try carbon fiber real soon, and hope it comes out good, because if it does I can make it way cheaper than people are selling premade scale material for. If my numbers are right I should be able to make almost 4 sqft for less than $200.
 
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