Botswana 1st Blades

[Tim-Gabz]

Botswana 1st Blades

This is my latest attempt making knives. Still trying to find out what works and what doesn’t. I really need a proper belt grinder. The nicks are considerably fewer than my first attempt. The polishing is by hand, using finer and finer paper.

12C27. Linen micarta or Warthog tusk. I am now trying to find someone who does laser engraving for a logo.

Camp Knife:




Kitchen Knife for home use:



Warthog hunter for Friend, he donated the tusks, really not as good a handle material as originally thought:





My utility knife for when I travel, works nicely, had to rehandle when I managed to source micarta as the original was general stained wood:




The glue is very difficult to clean off and comparing against some of the customs that I have accumulated is a bit disheartening!

 

[Keith Montgomery]

Is it possible to see larger images of your knives? Even when you click on the thumbnails, the imageshack image is still very small. I can't get a good look at the area were the handle meets the blade.

I like the shape of the camp and warthog tusk knives. The other two look like they would work well for their intended purposes.

You need to keep working at it. Over time stuff that you now find disheartening will become second nature.

 

[Doberman_Dave]

Thanks for showing your work and congratulations on making some knives. I've tried a few and still get glue everywhere. Before gluing, I dab on a bit of wax with a Q-tip in areas I especially don't want glue to stick.

The utility knife caught my eye the most. What do you use it for most and how did you go about designing it?

Dave

 

[Tim-Gabz]

First I cut and formed the outline of the handle. Using a 1mm thick blade I cut deep into the handle. I widened the groove enough to accept the tang tightly. I then bedded the tang with Alcolin epoxy, very well mixed. I then used a thin, bench, belt sander to excavate the hand profiles.

Camp:

Camp tang profile:



Kitchen knife:


Warthog Hunter:


Utility:
Dave, this was designed around what I need in a small utility knife whilst travelling and living in self catering units. I allowed colleagues to use it and changed the handle a few times to get this design. Thanks for the wax idea.

Camp&Warthog hunter:


Pimp dagger and Slim Bowie:
The bowie is pinned with titanium drill bits and occasional proper pin material.
My wife named the other as the Pimp dagger, I wonder why?





Why do the books, well written, make it look so perfect and straight forward and exclude advice such as tape up your knuckles before you start or you will need to afterwards?