Another rehandle project

Codger_64

Codger_64

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This time, I decided to rehandle one of my 165OT Waldens. It was one with "the dog ate my knife" handles, and I had been putting it off til now.



I still have to get the brass rivets and install them, but first, I have a lot more hand rubbing to do on the fancy maple.



Like my other project knives, it will likely become a user, not a display queen, so I am not concerned in getting a perfect finish on it, but I can do a lot more to it before I seal it. Whacha think so far?

Codger - proving that guild members have no competition from me!
 
Very nice, you may inspire me to try something similar. Are the handles glued? I can really picture some mosaic pins in that beautiful wood.
 
Yes, epoxied for now. I'm putting mosaic pins in the mammoth tusk ivory on my 15OT, so I wanted this one to have different pins.



Codger
 
Codger_64 said:
This time, I decided to rehandle one of my 165OT Waldens. It was one with "the dog ate my knife" handles, and I had been putting it off til now.



I still have to get the brass rivets and install them, but first, I have a lot more hand rubbing to do on the fancy maple.



Like my other project knives, it will likely become a user, not a display queen, so I am not concerned in getting a perfect finish on it, but I can do a lot more to it before I seal it. Whacha think so far?

Codger - proving that guild members have no competition from me!
Click to expand...


Codger, that looks great! Have you buffed the handles yet? And is the line
on the right hand side(?) a grip line?
 
No, not buffed at all. and the line is just the grain of the wood. Not well bookmatched.

Codger
 
Codger_64 said:
No, not buffed at all. and the line is just the grain of the wood. Not well bookmatched.

Codger
Click to expand...

If you are right handed won't that line help in gripping the handle?
 
Very nice work! As someone who likes to "play" with knife projects myself, I'm intrigued.

Keep up the good work.

BTW, didn't we have a joke about "pimp my schrade" awhile back? That would make for an excellent thread...

Glenn
 
:thumbup: Very nice Codger. Quite alot of talent on this forum. The maple really goes well with the that "damascus" blade. ;)
 
The blade is old 1095 high carbon steel, serial #16239 from the late sixties or very early seventies. My scanner has a very short field of focus, right in front of the platen. The vertical striping you see is the factory crocus finish on the blade, and the dark spots are shadows and the remains of the thirty five years of patina that was removed in getting rid of the scratches and funk on the blade. I will be restoring the patina when the knife's handle is finished. Having a 165 pattern blade made in old style damascus is a dream I have had in the back of my mind for years. Another project for another time!

Codger
 
I really like it Mike. It is so nice it makes me want to do one myself. In fact I am waiting for delivery of a 152OT I bought just for that purpose.
Keep up the great work. It is inspirational!
 
Thanks guys. But as lousy as the scanner does at showing the grain, chatoyance and color, it hides a lot of my goofs and poor workmanship.

Ebay is a great source for exotic and domestic handle woods. Dyed and stabilized is the way to go unless you just can't find the color/grain combination you like. I have some green dyed stabilized boxwood that is to die for. And about six others sitting in a box waiting. Some I have had as long as five years.

Mosaic pinstock is there too, as well as rivets. The trouble with the mosaics is that they only come in 11 3/4" lengths, and are a bit more than $20 per rod. That is enough to do about six knives, so if you buy a piece, you'd better be sure you like it!. Brass or nickle silver rivets are about $4 for ten sets. I have been watching for some Schrade NOS rivets, but seen none in a long time.

Codger
 
Just a quick question, how difficult is it to remove the old handles and pins? Also, did you take the guard off?

Asking because I'm starting to get some ideas myself.
 
Since the guard on this knife was in great condition, I did not remove it. It does not slide off since both the blade and the handle are larger than the guard slot, and the guard has two pins, one upper pin exposed (though usually ground flush and so unseen), and a lower hidden internal pin. Future plans are to do one of these knives with a custom nickle silver or coin silver guard. Whichever I choose will be silver soldered on, not pinned. That will eliminate the visible joint between the two mated guard halves. I think that to remove the guard would be easiest by driving a wedge into the center joint, or saving the guard, by drilling or driving out the upper pin, and replacing it with a larger pin for reinstallation.

The compression rivets were not hard to remove, but I had access to a drill press and a hand operated mechanical press to press out the rivets once the heads were drilled off one side. I used a metal plate covered with leather under the handle (both with holes drilled) to support the handles and allow the rivets to back completely out. I did the drilling and pressing from the pile side so as to not mess up the shield. You could do this all much easier by just grinding the heads off and beating them out with a hammer if you weren't worried about saving any portion of the handle or shield. The delrin will melt when ground (rivet heads are inletted), so you will gum up your grinder if you do this.

Codger
 
You guys inspired me, I HAD to try it! :D
I bought an inexpensive kit blade form Jantz Supply to start on. The blade pattern is a direct knock-off of the Sharpfinger. The handle is Red Heart. This is my first attempt and I learned a lot. I have a real Sharpfinger that I am working on, but first i am making a bunch of paring knives for Christmas gifts. At this point I learn a great deal with each knife I make. Loads of fun! :D

[URL="http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/orvet/JantzCobra1.jpg"]http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/orvet/JantzCobra2.jpg[/URL]
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/orvet/JantzCobra2.jpg

Dale
 
That looks great, Dale.

Trust me, that will be one of only many.

I started the same way, thinking "I'd like to make one of those kits". Now, I haven't made a project for some time now, but I was turning out quite a handful of knives and sheaths for a while there. I even got good enough that people were paying me to make them a knife. :eek: I know....scary thought.

Every one I did got a little better. I even got freaky once and did a small fixed blade damascus with turquoise handles. Gave that one to my Dad.

Keep up the good work.

Glenn
 
Very nice, Dale! I would say the Jantz knife is "styled after" a sharpfinger, and not a direct knockoff. I like it!

I bet that turquoise was tedious to work with Glenn! While playing with my own projects, I am reminded of the words of an accomplished bladesmith. "I don't make knives, I make dust and dirt!"

Codger
 
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