ASH1 Ripper!

El_Toro

El_Toro

Joined
Oct 6, 2006
Messages
837
I was going to wait on posting pics until the sheath I'm making for this knife is finished. However, that project is taking longer than expected so here's a pic of my new favorite knife! I got one of those custom shop re-curve ASH1's from the company store a few weeks back. I think this is the closest that we will come to the ST Ripper for a while!

I took out my Apex Edge Pro tonight and re-profiled the edge. It now sports an edge with 20 deg. on each side. This sucker is nasty! I even re-profiled the serrations are at 20 deg. as well. They are not as pronounced now, but are super sharp and still function as intended. I think the knife should baton better now that the serrated section has been changed a bit.

Overall, I'm happy with the results. However, with thicker knives, I just can't seem to get a perfect mirror finish with the Apex. It seems like the plates that the polishing tape sticks to don't hit the entire edge uniformly, leaving a "blotted" look. They got the cutting edge just fine though, so I guess that's all that counts, lol. I'm thinking a leather strop loaded with stropping compound should even it up though, we'll see.
 
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That is a very nice knife! Feels great in the hand also :thumbup:

Try spending a little more time with the 320 and 600 grit before hitting the polish tapes. This will help to remove most of your deeper scratches first. Assuming you are holding it at the same angle....the polish tapes are probably hitting the whole edge. It just doesn't cut aggressively enough to take out all of the deeper scratches.
 
Thanks for the tip Ban! After I use it a little, I'll go back and touch it up. Even though it's not perfect, as is it can shave pretty well.

swimmerdude, as for the thickness of the blade, I believe it is around .22".
 
Here are some pics of my "in progress" sheath that I'm making for this ASH1 variant. I should have taken some pics earlier on in the process as it's nearly done, lol. I just need to finish sanding the edges, finish waterproofing it, and make a keeper strap.

There have been a few frustrating problems I've run into though. First, is getting those darn stitching holes to line up. Since I've gotten a drill press, they are a lot better than when I used a dremel tool freehand, but for the life of me, I still can't get the holes on the back side (where the drill bit comes out) to line up perfectly with where they go in. To sort of remedy this, I usually drill into the front/visible side of the sheath, so you can't see the uneven stitching in the rear. On this one, I screwed up (wasn't paying attention:o) and did it the opposite way. So the stitching on the back looks perfect and the front, not so much! lol. My second problem (very easy to remedy) also came when I stitched it up. I didn't cut a long enough piece of thread and came up short with about 10 holes to go. It was easy enough to splice a new piece in, it just doesn't look as good as one continuous run along the whole sheath.

All I'm waiting on now is for the leather to dry so I can finish it up. I waterproofed the inside and belt loop, but left the whole bottom part alone so I could wet mould it for a final fit. From a previous trial and error experience, I learned to wrap the blade up in painters tape before putting it into a wet sheath. As the leather dries, it will shrink down and if the blade is not wrapped, the fit will be way too tight.

Anyhow, I find working on leather is actually quite a bit of fun, even when you run into a few problems!:D So if anyone is on the fence about trying it out, I encourage you to run over and buy some supplies at your local leather store.:thumbup:
 
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Wow! Thanks for posting those pictures bro.:thumbup:

I'm thinking I'll stay away from leather....I'll leave it to the professionals like the Leatherman and Mt Mike.

But don't let my fears slow you down...sew man sew!:D
 
i always end up taking the tape and finger rubbing the edge with it, rather then using the aluminum block.
 
I finished the sheath up for my ASH1 last week and forgot to post pics, lol. I made the sheath follow the lines of the blade as close as possible. Fit and finish isn't quite on par with the experts, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. Can't wait to start on another one!:D
 
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