- Joined
- Sep 16, 2002
- Messages
- 1,577
This was the longest and most difficult project I've ever stuck with and finished (patience has not been a strong suit of mine throughout my life.) I'd like to thank the folks who answered some of my dumb questions along the way, as I didn't really have much prior experience working with my hands much less steel, leather, etc. I'd also like to say a special thanks to Mungo Park (Ron) of Canada, who reached out to me via email when he sensed my frustration and really held my hand along the way, answering many dumb questions and keeping me motivated when I got frustrated.
OK, with that out of the way, here is the information about the knife. I read $50 Knife Shop and lots of the stickies, and this tutorial seemed to make the most sense to me so this is how I got started:
http://www.hossom.com/tutorial/jonesy/
I ordered some 1/4" x 3" 5160 from McMaster-Carr, and got started with files, sandpaper, cordless hand drill, and brass pin material from Home Depot. The only power tools used were the hand drill for the pin holes, my subsequently purchased drill press to drill some more lightening holes in the tang, and my subsequently acquired 2x42 belt sander to rough shape the micarta scales.
I tried drilling the outline of the blade as shown in the tutorial, but the drill bit just wouldn't cut. Then I bought some 'good' bits, and they still wouldn't cut. Finally, I burned through a few hacksaw blades and filed the rest of the way to the profile:
Next, I filed in the plunges with a round file:
Then I filed and filed and filed until I had the bevels more or less done:
Here I had drilled the pin holes with the hand drill (which took a couple of hours with the 'good' bit) and contemplated some minor changes to the profile:
And finally, some pics of the finished blade along with the 3rd sheath I've finished following Wild Rose' excellent sheath making DVD. HT was done by bringing it to non-magnetic in my forge, and quenching in 130F veggie oil, then tempering twice at 375-400 in my toaster oven:
Although not real apparent in the pics, in direct sunlight there are quite a few j-hooks or fish hooks in the final finish despite going over it with fresh paper and the corner of the sanding block. I don't think it's real flat because the hand sanding before and after HT fought me tooth and nail. I also managed to put some surface rust on the blade and tang when I sharpened it by taping the blade up to protect it, then getting water under the tape.
Anyways, thanks again to those that helped me along the way. For other newbies contemplating this type of project (especially those that may not have loads of patience,) I would strongly encourage starting with much smaller, thinner stock, and at the very least using a filing jig of some type. Doing this blade totally by hand and eye with such thick stock almost drove me to drink many times.
Comments and/or critiques are appreciated!
OK, with that out of the way, here is the information about the knife. I read $50 Knife Shop and lots of the stickies, and this tutorial seemed to make the most sense to me so this is how I got started:
http://www.hossom.com/tutorial/jonesy/
I ordered some 1/4" x 3" 5160 from McMaster-Carr, and got started with files, sandpaper, cordless hand drill, and brass pin material from Home Depot. The only power tools used were the hand drill for the pin holes, my subsequently purchased drill press to drill some more lightening holes in the tang, and my subsequently acquired 2x42 belt sander to rough shape the micarta scales.
I tried drilling the outline of the blade as shown in the tutorial, but the drill bit just wouldn't cut. Then I bought some 'good' bits, and they still wouldn't cut. Finally, I burned through a few hacksaw blades and filed the rest of the way to the profile:
Next, I filed in the plunges with a round file:
Then I filed and filed and filed until I had the bevels more or less done:
Here I had drilled the pin holes with the hand drill (which took a couple of hours with the 'good' bit) and contemplated some minor changes to the profile:
And finally, some pics of the finished blade along with the 3rd sheath I've finished following Wild Rose' excellent sheath making DVD. HT was done by bringing it to non-magnetic in my forge, and quenching in 130F veggie oil, then tempering twice at 375-400 in my toaster oven:
Although not real apparent in the pics, in direct sunlight there are quite a few j-hooks or fish hooks in the final finish despite going over it with fresh paper and the corner of the sanding block. I don't think it's real flat because the hand sanding before and after HT fought me tooth and nail. I also managed to put some surface rust on the blade and tang when I sharpened it by taping the blade up to protect it, then getting water under the tape.
Anyways, thanks again to those that helped me along the way. For other newbies contemplating this type of project (especially those that may not have loads of patience,) I would strongly encourage starting with much smaller, thinner stock, and at the very least using a filing jig of some type. Doing this blade totally by hand and eye with such thick stock almost drove me to drink many times.
Comments and/or critiques are appreciated!
Like that overall package.
