Customized Micarta Steel Warrior

A

augustus88

Joined
Oct 13, 2006
Messages
781
I just finished my first ever trial slipjoint customization. I want a Case CV or Carbon Steel Boker with Canvas Micarta scales, but I didn't want to start by tearing apart a nice knife. I've never taken apart a slipjoint before so I wasn't sure I would be capable of a decent job. I started out with a Steel Warrior large Trapper with peach-seed jigged bone. The only parts I kept were the blades and the springs. I replaced the thin brass liners with much thicker nickel-silver. I used nickel silver pins for the blades, springs and scales. The bolsters are thicker and whiter nickel-silver that I fluted with a round file. I replaced the original shield with a simple nickel silver disk (pinned). The scales are Green Canvas Micarta. I sanded the "Steel Warrior" and "China" off the blades. The only thing that says Steel Warrior is the tang stamp. The blades sharpened up quite nicely.

I think I'm ready to tackle the nicer knives now!:D

Warrior.jpg


Warrior1.jpg


Warrior2.jpg


Warrior3.jpg
 
Great job, Augustus. Very impressive.
 
You put lip stick on a pig and turned it in to a beauty queen.

Nice looking work....good pics as well.
 
Very nicely done. Just one note. That's not a Stockman ;).
 
kiahs said:
Very nicely done. Just one note. That's not a Stockman ;).
Click to expand...

Ooooops! Meant to write trapper.:o I'm going to do my Case CV Stockman next. Guess I got a little ahead of myself. I just can't stand the yellow synthetic that most people seem to love. I also have a Boker Black Delrin Carbon Steel Trapper just begging for new scales and liners.

Thanks for the kind words folks!
 
Nice work augustus88:thumbup:

Since you basically rebuilt the knife, on the next one, don't stop there. There is enough meat on that blade to thin it down a bit so that it will cut through things better. Go slow with some water nearby and don't "blue" the blade. I'm assuming you have a belt grinder...it would be difficult to do this without one.

Your work is good enough you might think about building knives from the ground up.:D
 
augustus,Really nice,It looks like you did a great job.That's your first one ? Fantastic.
-Vince
 
Sword and Shield said:
Excellently done. I'll have to try this sometime- any tips or guides?
Click to expand...

Taking the knife apart was pretty easy with a heavy duty utility knife blade and a rubber mallet. Slip the utility blade(centered) between the liner and knife blade like a "T". Tap on opposite bolster with the mallet. The utility knife blade should be between the slipjoint and the workbench. Keep tapping until you cut all of the pins holding the knife together. You will eventually need to slide the knife down between the faces of a vise as you tap.

Chris Crawford's website has an excellent tutorial on how to make a slipjoint knife. This really helped for everything else.
http://www.chriscrawfordknives.com/

KnifeHead,
Not sure I want the blades any thinner. They came to a wicked sharp edge that stays shaving sharp for quite a while. I hacked up some cardboard as a test. I like the look of the thicker blades on this knife considering the thick liners. I don't own a belt grinder anyway. My tools consist of a table saw, drill press, 8" bench grinder, 4"x36" belt sander and a bunch of hand tools.

My next tools will probably be a knife grinder and bandsaw. I'm guessing that I'll be building knives from the ground up before long.:D
 
Let's move this over to the appropriate venue so others may gain from Augustus' upgrades.
 
augustus88 said:
KnifeHead,
Not sure I want the blades any thinner. They came to a wicked sharp edge that stays shaving sharp for quite a while. I hacked up some cardboard as a test. I like the look of the thicker blades on this knife considering the thick liners. I don't own a belt grinder anyway. My tools consist of a table saw, drill press, 8" bench grinder, 4"x36" belt sander and a bunch of hand tools.

My next tools will probably be a knife grinder and bandsaw. I'm guessing that I'll be building knives from the ground up before long.:D
Click to expand...

Well then that makes your accomplishment more impressive, considering the limited tools you have available. Keep it up:thumbup::cool:
 
Let me know if you want to start doing this professionally, not good at crafts myself but have a couple of knives I would pay to upgrade.
 
I have a Buck 3 blade stockman that has worn smooth Delrin scales. The bolsters could use polishing or replacing, too. I've always been a fan of micarta. It's one tough material.
 
Very nice work Augustus, I really like that green Micarta.
I've been doing some tinkering myself, now you've encouraged me to try the nickle silver liners and pins out. Thanks!!

But take it easy on my yellerz:D

I look forward to seeing your work in the future.

Void the warranty!!:thumbup:
 
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