Amateur Hour - Customized Imperial and other traditional knives

Hey Jeff, great job on those mods!

I've got a little something for you... sending a PM.
 
philllll said:
Hey Jeff, great job on those mods!

I've got a little something for you... sending a PM.
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Thank you Phil - the support has been very surprising recently! I have upgraded my subscription so that I can do more than hoard these things, which my wife will be very happy about. I have even had a few folks approach me about doing some work for them. At this point my biggest worry is having the time, but on the other hand I have really enjoyed working on these knives.

The next two knives to be worked on will be a toothpick by request of its owner, and then another barlow. This barlow will be another single blade conversion - sheeps foot this time - with the ivory paper micarta handle scales.

Other stuff on deck:
Imperial "peanut" small serpentine jack - blue dyed jigged bone (my first try at dye and at jigging, might also try a shield)
Imperial Kamp King - I am thinking ebony on this one, with a pinned shield
Several other Imperial Jacks waiting in the wings as well of varying styles
 
jprime84 said:
Thank you Phil - the support has been very surprising recently! I have upgraded my subscription so that I can do more than hoard these things, which my wife will be very happy about. I have even had a few folks approach me about doing some work for them. At this point my biggest worry is having the time, but on the other hand I have really enjoyed working on these knives.

The next two knives to be worked on will be a toothpick by request of its owner, and then another barlow. This barlow will be another single blade conversion - sheeps foot this time - with the ivory paper micarta handle scales.

Other stuff on deck:
Imperial "peanut" small serpentine jack - blue dyed jigged bone (my first try at dye and at jigging, might also try a shield)
Imperial Kamp King - I am thinking ebony on this one, with a pinned shield
Several other Imperial Jacks waiting in the wings as well of varying styles
Click to expand...

If you're able to find some time to do a "franken-perial" consisting of piecemeal parts from an old Imperial along with possibly those from a Providence Cutco, I was thinking single-blade sheep myself but I simply don't have the tools to do much more than clean up the steel. Don't want to inundate you but I think I might be interested in your work. :D Anyway I'll PM you once I look at my "fixem" box and see if I can find the parts needed. Keep up the awesome work!
 
Just catching up with this thread, nice work Jeff :thumbup:
 
Jack Black said:
Just catching up with this thread, nice work Jeff :thumbup:
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Thank you sir!

I bit the bullet recently on a new bench grinder/buffer and a relatively inexpensive band saw. Hopefully these cut down on materials waste and help me improve precision and fit/finish.
 
jprime84 said:
Thank you sir!I bit the bullet recently on a new bench grinder/buffer and a relatively inexpensive band saw. Hopefully these cut down on materials waste and help me improve precision and fit/finish.
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You were hand-grinding and buffing those Imperial frames and blades before? :eek: :eek: :D
 
TsarBomba said:
You were hand-grinding and buffing those Imperial frames and blades before? :eek: :eek: :D
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Belt sander my friend! Haha. It took a lot longer and a lot more belts to shape those bolsters. I just rough shaped some Barlow bolsters with the new grinder the other day and it took only about a half hour.
 
Here is my latest conversion - two blade sheepsfoot to a single blade. Handles are ivory paper micarta and nickel silver. Hand-filed lined bolsters. 400 grit satin finish on blade. New 1000 grit edge courtesy of the Edge Pro. Blade has good snap, easy 4 pull, and half stop. No blade rub.

There are a few things I learned along the way on this one, and a few things I wish I had done better, but overall very pleased with this one.

















 
I'm calling it now- it's only a matter of time before you start making new custom folders.
 
Finished a requested rehandle today.

Large Hammer Brand Toothpick
Nickel Silver Bolsters and Pins
Ebony handles
Sharpened and Satin blade

Thanks Brian for letting me work on your knife!











 
Nicely done! You are really coming along with your work! Keep it up!!
 
That toothpick looks fabulous, Jeff! :thumbup::thumbup:
(Have you ever added a pen blade to a toothpick??)

- GT
 
jprime84 said:
Finished a requested rehandle today.
Large Hammer Brand Toothpick
Nickel Silver Bolsters and Pins
Ebony handles
Sharpened and Satin blade
Thanks Brian for letting me work on your knife!
Click to expand...

Really nice work, Jeff! :thumbup:

I've noticed most of your work to date has been on clamshell folders. Have you considered taking on a knife with pinned composite scales?
 
TsarBomba said:
Really nice work, Jeff! :thumbup:

I've noticed most of your work to date has been on clamshell folders. Have you considered taking on a knife with pinned composite scales?
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Thank you! I have an old remington here that I will probably try to do something with very soon. It has chipped composite but pinned handles. We will see how it goes. I still find myself making a lot of small mistakes on the clamshell folders, so I have tried not to tackle anything too tough until I get better with my fundamentals. A drill press would help!
 
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