Photos Cast copper handle for knife

[milesofalaska]

I've been trying ideas out for smaller knives that I can repeat and offer more then one, so decided to cast handles, doing bronze resin copper whatever I can cast and see how it works out. This is two skulls I have molds for that I lost wax cast. (copper is old 1920's waterpipes from Nennana Alaska) A Dire wolf and saber cat skull for those who are into fossils and skulls, Maybe the goth folks. I pinned a piece of ice age mammoth tooth on for end cap. Blade is 1095 carbon, a normal type custom blade, some wolf tracks are stamped into the steel during the heat treat process. Feels good in the hand, not overly heavy due to open design and fits in my standard neck knife sheath. One goal is to have knives for the tourist market that shops can reorder that are custom, my design but not time consuming due to cast handles from my molds. I have several ideas I am playing with.



so just here sharing maybe giving others an interesting direction to go.
Above another 'Mother Nature' cast handle with cut brooks range crystal maybe a ladies neck knife in sheath. Been using a wood burner with custom made ends to 'brand' the sheaths

 

[Murphy Slaw]

Mighty fine.

 

[Mick Boardman]

Cute letter opener

 

[milesofalaska]

Yes can be letter opener but in mymind 'knife' is a lot different. Made to hold up. 4 inch blade can be a general purpose tool for the average civilized person. Cut string, open boxes, stab rapists, and such. Notice the skull theme and the use of copper? Makes it good for slowing up zombies. Ya my normal work is hunters style and bowie (smile) But who needs those as functional tools these days? Who hunts for their own food anymore? I do but, it's less than 1% of our population? Neck knives avoids the discussion of cutting up cute little fuzzy creatures God made..... to eat them. (smile)

 

[VorpelSword]

Bronze will melt and cast at a lower temperature than pure copper. The final object will be more durable than Copper too.

Bronze is generally taken to be 90% Copper and 10% Tin. I might use savaged copper but buy the tin.

You might consider Aluminum for a different look with the same tools and techniques.

 

[milesofalaska]

Bronze will melt and cast at a lower temperature than pure copper. The final object will be more durable than Copper too.

Bronze is generally taken to be 90% Copper and 10% Tin. I might use savaged copper but buy the tin.

You might consider Aluminum for a different look with the same tools and techniques.

Thanks. I do use bronze a lot (melted down barge propellers) Copper is more of a challenge, more rare to see. It's not supposed to be possible to lost wax cast. I(the plaster can not handle the high temperature) I'm one of the few who figured out how. I feel, one way to get known, to make a living, is to stand out, be known for something unique hard to do, that can to not be easily copied in China. I never tried casting aluminum. Maybe because I have no free source. Being in Alaska 1,000 miles from any industry here are coast and shipping issues to consider. And.... we had a 'copper age' in the creation of knives. I do cast and make copper blade knives. This is an experiment in a more functional knife you can use. I'll move on to other ideas . Much of fhe jo to me is 'experimenting' see waht I can come up with. Picking up skills along the way. I fool with meteorites and will be in that mood soon. I hd. a'experiment with D2 steel' period. I move in and out of exotic damascuss or pattern weld. Been trading custom steel for my fossil mammoth ivory handle material that is one of my main sources of income (I have over 1,000 pounds, I move about that touch a year much is in trade) Try aluminum? Might just see where that goes. One advantage would be less weight! Thanks for input! Pic use of bronze and copper

 

[VorpelSword]

NICE!

I do understand that the goal is tom produce multiples of the same or similar handles. I'm guessing that mold models for snd casting or lost wax casting are options.

Now let me describe an experience I had many years ago. I was working offshore in the Persian/Arbien Gulf in the early 1980s. One rig I was set to had an active knife making group. One project I saw involved a blade with a thin tang. Brass iieces had been braised to the guard area and a piece of half round brass stock braised to the pommel end. These were flat sided and only roughly shaped. A piece of flat iron stock was strongly clamped to these pieces on each side and the whole assembly was clamped down to a steel workbench top. Then lumps of "scraped" (Nudg-Wink) Aluminum were melted in a cast iron pot and the molten Aluminum poured into the quick mold.

When cooled, the end result was this rough looking block of Aluminum and /brass with this finished blade poking out.. Over the next week, hand tools were used tocsrtve tis down into a really nice polished handle. I am thinking that with more sophistication, something like the would be possible that would result as in a more nearly finished object.

 

[milesofalaska]

NICE!

I do understand that the goal is tom produce multiples of the same or similar handles. I'm guessing that mold models for snd casting or lost wax casting are options.

Now let me describe an experience I had many years ago. I was working offshore in the Persian/Arbien Gulf in the early 1980s. One rig I was set to had an active knife making group. One project I saw involved a blade with a thin tang. Brass iieces had been braised to the guard area and a piece of half round brass stock braised to the pommel end. These were flat sided and only roughly shaped. A piece of flat iron stock was strongly clamped to these pieces on each side and the whole assembly was clamped down to a steel workbench top. Then lumps of "scraped" (Nudg-Wink) Aluminum were melted in a cast iron pot and the molten Aluminum poured into the quick mold.

When cooled, the end result was this rough looking block of Aluminum and /brass with this finished blade poking out.. Over the next week, hand tools were used tocsrtve tis down into a really nice polished handle. I am thinking that with more sophistication, something like the would be possible that would result as in a more nearly finished object.

I had similar ideas, if the molten metal like aluminum is lower then the melting point of the other metals. I just have not had time to explore this fully yet. Off in another direction right now. I was even thinking of pouring my own custom resin around the tang guard and pommel in a mold. Easier cheaper lighter weigh. Resins in general getting to are more accepted in the industry I do agree with you some 3rd world country methods work and are not explored well here in the US. This is some custom resin work I came up with Picture resin and mammoth tooth handle