A cool experiment that worked out

H

Hesparus

Joined
Oct 31, 2004
Messages
1,442
Hi Everyone,

I finished these knives a couple of weeks ago and thought I'd share them with you guys. I didn't know how well this would turn out but I'm pretty pleased with the results. I drilled the holes and countersunk them prior to HT, then put in the rivets after HT and sanded them flush to 400 grit. A light vinegar etch brought out the contrast between the steel and the rivets. I decided to use the constellation ursa minor because (1) it's recognizible, (2) there aren't that many stars in it, and (3) it's important for celestial navigation.

This one uses sterling silver for all of the rivets because I thought they would look more like stars that way.
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This one uses sterling silver for the polaris position and copper for the rest.
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Here is the whole knife, with green ito and a dyed bone menuki:
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And the other one with tan ito and chinese turquoise menuki:
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I really like how these turned out overall, but next time I'll need to do a little more work setting the rivets — you can see some gaps where they didn't totally fill the space that I countersunk for them.

Thanks for looking
- Chris
 
Is that your makers mark?
If it isn't it should be. It's pretty damn cool.
 
Very clever idea and well executed. I think I might have tried making the rivets a smaller diameter and blue the blade for optimal contrast.
 
That is frickin' awesome!! I hope you don't mind too much but I have stolen your idea for my girlfriend's Christmas present. Except I think I'm going to silver inlay some ebony with constellations... She's really into astronomy!! Awesome and inspiring!! Thanks for sharing!
 
Thanks guys!
Leifjl: right now I can only do this on scandi grinds because the flats don't get ground after HT. I guess I could do something small on the ricasso of FFG blades.
i4Marc: I thought the same thing after it came out. It looked good with just the holes drilled, but the countersinking made the rivets look quite a bit bigger. I think this size would work much better on a larger blade (these are only about 7" overall).
h20oni: Go for it!

- Chris
 
Every now and then a new innovation is born.:thumbup: I could see this looking good with gold.
 
Very clever idea, it actually opens up a lot of options. Thanks for sharing and hope you don't mind if some of us borrow this..
 
I like it, though to be honest, I'm not sure the "little dipper" would have been the first thought that came to mind had I not read it first. If the rivets were just a little smaller, I think it might be easier to distinguish.

Eitherway, cool concept!
 
If they are pins in straight holes they may eventually fall out. What I have done is drill the diameter hole of the pin and then counter sink on both sides a slightly larger hole but keep the smaller diameter hole in the center (dont drill it out totally) so you have something looking like an H. then tap tap tap that pin in and grind off the proud portion. I like it. Am a bit concerned about the blades strength tho.
 
MT Borg said:
If they are pins in straight holes they may eventually fall out. What I have done is drill the diameter hole of the pin and then counter sink on both sides a slightly larger hole but keep the smaller diameter hole in the center (dont drill it out totally) so you have something looking like an H. then tap tap tap that pin in and grind off the proud portion. I like it. Am a bit concerned about the blades strength tho.
Click to expand...

A press-fit or interference fit would be much easier and it is a proven technique.
The holes probably did lessen the absolute strength, but not enough to be concerned about, in my opinion.
 
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