Fairly Knives Chat - Check in and say Hi! Post whatever here...

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Xander, looking good man, I really like that fighter style! You must have been working hard, that is a lot to do in one day. It usually takes me a day or two if I'm lucky to get a large knife ready for heat treat.

Today I started off by contouring the scales on two big knifes, a huge wharncliffe fighter/chopper and a .049 zero ground kitchen slicer/combat/camp knife. The big fighter got my own special homemade black glow scales and the kitchen combat got some thick paper micarta scales and solid pins. I got everything ready to go and glued them up. After that I did some touch up grinding on a couple of knives and then cleaned them up. I cord wrapped one and have the wrap tacked into place but not soaked. I etched 2 kiridashis with my makers mark and triple treated them with plum brown. They are neutralized and get to sit for the night. That took me from 9-7, I was even doing stuff during my lunch break. :D

It is wild how long knifemaking takes! Not fast that's for sure!
 
By the way I got the kitchen knife to "tree topping" sharp, it will cut hair without even pressing it to the skin! At .049 it chops surprisingly well, a light wack will sink it maybe 1" into a 2x4! :eek: It is about a foot long and is feather light!
 
Well dude, I worked through dinner. Got a few deep pits from forging that I would have had to grind the hell out of to get out, so I left em. Time to take a shower and then finish the handle, it has one coat of CA on it now.

Long clip bowie
1080 steel
16 loa
10 tip to plunge
.25 at the spine
Copper pins
Myrtle wood dried for ~75 years with a slight fishtail on the end of the handle

2011-08-10194511.jpg



C'mon Daniel, maybe you need more caffeine! Hahaha j/k! :D

Whadaya think?


-Xander
 
Xander that is looking sweet! I love the copper! 75 year aged wood, cool stuff!

Lol more caffeine is right, I'm going to go to bed. :D Great job!
 
Yeah the wood came from my grandfathers shop, it was kiln dried years before he got a ton of it from a shop that closed down. This stuff is hard as a rock! Doesn't burn from sanding, which is nice and finishes well. Ill see if I can dig up a pic of my first knife (from a blank, you have my first actual knife!) Which I did a tru oil finish on and cut it so the end grain is showing. Reminds me of ash wood.


-Xander

Found a pic of my knife with the myrtle wood end grain...
DSCN1991.jpg
 
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I like that second knife also, cool filework! That wood looks great, what was it intended for? I can't wait to see the fighter with the handle finished!

coffee time.
 
Daniel Fairly Knives said:
I like that second knife also, cool filework! That wood looks great, what was it intended for? I can't wait to see the fighter with the handle finished!

coffee time.
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Structurally, it is very similar to ash. A good hard, wood. I have mostly seen turnings done with it and that's what my grandfather used to do. The wood lathe I used for my disc grinder came from his shop as well when he passed away about 7 years ago.

Just dropped the rugrat off at daycare, now to head home fo coffee and to finish that handle.


-Xander
 
fast14riot said:
Structurally, it is very similar to ash. A good hard, wood. I have mostly seen turnings done with it and that's what my grandfather used to do. The wood lathe I used for my disc grinder came from his shop as well when he passed away about 7 years ago.

Just dropped the rugrat off at daycare, now to head home fo coffee and to finish that handle.


-Xander
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Cool, I forgot about the lathe, I thought it could have been used on boats, it is nice looking stuff.

Back home they have a cool tree, Crepe Myrtle, I bet the wood is nice. Yesterday my parents were telling me they have wild schezuan peppercorn trees on their property, they are a type of ash. They also have osage orange and mesquite, they could have a knife wood farm, lol.
 
Hey Daniel, I did some more shaping on the handle this morning, pretty happy with it now. I think I am going to use truoil with the armorall application method on this one.

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-Xander
 
Daniel Fairly Knives said:
Cool, I forgot about the lathe, I thought it could have been used on boats, it is nice looking stuff.

Back home they have a cool tree, Crepe Myrtle, I bet the wood is nice. Yesterday my parents were telling me they have wild schezuan peppercorn trees on their property, they are a type of ash. They also have osage orange and mesquite, they could have a knife wood farm, lol.
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It can be used as a structural timber on boats, but it does move quite a bit with moisture and rots badly. Better suited for decorative pieces. We have Crepe Myrtle all over here as a decorative tree. The streets in my neighborhood are lined with them about every 20 feet! Really pretty when in bloom. On my way home I noticed a large branch fell from a maple tree down he block, I may go take a look to see if it is any good.

What are you a Texan? Mesquite burl is just beautiful. DanCo was telling me about Texas Ebony, not as dark, but very similar. He said he has access to a bunch of it and might start selling it. Can't wait to see it.


-Xander
 
Cool! Good looking knife there...

Yes, Texan here, they do have all sorts of good wood there, lately I have been paying attention and we have no decent handle wood here besides maybe apple.

I have 3 large mesquite sections aging out from the biggest mesquite I have ever seen. It looks like a low yielder but high quality.

Texas has the ebony too, most Texans don't even know but they have a lot of nice wood there. I hope DanCo sells some, sounds cool.

I have collected a lot of handle material here, all gemstone material! One day I'll make some art knives... I have some killer stones, dino bone and other cool stuff. I used to collect rare stones for a living, mining and exploring and stuff...

I'm not even sure if I'm making sense I have been on the road all day and am exhausted...
 
Been editing for my wife all day. Started stitching up a sheath today, but couldn't even get it finished. The quarter ends next week. Maybe tomorrow, but I have a boat to get ready for sale.

My bird likes to hang out on the outside of his cage, but he figured out yesterday that he can go round and round on the brim of my hat.

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He's a good companion when I'm working on a sheath, he loves to chew up the scraps. He did bite me on the ear pretty hard though. I like having my animals around when working on things, keeps me calm and focused. Usually the bird and my rabbit are running around the house, while my dog Radar is outside and hangs out in the shop with me.

What keeps you going through the day?


-Xander
 
fast14riot said:
What keeps you going through the day?


-Xander
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Caffeine.

Lol, my cat likes to hang out outside of the shop like a sentry, he cracks me up!

I think what keeps me going in knife making is the fact that I really like to design knives, I'm always excited to be working on something new or trying to improve a design I like.
 
Daniel Fairly Knives said:
Caffeine.

Lol, my cat likes to hang out outside of the shop like a sentry, he cracks me up!

I think what keeps me going in knife making is the fact that I really like to design knives, I'm always excited to be working on something new or trying to improve a design I like.
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HA, you need more caffeine! I have only one problem with knife making, I get so excited when working on things I stop one to start another. I have about 4 in progress right now.

oh and that fighter is all done, thought you might want to check it out http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/872909-Long-clip-bowie-3-PICS-ADDED

Not everything is what it seems...


-Xander
 
fast14riot said:
HA, you need more caffeine! I have only one problem with knife making, I get so excited when working on things I stop one to start another. I have about 4 in progress right now.

oh and that fighter is all done, thought you might want to check it out http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/872909-Long-clip-bowie-3-PICS-ADDED

Not everything is what it seems...


-Xander
Click to expand...

Yes! You had me 100% fooled on that one! Awesome job! I was wondering how you finished something "so big" that fast, lol! :D
 
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