Back to the Basics (Final Pictures added)

[ScottRoush]

Inspired by the 'mystery steel' discussion a while back..and then Roger's recent posting of Burt Foster's 'Half Light' bowie... I decided to make a knife with the strict intention of helping me to focus on the basics of a good knife.. geometry, fit and finish. I decided to use a bar of Cruforge V that a friend gave me and then to go with a good, solid, but beautiful knife design... Jerry Fisk's 'Sendero'. Mine isn't exactly like Jerry's obviously... but I don't think anybody would fail to see the inspiration. I have piece of old growth and mineralized 'black oak' that's been sitting on the bottom of Lake Superior for a couple of hundred years and a bar of wrought iron that was heaved up onto a Lake Superior beach by the ice from a shipwreck. So this little guy will be the 'Gitchigami Hunter'.

Here it is just about to go into heat treat:

This isn't intended to be a mind blowing piece or anything like that... just a little self-lesson in knife making. I will post some more pictures as it comes together.

 

[RogerP]

Cool beans. I look forward to seeing what that oak looks like. Must be the time of year, but I can't get enough of looking at hunting knives just now.

 

[ScottRoush]

I'm going to go ahead and post this picture.. but I started wondering if what I have isn't wenge. A local guy gave this wood to me and told me it came from Timeless Timber .. a local company that salvages old growth sunken logs. And he said it was black oak... a Canadian species.. that was mineralized while submerged. Often Timeless supplies a certificate with their wood.. but the guy didn't have it. But it simply looks like wenge to me. I trust the person who gave it to me.. but I'm wondering if he should trust those who gave it to him? Anyway... I may fall back to my original idea and use Ceylon ebony. Or some Timeless maple that I have so I can retain the name!

(I've since altered the handle shape to reduce the width and flare of the the handle)

 

[Burl Source]

Looking forward to seeing this knife.
BTW; the block in the photo looks like oak to me. Close up photos and end grain will tell for sure.

 

[ScottRoush]

Okay Mark... yeah.. I was going to get a shot of the end grain. Amazing how similar these are in pictures. I'm all out of wenge in my own stocks.. so all I have is pictures.

 

[ScottRoush]

Well turns out there is a certificate for the wood AND the salvaged tree is still in their warehouse! Gichegame Hunter it is.

 

[ScottRoush]

A little more work. It's been hand-rubbed to 220 and I'm starting to fit and shape the wrought iron guard. Still not sure how I want to finish this blade.... leave it at 220 or ... what?

 

[Karl B. Andersen]

You'll learn a thing or two on this adventure Scott.
Maybe I ought to run over and pick this knife apart for you.
One of the things you'll learn about is hand finishing CruV.
Other than that, I'm glad to see you go down this path. That's why I drug you to Atlanta in the first place. (Late bloomer.)

 

[ScottRoush]

Thanks Karl... hopefully I can take it out to your shop before it sells. Unless you want to come out and shoot some birds!

Yeah... I had a hard time getting nice 220 lines on this stuff. I actually had to take it to 400 and then go back to 220 for it to look nice. Which will end up being silly if I decide to take to a 400 satin finish.

 

[Karl B. Andersen]

You just posted one of the true 'secrets' to a satin finish. Go up through the grit you intend to end at to a finer grit, then come back one.
Don't tell anybody.
I was chasing a grouse the other day all over the place with my bow and lost him.
I looked and looked and looked.
Couldn't find him.
Then he flushed.
He had been sitting on a limb right over my head.
Come over as soon as you can. Or versy vicey.

Thanks Karl... hopefully I can take it out to your shop before it sells. Unless you want to come out and shoot some birds!

Yeah... I had a hard time getting nice 220 lines on this stuff. I actually had to take it to 400 and then go back to 220 for it to look nice. Which will end up being silly if I decide to take to a 400 satin finish.

 

[BenR.T.]

You just posted one of the true 'secrets' to a satin finish. Go up through the grit you intend to end at to a finer grit, then come back one......

It took me a while to figure this one out, it makes life so much easier!!

Great looking knife by the way Scott, I really like where this one is going.

 

[ScottRoush]

He had been sitting on a limb right over my head.
Come over as soon as you can. Or versy vicey.

That's why you need my dog. She will hold a point staring right up at the bird in the tree...

 

[ScottRoush]

Here are some pictures to show some edge testing before fitting the handle. I still like to use the old brass rod test to look for soft and brittle spots along the edge. And then some chopping on some hard cherry. So far I'm pretty happy with the Cruforge tempered to 420. You can also see the morticed handle construction. You can see the big table saw scar from splitting the scales. I used to sand those out until I realized that if you don't use any sand paper at all, then the two pieces fit together like a seamless puzzle.

You can see the deflection along the edge as I apply pressure. If the edge is soft.. that deflection will remain. If too hard.. you can get cracks. I also do hard little chops directly into the brass.

And then some chopping into some hard cherry wood....

I took some pictures of me doing the file work on the stainless spacer.. but not sure what happened to them.

 

[RogerP]

I would not leave it at 220. 400 minimum, 600 preferable. I've take a Cru-Forge V hunter blade to 600 before. It's more effort than other carbon steels, but not the end of the world that some make it out to be.

 

[ScottRoush]

Thanks for the input Roger.... I actually just took a break from the finishing station on this knife. Now that I'm satisfied with my 220 lines.. I do believe I will follow your suggestion.

 

[ScottRoush]

Also some progress on the guard. I forged the top part of the guard to get the flare and decided to leave just a touch of the 'mark of the maker' here.

 

[Redsnake1997]

Very nice! I have one of Dan Farr's Cru-Forge V hunters and really love the steel! I'm anxious to see how this one turns out but it looks like it's coming together quite nicely.

 

[pullrich]

Cool guard !

 

[ScottRoush]

I ended up taking the blade to a final finish of 400 with sand paper and then 600 grit loose silicon carbide with dull 400 paper. I'd love anybody's input on how something like this would look in a JS test line up. I understand that the wrought iron guard, with it's inherent flaws, may not be the best choice for testing material.

Thanks for looking folks!

 

[RogerP]

Man, that turned out really nice. That would look right at home in a JS test set for sure. Sweet little knife. What are the dimensions?