Custom R-11

U

Ugly Duck

Joined
Oct 6, 2008
Messages
568
R-11.jpg


I love the R-10 (my EDC). So I had this Sirupati user that was developing a crack at the cho & decided to salvage it by turning it into an "R-11." The "tang" is about half the size of the handle, running from the spine at the beginning of the handle & ending at the bottom of the butt. The guard is steel-reinforced denim micarta. I cut some grooves into the tang & hammered some steel ribs into it as an anchor for fiberglass & resin that I sandwiched in between two slabs of fossil whale bone. I figured I'd disguise the crude construction by capping the pins with California red abalone. Balance point is 1/4" in front of the handle. The spine is 3/8", so its a rugged dang knife.
 
Lots of work involved it the project and it looks like time well spent. :thumbup:

I particularly like the finger guard style, and yes, the Abalone looks good as well. :)
 
Nice Job ,UD!
It's got some nice flowing lines to it.
looks like it's going to be a great user.
 
Great work:) That's a knife meant to last 10 lifetimes.:thumbup::thumbup:
 
Sweet!

I wish I could see it better. Did you make your own denim micarta?

The abalone looks great.
 
Xmodius said:
I wish I could see it better. Did you make your own denim micarta?
Click to expand...

I'll try & get a better pic tomorrow.

Here's what I did for the guard... I wanted to use micarta, but I wanted to make sure it wouldn't break where it gets thin down by the finger guard. So instead of pinning a slab of micata to the tang & carving the finger guard, I came up with this idea. I cut a transverse notch into the spine & hammered a steel rod in tight. Then I bent the rod down both sides of the tang & twisted them together underneath (broke a pair of pliers before I realized I needed bigger tools). I soaked long strips of denim in 60-minute epoxy, squeezed out any air & then wrapped them in situ. Wrapped 'em real tight till epoxy oozed out. After it set up, I shaped it with a dremel. The finger guard has the double-rod twist inside of it... no way will it break off.
 
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