A DIY blade for Morseth Fans

I dont have much that is big enough, one or 2 pieces is all, unless
I use 2 small pieces with maybe a couple antler buttons in between or something. I'll be ordering more from Tx soon. The gal down there is a sweetheart, I'll see if I can get her to throw a burl or two in the box for me.
BBQ season starts at my house pretty soon.
I go through brisket withdrawals, :confused:

DaddyDett
 
As far as epoxy alone, I took a Cold Steel SRK and tore it apart in college and then made a handle out of 1.5x1/2" slabs of oak. After carefully chiseling out the groove for the hidden tang the only thing holding those 2 slabs together was the fact that dremeled rough spots on the tang and JB weld.

Not too long ago I met a guy who had been grinding knives since he was a youngster, he is a retired machinest who used to fly Cobras in Nam, and we tore apart the SRK and built a new handle for it out of a nice piece of Stag, he had a left hand tine that didnt have a home yet.

I locked that blade in a vise and I pounded on that scrap wood handle with a 16oz ball pein hammer at all kinds of angles for an hour before I put a 50 grit belt on his Bader and ground that puppy off. I did beat up the wood making it rather ugly, but nothing duct tape couldn't of fixed. I never did any damage to the epoxy.

Quality epoxys properly applied and cured are effective as steel. If I put together a blade I test my methods and trust my own work. However, personally I like being paranoid.

That stag handled SRK has been beaten up over the past couple of years and all it has holding it together is epoxy. I forget the exact type but it is Loctite brand and according to my Buddy in Virginia it was the stuff that origionally held the space shuttles ceramic tiles on it. It has done its job well and I don't see it coming apart before the handle material itself fails.

The tang of the SRK was hardened and I couldent figure out a way to drill a hole in it for a pin, however paranoia is good and it can keep you alive, if you have the ability to pin it or pein it do so.
 
I just received the two Morseth blades I ordered. The blades are impressivle thick with substantial tangs. These are the best Puukko style blades I've ever seen. They deserve careful thought before I build them. I mean impressed. Thick, very sharp, strong. These will be really nice when finished!!!!!
 
Ok guys I have narrowed it down to 2 blades...The morseth from Ragweed and the campers blade from NC...anyone got a favorite??

OHH yea...anyone wanna volunteer to sharpen my mini chit?? I kinda dulled the blade to keep me from cuttingmy fingers off and now i cant seemt to get it resharpened...:o

Putting the handle on it now and i know that you guy's cant stand the thought of a dull khuk:D anyone?

trade?
Bribery?
Personal slave?
 
Morseth, without a doubt. You just don't often see blades like this. These are NICE, thick, strong, but sharp as heck. Now it looks like I'm only givin' a couple away. My wife and I are each planning on keeping one for ourselves, and we were gonna give my Father in Law a blade to play with.

unless you're intimidated by the project. The NC knives are nice in that there's already pre-cut roughly sized guards and spacers and such. But the Camper is just Stainless, while the Morseth is thick, well done laminated steel- as well as a touch more unique.

Of course you could just make it easy on yourself and do what I did...get a blade from NC, AND a Morseth.:D
 
I haven't been impresses with a blade in a long time like the Morseth impresses me. I've spent hours today working on the front guard. It has to fit perfectly. I'm on my third one! First two were a close fit, but not perfect. My darn end mill doesn't get here until early next week. I might have to wait for it. My arthritic hands have filed ajust about all they can today. I can hardly wait to finish these knives. Realistically each one will take weeks of part time work. I think I will make one with a somewhat larger oval guard than usual to do justice to the thick blade. The other I mught do with a finger guard as part of the front guard.
 
Dadgum, y'all been keeping friend Ragnar hopping with all the blade orders. Please don't forget to post pics of your completed projects for the rest of us to ooh and ahh over. Maybe even send Ragnar a pic of your finished knife, he'd probably like to look 'em over when he ain't scrambling around filling blade orders (that rascal has the fastest turn time rate on orders I believe I've ever seen other than Yangdu).
In Afghanistan, I ordered three of the Brusletto knifemaking kits, and me and a couple buddies had a knifemaking contest (something to keep our hands busy during downtimes, didn't have much for amusement over there early on when things were still "austere"). Ragnar was the knife contest judge via e-mailed photos, and was pretty tickled with the whole deal. One of the knives wound up being a gift to the son of the sergeant who made it. I stitched up a fancy sheath and tooled the boy's name into it, and I know that boy will still have and cherish that knife when he's sprouting grey whiskers like me.:D

Sarge
 
Hi Sarge:

I'll post pics of mine when they are done. I have some super looking blocks of stabilized wood arriving early in the week. I'll know when I see the wood how I will build the knives. I'm not an artistic person. The handle is a living thing as I work on it and it is a joy to feel it come alive as I work on it. Handles sort of take on a life of their own. Here are two early Puukkos I made in my short carreer as a beginning kiifemaker. The one with the light colored Birtch handle id my daily carrier. I am just taken by it. It is dangeroudly sharp. The one with the ebony handle was a chore. It came out so pretty it pleases me just to look at it.

Sorry for the rant.
 
Very nice, I had a buddy once who had a penchant for composite handles, some very attractive contrasts can be achieved with that style. Have you ever tried hard/curly maple? I never used it until I noted how well the spoons I carved from it held up to being constantly washed and dried, with no more finish than an occasional coat of mineral or vegetable oil. Nowadays it would be my first pick for a knife that's going to be seeing a lot of kitchen duty, etc., it's easy to work with, stable, and durable.

Sarge
 
Sylvrfalcn said:
Very nice, I had a buddy once who had a penchant for composite handles, some very attractive contrasts can be achieved with that style. Have you ever tried hard/curly maple? I never used it until I noted how well the spoons I carved from it held up to being constantly washed and dried, with no more finish than an occasional coat of mineral or vegetable oil. Nowadays it would be my first pick for a knife that's going to be seeing a lot of kitchen duty, etc., it's easy to work with, stable, and durable.

Sarge
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I have heard that maple is excellent for cutting boards . It is supposed to have a slight anti-bacterial action built into it . I,m not one of those "everytime you touch a doorknob you gotta wash your hands person" .
I think cutting boards are one of those places where you should take at least a minimal care .
 
Hadn't heard that part about being anti-bacterial Kevin, but I do know it's used for cutting boards and butcher block stuff. I really like it for knife handles, it's very similar to curly birch in that it has a warm, friendly feel to it, and a "velvetiness" (is that a word?) that belies it's durability. Here's one of my homemade file knives that's seen a lot of hard use, and all I can say is that curly maple handle is aging gracefully after much dunking in the kitchen sink. ;)

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Sarge
 

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Sylvrfalcn said:
Very nice, I had a buddy once who had a penchant for composite handles, some very attractive contrasts can be achieved with that style. Have you ever tried hard/curly maple? I never used it until I noted how well the spoons I carved from it held up to being constantly washed and dried, with no more finish than an occasional coat of mineral or vegetable oil. Nowadays it would be my first pick for a knife that's going to be seeing a lot of kitchen duty, etc., it's easy to work with, stable, and durable.

Sarge
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Hi Sarge:

I have worked with black linen micarta. It came out great. Used hidden rivets and epoxy. The photo just doesn't do it justice.
 
Steve,
That is a sweet knife...Now it just needs to really nice leather...NOT souless kydex:D


kudos!:thumbup:
 
You guys are right. Curly birch is very nice. I have a block of it on hand and it is a contender for one of my Morseth blades. Yeah, it does need a leather sheath. Absolutly. I have another project!

I was excited about the Morseth blade and spent hours on the first one this weekend. The first will have a tear drop shaped guard and I will build the handle behind it. The second I want to do a guard with one figer guard underneath.

The Morseth blades are flush on the sides. A regular Puukko blade is easier to put a guard on and it can use epoxy. This BIG blade screamed for something more. I carefully drilled, rasped and filed a nickle silver guard out of 1/8" flat sheet. The first three attempts just weren't close enough. The fourth came out good. Then I silver soldered it to the blade. Wow, it came out strong.

The two pictures are a WIP just showing both sides of the soldered guard. The guard will take it's final shape as the handle builds. I'll pin this handle through the wide tang.

Maybe we could start a thread on all our Morseth blades and watch them being built? I'd love to steal others ideas. I have no artistic ability. Any interest?
 
My only problem with that kind of thread is the fact that next to y'all I'd might as well be a neanderthal hunched over a campfire hardening a spearpoint on a crooked piece of wood.:D
 
WIP

This is a new knife project I worked on this weekend. It’s not done yet, but I think it will come out nice. The blade is one of the Brusletto Morseth. It’s the best hidden tang blade I’ve seen. The metal guard and spacer are 1/8" thick nickel-silver, the black spacer is water buffalo horn and the wooden handle is stabilized maple burl with an incredible, beautiful grain. The front guard is silver soldered on. The handle I built behind it is bored out for the tang, epoxied and then drilled through the handle and pinned with nickel silver pins, peened over.
 
Steve,
that thing is pretty...If ya want to make me one just like it I wont get mad ya in the slightest!!!!:thumbup:



DavehandleenvyB.:p
 
sweet :)

i have a large branch from a hawthorn tree "curing"... i'm thinking i'll use it "au natural" kinda as a handle for an ulu, but i bet it would burn in read knife for a p/l-uuko :)

bladite
 
Really nice work Steve, that maple burl is absolutely exquisite. Some puukko "purists" will point out that a puukko shouldn't have a ricasso, that the edge should run all the way up to the handle. I reckon the Norwegians aren't Scandinavian (that would tickle my great grandaddy, a Norwegian sailor) because all the knives and blades I have out of Geilo (Brusletto) or Holmedal (Helle), all seem to have that wee bitty ricasso on 'em. Meanwhile, Finnish blades and Swedish blades all have the edge running right into the handle. Any of our Scandinavian friends care to enlighten us as to this apparently regional, perhaps cultural difference? I realize that some precise cuts are made with the edge portion nearest the handle, but on a guardless knife, the edge starts where the edge starts, even if it's just the other side of a, usually, 1/4" to 3/8" ricasso. Just curious.

Sarge
 
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