Damascus + Ringed Gidgee Fighter

Thank you very much guys! :) The kind words are much appreciated. :)

Xander- I can appreciate that... I have always felt it's hard to beat a clean satin finished blade with a ss guard and hardwood handle. :)

Derrick- Angi picked the music... she said it sounded like stripper music. Hmmm... ;)

Stuart- I got the Wyosheen from Sheridan Leather http://www.sheridanleather.com/WyoSheen_p/wyosheen.htm Unfortunately, they don't ship outside the states. :(

As far as the spacers go... I had the knife done with a different guard, but I hated that first guard. So I started over. I decided to put the copper in to help "tie the colors together." All the way through construction I worked really hard to keep the ss, copper, and guard junction flush and super smooth. Right before final assembly I realized the junctions were too smooth, because you couldn't really see there were two spacers. So I "broke" the edges with 1500X paper then buffed again. I'm much happier with how they are now.

Joe- The ladder was pressed in the billet at about 3/8" and left me with about a 1/4" billet for the blade.


Thank you for taking the time to look and comments guys, I really appreciate it! :)
 
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Very nice Nick. You have excelled yourself with this one. It wouldbe a great addition to any collection!!
 
Thank you so much guys! :)

I wanted to say THANKS to Mark Farley at BurlSource for finding the Ringed Gidgee for me, and THANKS to Russ Andrews for sharing his finishing technique for this wood with me! :) :) :)

Which, BTW, if anyone is interested in went like this:

I usually hand sand wood handles up to 1200-2000 (depending on wood) and then buff very quickly on the Baldor. Gidgee will take on a nice polish if you do that, but it hides the figure. So I hand sanded up through the grits and started using Tru-Oil while sanding after 1200X. I sanded through 2500X grit, then moved on to 3M polishing cloth.

Final finish was done by lightly buffing by hand, with a clean cloth and some white compound.

It takes quite a bit longer this way, but it definitely does the wood more justice than buffing under power.

Thanks again everyone! :)
 
Nick, I use Tru-Oil quite often on many types of wood, to speed things up you can use original Armorall as a catalyst to speed things up. I can get 20 coats done in a few days that way. But I do recommend the final couple coats be done without the armorall because it sometimes will gain a slight milky color, but the last few coats will eliminate that.


-Xander
 
Awesome knife Nick...& thanks for doin justice to one of our Aussie treasures.
Cheers Bruce

NickWheeler said:
Thank you so much guys! :)

I wanted to say THANKS to Mark Farley at BurlSource for finding the Ringed Gidgee for me, and THANKS to Russ Andrews for sharing his finishing technique for this wood with me! :) :) :)

Which, BTW, if anyone is interested in went like this:

I usually hand sand wood handles up to 1200-2000 (depending on wood) and then buff very quickly on the Baldor. Gidgee will take on a nice polish if you do that, but it hides the figure. So I hand sanded up through the grits and started using Tru-Oil while sanding after 1200X. I sanded through 2500X grit, then moved on to 3M polishing cloth.

Final finish was done by lightly buffing by hand, with a clean cloth and some white compound.

It takes quite a bit longer this way, but it definitely does the wood more justice than buffing under power.

Thanks again everyone! :)
Click to expand...
 
Thanks again guys! :)

Xander- that's nuts, I never would have thought of trying that. It's worth a shot, thanks! :)

I bought the damascus stud at Tandy Leather Factory... :p ;) Just kidding... I made it. I turned it on a lathe, but you don't have to have a lathe to make one.

I used to make finials without a lathe. Here's a quick run-down--- get the side that will be threaded nice and flat, then drill & tap a hole on that side (I used 8-32 which works great and just happens to be what Paul Long wants if you send him a custom stud for a sheath :) ).

Then you can put a long screw or piece of all-thread in the tapped hole (something to hang onto) and rough out your shape with the grinder and/or files. Once you get it somewhat close to being round/symmetrical, you can chuck up the all-thread in a drill. That will allow you to spin the stud against a running belt or disc and make it symmetrical and smooth.

For the inside radius, you can chuck it up in a drill press and use a sharp chainsaw file. To get a nice finish, crank the drill press up to ballz-out, and use sandpaper and shop rolls with a little oil. You'll need to rip the shop roll down to REALLY narrow strips to get into the groove (like 1/8 - 3/16" wide strips).

Don't forget the damascus needs to be hardened to get the best etch out of it.

I'm 99% sure that John White showed how he makes a finial withOUT a lathe in one of his WIPs here, and if I recall correctly, it was pretty similar to what I described above. :)

Now, if you have a lathe... you can do cool things like make groove cutting bits, radius turning gizmos, or like I did with this stud--- use a 4 jaw chuck and turn a round part from a square bar of damascus. ;) :D



Bruce Barnett- Thanks buddy! :) I love the wood! I remember Steve and Sean describing a trip to round up some Gidgee :eek: and it made me appreciate it even more.

Bruce Bump- Thanks my friend! That means a lot coming from you. :) I'm not anywhere near Paul's level yet, but I am learning and really enjoying the sheath work now... whereas I used to really dread it. Paul's videos are a huge part of that change.


Thanks guys!!! :)
 
Nick, if you want some tips when trying it out, let me know and I will give you the run down. I do my gun stocks this way too. I usually end up puttin 5-7 coats on a day, but some people can do 12-15 a day this way. I like the final product done how I do a little better.

Also, don't use the Tru-Oil right from the bottle if using Armorall, it will harden the entire bottle if you get even a little bit in there! I always pour a little bit into a cup and work from that.


-Xander
 
Nick, thats just stunning. I love the look of the Gidgee with that pattern and as usual you nailed the guard. Thanks for sharing.

Chris
 
Fantastic knife Nick as always! Love the Gidgee and the copper spacer blends very nicely. Great minds eh ! :D
Cheers Keith
 
Lots to love about this knife. I keep going back to the guard. The flute and scallop work are simple but add real detail and dimension. Looks great both unsheathed and sheathed.

The materials all complement each other and look really wonderful together to my eyes. Boomin' damascus!

Another Wheeler I'd love to own. Gonna get me one someday!
 
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