- Joined
- Mar 30, 2015
- Messages
- 547
As a first time participant, I was very excited to go to the Bark River facility to make my first knife. As I arrived at 8 am I was surprised to see a packed parking lot and the number of people there. I was one of about 65 people that were fortunate enough to attend, one of the largest they have ever had. I met people who were local and many that had traveled a long distance to get there.
We had donuts and coffee right away before sitting down to be given the days schedule and run down of events. After this informational meeting we were given our safety kit (eyewear, ear plugs, and dust mask). We then went to pick our materials. We could choose any existing blank they had in stock, or you could pick a piece of flat steel and draw your own. We were encouraged to use a blank with the numbers that were there, but some experienced guys did their own. As a first timer, I had already knew what I wanted to do.
I chose a Fox River 3v blank with black g10 handles. The handles were machined to start so I was able to skip a few steps compared to picking rough material. My goal was to turn the Fox River into a modified Imp. The first picture shows the outline of the imp, with the front of the blade chopped so I had less material to grind. After chopping the front, I took the blank to a grinder and worked back the material to the inside edge of my marks. Once I had this done I went and glued the handle material on, while adding the corby bolts. Once that was set I took it to a belt to bring the excess handle material in, then start to shape the handle. Once the handle was shaped to my liking, I went through the progression of belts and grinders to give the final finish and fine tune the shape to my hand.
With those steps done, I had to get the blade ground and put a final edge on the knife. I did let the employees there do all of these steps while I watched how they did it. Once that was done I brought it in the back to have it cleaned, engraved, and to pick a sheath. The knife is a perfect size for a pocket carry so I went with that sheath and I do plan to make a kydex to horizontal belt carry it too. Once done I realized I should have not put a pin in the back. Instead, it should be a lanyard hole. This is a modification I plan on doing myself some time soon.
Overall a great experience. I met some great guys building knifes and some great guys who were builders like Zoe Crist. No big egos or know-it-alls were found, just hard working down to earth guys. They also had a banquet that night where the participants picked winners in a few categories of knives. I did have a previous commitment that night so I did not attend the dinner.
I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted while I progressed. With as many people that were there, I was trying to hustle along through each step. If anything, that was the only downside was some of the bottle necks in steps.
We had donuts and coffee right away before sitting down to be given the days schedule and run down of events. After this informational meeting we were given our safety kit (eyewear, ear plugs, and dust mask). We then went to pick our materials. We could choose any existing blank they had in stock, or you could pick a piece of flat steel and draw your own. We were encouraged to use a blank with the numbers that were there, but some experienced guys did their own. As a first timer, I had already knew what I wanted to do.
I chose a Fox River 3v blank with black g10 handles. The handles were machined to start so I was able to skip a few steps compared to picking rough material. My goal was to turn the Fox River into a modified Imp. The first picture shows the outline of the imp, with the front of the blade chopped so I had less material to grind. After chopping the front, I took the blank to a grinder and worked back the material to the inside edge of my marks. Once I had this done I went and glued the handle material on, while adding the corby bolts. Once that was set I took it to a belt to bring the excess handle material in, then start to shape the handle. Once the handle was shaped to my liking, I went through the progression of belts and grinders to give the final finish and fine tune the shape to my hand.
With those steps done, I had to get the blade ground and put a final edge on the knife. I did let the employees there do all of these steps while I watched how they did it. Once that was done I brought it in the back to have it cleaned, engraved, and to pick a sheath. The knife is a perfect size for a pocket carry so I went with that sheath and I do plan to make a kydex to horizontal belt carry it too. Once done I realized I should have not put a pin in the back. Instead, it should be a lanyard hole. This is a modification I plan on doing myself some time soon.
Overall a great experience. I met some great guys building knifes and some great guys who were builders like Zoe Crist. No big egos or know-it-alls were found, just hard working down to earth guys. They also had a banquet that night where the participants picked winners in a few categories of knives. I did have a previous commitment that night so I did not attend the dinner.
I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted while I progressed. With as many people that were there, I was trying to hustle along through each step. If anything, that was the only downside was some of the bottle necks in steps.
I have purchased a few things from you guys.