Cholla and Birch

[P. McKinley]

Just an idea I'm playing with, but I'm intrigued so far.

Steel bolster/guard, and additional wood spacers would be added front and back. Hidden tang would be threaded and bolted. Cholla would be filled with black epoxy, and the integral holes would be given a depression, contoured a bit and highly polished.

Thoughts?

 

[P. McKinley]

I put a small crack in it, but I think I can repair it with epoxy and wood dust.

Here's a start:

 

[SDS]

That should look impressive when finished. Can't wait to see what you end up with.

SDS

 

[Shawn fu]

Interesting idea...cant wait to see how it turns out(and how many swear words you invent in the process)
Shawn

 

[P. McKinley]

Well.... at least I know I can do this. But, just not with these two pieces of wood.

The Cholla started out being to thin and it just got to thin after all the sanding and shaping. As well, I knew that the Birch had cracks in it and that I was taking a chance using this piece. I could probably build this up into a functional knife, but I'd be concerned about durability.

So..... this has been a test piece.

Now I can do the real one, just a bit different.

 

[Sam Salvati]

Cool concept!

 

[SBuzek]

INstead of birch try walnut or red oak,won't tend to split as much.
Cool concept wanna see it finished.
Stan

 

[SDS]

I think it's a really neat idea. It would look really interesting with the cholla stained a lighter or darker color than the outside wood and maybe even with a contrasting epoxy in the cholla.

That's thinking outside the box. Please post up more pictures as you work on this.

SDS

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Try this:
Take the cholla, and stabilize it. I would use Cyanoacrylic to do that ( it will take a lot). Then fill it with the dark resin by wrapping it in tape and pouring in the resin. Once all is cured, sand/turn/grind to as close to a perfect dowel as you can get. Take that and drill the handle block to a good fit, sanding the cholla more if needed. Make the cut out and sand the inside edges smooth. Epoxy up the cholla and handle block. Trim the ends and epoxy on the contrasting bolster and end cap wood pieces.Drill a pilot hole from end to end. Now you have a composite handle block that can be shaped and polished as one solid block. Once it is shaped and sanded smooth, drill out the pilot hole to fit the tang. This should avoid the problems with trying to work on thin sections. The black resin should slightly recess itself in the buffing and polishing.

Stacy

 

[mkhop]

Many years ago in a knife rag I saw a handle done with cholla and black apoxy and it look remarkable.

 

[P. McKinley]

Bladsmth - That's basically how I plan on doing it this time. However, I'm not exactly clear on what benefit would be gained by stabilizing the cholla. It will, after all, be virtually encased in epoxy.

If I choose to go that route, would I just immerse the cholla in a container of CA until it soaks it up and gets completely saturated?

Shawn Fu - I can assure you I have greatly expanded my purple vocabulary, and the creative oration of such, as a result of this project. My little daughter's ears are now well and truly charred.