Beckerhead Knife Making and Modification Thread

plumberroy said:
Actually the 4 Michigan pattern axes were my goal. The Norlund hatchet and the true temper Dayton pattern on a 24 inch handle are just too handy not to be in the keepers pile
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I was on a quest for a good vintage Connecticut. Finally found one and have still never gotten around to re-hanging it. I've got a nice double-bit tho, and restored several others in the process. My firewood splitter is a really worn Mann Connecticut pattern that gave me the taste.
 
Held an impromptu knife making class with the neighbor kid Friday night.
I did one side modeling the steps, and he did the other side. Then I did cleanup and added handles with the material of his choosing.
4.5" long blade, just over 8.5" oal, 1" tall and ground out of an old file with frequent quenching in water whenever it got uncomfortable to the touch.IMG_20240707_094314499_HDR~2.jpg

The handle is a cutoff from a veneer glulam with micarta spacers. he wanted the stacked washer look in a synthetic material
 
daizee said:
I was on a quest for a good vintage Connecticut. Finally found one and have still never gotten around to re-hanging it. I've got a nice double-bit tho, and restored several others in the process. My firewood splitter is a really worn Mann Connecticut pattern that gave me the taste.
Click to expand...
The double bit to the left was bought new by my uncle just before WW2. I broke the handle out of it when I was about 13 throwing it. Dad was chewing me out and my uncle Ray who actually bought it,stepped in and reminded him that he had broken the original handle throwing it. My uncle Buford guided me through putting another handle in it. The current handle is number 4 that I have put in it. I need to order a house handle for it. Once the Internet came along I figured out it was a Michigan pattern. Later I discovered Michigan pattern was only pattern with both single and double bits . I picked up the cruiser size. Then a single bit Collins. I decided I needed a boys axe in it . The Dayton pattern boys axe on the 24 inch handle I got from someone on a forum. I had picked up a Camillus army knife with a date someone wanted, I said just send me something outdoors related of similar value. The Norlund hatchet was left in the church barn when someone used it to break in (they were caught) after the police decided they didn't need it for evidence I made a donation to childrens church for it and cleaned it up and rehung it. I have cut down some trees most would not attempt with an axe with the big double bit when I was young
 
1066vik said:
Held an impromptu knife making class with the neighbor kid Friday night.
I did one side modeling the steps, and he did the other side. Then I did cleanup and added handles with the material of his choosing.
4.5" long blade, just over 8.5" oal, 1" tall and ground out of an old file with frequent quenching in water whenever it got uncomfortable to the touch.View attachment 2608295

The handle is a cutoff from a veneer glulam with micarta spacers. he wanted the stacked washer look in a synthetic material
Click to expand...

Cool!
Teaching this stuff is a ton of fun.

I spent the weekend cleaning up the wood collection and prepping to send another box to K&G.
 
Still gotta do some hand-sanding on this handle, but the preview is looking pretty good:

IMG_20240717_184959_HDR-small.jpg
 
This worked better than it had any right to.
I started with the regular barbed center on the drive/chuck-end, turned a tenon to grab it by later, and most of the handle shape.

The grab-tenon (vs. the collar/tang tenon) turned out (har-har) to be exactly between the capacities of my big jaws and pen jaws, but I made the pen jaws work. Lesson learned.

Then I drilled a 1/4 hole through the tang-end with the tailstock chuck, including through the leftover chunk that would be discarded (drilled through that because it had the live-center's hole for reference!).

Used a bit of 1/4" stainless tubing as a guide in the hole saw because it aligns coaxially with the hole saw, unlike my drill bits, interestingly. I should have left the tubing another 1/8" longer, but it worked!

Then used a drill in the tailstock chuck to support the end of the piece as I cut through the waste collar to reveal the tang-end tenon.

IMG_20240804_171703_HDR-small.jpg


IMG_20240804_185202_HDR-small.jpg
 
GeofS said:
Finally found the time to make one of my BK11s better. Opened it up with the dremel, added extended Stoner G10, and modified the kydex sheath so the scales now fit. It’s ready…
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Looks real good!
 
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