- Joined
- Dec 5, 2009
- Messages
- 1,528
First pics!
So, this knife has been through several incarnations since I bought it. First it was stripped and had a really cool multi layer patina on it with some wicked depth and stippled stock scales. Then I sanded that all off and hand sanded the blade to 800 grit trying to remove as much of those tooling marks as I could. Loved the ultra smooth hand finish...still rocking the stippled scales but trying to decide on something different.
Well, I finally finished a few other way over due projects and pulled this guy out to get back into it...in preparation, I've been rereading through every thread on customizing I could get my hands on....sadly, older threads are sans pictures
. Anyway...first thing's first, I deramped the blade and ground the clip transition into a more graceful curve, like a drop point. I dremel'ed in a shallow choil and ground off the skull crusher extension. Next is the foreguard, it's getting flattened and the handle curvature is getting profiled a little different. Now on to the finish.
I've seen some really cool acid etched forge marks on the flats of knives and decided I'd start with that. So I made my pattern in paint, let it dry then went over it with fingernail polish. Then into ferric chloride/vinegar mix for about an hour. First thing I noticed was the acid had eat through the resist along spots on the bevels. Scrubbing it all off actually revealed some neat character as well as the rough forge finish I was going for. Awesome. Next I thought I'd try different variations of a patina...but couldn't get anything to do exactly what I wanted...what I wound up doing was lightly darkening the steel which was fine. So I decided I'd try and apply some straight yellow mustard along the edge similar to how clay is laid on before doing the quench. I let the mustard sit for an hour and a half and scrubbed it off. Wow...this is exactly the look I was going for!! The blade has a killer forged look as well as this wicked San Mai laminated steel look due to the mustard etch.
Next up is the handle...I have some nice, old, quilted black walnut on white G10 liners that I'm going to work with tomorrow...probably use some thick hammered copper pins to accent with. Whatcha think??
So, this knife has been through several incarnations since I bought it. First it was stripped and had a really cool multi layer patina on it with some wicked depth and stippled stock scales. Then I sanded that all off and hand sanded the blade to 800 grit trying to remove as much of those tooling marks as I could. Loved the ultra smooth hand finish...still rocking the stippled scales but trying to decide on something different.
Well, I finally finished a few other way over due projects and pulled this guy out to get back into it...in preparation, I've been rereading through every thread on customizing I could get my hands on....sadly, older threads are sans pictures
. Anyway...first thing's first, I deramped the blade and ground the clip transition into a more graceful curve, like a drop point. I dremel'ed in a shallow choil and ground off the skull crusher extension. Next is the foreguard, it's getting flattened and the handle curvature is getting profiled a little different. Now on to the finish.I've seen some really cool acid etched forge marks on the flats of knives and decided I'd start with that. So I made my pattern in paint, let it dry then went over it with fingernail polish. Then into ferric chloride/vinegar mix for about an hour. First thing I noticed was the acid had eat through the resist along spots on the bevels. Scrubbing it all off actually revealed some neat character as well as the rough forge finish I was going for. Awesome. Next I thought I'd try different variations of a patina...but couldn't get anything to do exactly what I wanted...what I wound up doing was lightly darkening the steel which was fine. So I decided I'd try and apply some straight yellow mustard along the edge similar to how clay is laid on before doing the quench. I let the mustard sit for an hour and a half and scrubbed it off. Wow...this is exactly the look I was going for!! The blade has a killer forged look as well as this wicked San Mai laminated steel look due to the mustard etch.
Next up is the handle...I have some nice, old, quilted black walnut on white G10 liners that I'm going to work with tomorrow...probably use some thick hammered copper pins to accent with. Whatcha think??
lol. I got sunday though!