Damascus Camp Knife WIP

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Burt Foster said:
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Here's the blade clamped in my handy dandy little knife vise.
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I'm not a knife maker. And I've seen the same way (i.e. as shown in the above picture) done by other knife makers as well. Is't it looks highly dangerous :confused: I never want to hear any knife maker accidentally stumble and fall down just in front of that sticking out knife .. please :grumpy: I think there are few security measures not being strictly observed by some of knife makers .. e.g. not wearing a grinding mask .. not wearing gloves .. clamping the knife in such a way that the knife is sticking out dangerously :cool: Any explanation on it .. Burt?

Burt Foster said:
I mark then so they can't get mixed up

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Front and Back. Front for me is the side where my logo is etched on the blade.
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The 1st time I saw the above picture (i.e. and at that time I haven't read yet the explanation below the picture) my brain translated the abbreviation characters wrongly .. I wonder why Burt marked them in the wrong sequence as F and B while it suppose to be marked as B and F .. whereby B is for Burt and F is for Foster :o

Burt Foster said:
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I pin the scales on the knife with steel pins. These pins, like the ones in the bolsters are just temporary, but they keep everything from moving around while I'm shaping the handle.
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I guess this temporary pinning of the bolsters and the scales is one of the step which is seldomly done by other knife makers .. am I correct Burt :confused:

And lots of thanks Burt .. your WIP thread helps me much to know more about your handmade knife :D
 
mohd said:
clamping the knife in such a way that the knife is sticking out dangerously :cool: Any explanation on it .. Burt?
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Theres a LONG list of things that can easily damage fragile humans in a knifemaker's shop

you just have to learn to be careful










and you never LEAVE the knife in the vice like that, just while your using it
 
Mohd,

Stephan is right. There's just a lot of things we do that aren't that smart. People are rather soft compared to sharp knives, and I know I could could get cut bad if not worse by tripping and landing on it. I never leave it in there and walk away. You can make a support from something thick like wood so that if you tripped it could only go in so far.

But I probably won't. ;)

This is why we make knives and don't work for NASA. We're not that bright.
 
Burt Foster said:
Mohd,

Stephan is right. There's just a lot of things we do that aren't that smart. People are rather soft compared to sharp knives, and I know I could could get cut bad if not worse by tripping and landing on it. I never leave it in there and walk away. You can make a support from something thick like wood so that if you tripped it could only go in so far.

But I probably won't. ;)

This is why we make knives and don't work for NASA. We're not that bright.
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I was thinking cutting the scales on the band saw looked somewhat daring. I would have quessed a jig was used to keep things held precisely.

BUT...the results are certainly impressive.

This is NO DOUBT the best WIP thread i've had the pleasure of seeing.

Thanks again Burt.

Peter
 
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Shaping the handle with a flexible belt without the platen.


129.jpg

Handle as shaped before hand sanding.


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The whole handle, bolsters, ivory and exposed steel are sanded to 600 grit.


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After sanding, the ivory is polished.


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The temporary pins are carefully removed from the ivory, and the scales removed.


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The bolsters are quickly etched to see where the pins are. The pins are then driven out with a special punch. You can see that the pins have just started being driven out toward the rear.
 
Burt Foster said:
David, that would be fine with me. You're a wizard with making collages of images, so whatever you could do would be far better than what I'd come up with. When we're all done, I'll get you all the images. Thanks!
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GREAT, Burt!
Please NUMBER the chosen images 001, 002 etc., and send them
to my email or shipping address found in the Comtact Information
section in any one of my books.....

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)
 
ddd said:
GREAT, Burt!
Please NUMBER the chosen images 001, 002 etc., and send them
to my email or shipping address found in the Comtact Information
section in any one of my books.....

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)
Click to expand...

David,

I was saying to myself that someone should publish a "best WIP threads on BF-book". This could be you or CKCA, maybe...

Patrick
 
Patrick M. said:
David,

I was saying to myself that someone should publish a "best WIP threads on BF-book". This could be you or CKCA, maybe...

Patrick
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Well Patrick, I had already thought about the publishing of a custom-knife related
Work In Progress book, and actually did so, displaying about 100 WIP sequences
in my book "The Art of Custom Knifemaking" (2006).

In my new series, "Custom Knifemakers of the World", I also photograph a WIP
for one whole section in each book. In Edmund Davidson's book this section is spread
over 32 pages. In Tim Hancock's book, the section of making a Dogbone Dagger
covers 64 pages!!

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)
 
Yes you're right regarding Davidson and Hancock. I'm just figuring out that this kind of thread would also be nice to look at in a book. I'm probably going to have this one printed. It is the best ont I've seen so far !
 
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A little bowl of ferric chloride with the bolsters in it.


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My shop was very cold this morning and the ferric was 38 deg F. So I took the tube with the knife in it and the little bowl and set them on my heater until they warmed up to 70 deg or so.


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After probably 4-5 etching cycles, I'm almost there. I rub the blade out and buff just to see what I've go. Fancy buffer, huh?


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Here's what I have by now.


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I etch my logo on the front and my MS with the year on the back.


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I set the blade in a tray with about 1/4" of water and slowly walk down the spine with a propane torch.


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This is what it loks like when I'm done. This will leave the blade about 58 RC at the edge and closer to 50 RC at the spine.


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Then I etch one more time...


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And rub it out one last time with 1500 grit paper.
 
Have had some time to go through your complete thread to date, Burt. Not many adjectives left. Very educational. Your opening comment, about this not being necessarily complex, but rather simple design, just goes to show how 'simple' can be defined in a custom maker's shop. This very detailed WIP is a treat. Thanks!

- Joe
 
That is looking so great, Burt. The finished piece is sure to be nothing short of fantastic! :)
 
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Burt Foster said:
David,

Would you want full-size images, or are these good enough for what you're planning?

Burt
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Burt,

I am not really planning anything :) I just offered to help
you organize the pictures in pages where you can have the
captions below each picture or on an opposite page.

Here is in example with your picture #128-133.
Slight color correction and Brightness/Contrast and they look
good (also because they looked good to begin with).....

Now that you see one option, what would you like
me to do so that you will have a nicely organized WIP sequence?

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)


picture.JPG
 
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I put the bolsters, etched the same as the blade, back on the blade with small nickel silver pins. I leave the pins a tad long and dome them with a small hammer.


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A close-up of the domed pins before any polishing.


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Handle scales with epoxy and some black epoxy dye powder to turn te epoxy black.


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Scales are clamped to the blade and the lanyard tube inserted and epoxied. The little bent pins are just for alignment. They come out before the epoxy sets.


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And finally, nickel silver pins are put in the handle and carefully peened in place to match the bolsters.


Next, the finished knife...
 
just like that, eh?
You make it look so easy:)
 
Burt Foster is a dangerous man, a knife exploded on me when I was in his shop. My knife not his.
 
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