First attempt at carving and anodizing Ti

[nbruch]

Hi all,

I had tried to sell my Techno that I'd made a custom clip and backspacer for, but didn't have any luck. So, I figured I might as well go for it and see what else I might be able to do and take the plunge on doing something with the scales. I didn't want to pay for someone to CNC like I did with another one, so after trying to come up with a fixture, template, etc, etc, to make it a "safe" method, I eventually gave up and did it freehand. I only did it on the presentation side, as it seems that's what most knives are these days, although I was strongly contemplating doing it on both sides. Figured I'd share the results and see if anyone had any comments, good or bad. There are some imperfections, but for my first attempt, I thought it came out better than I worried it might, which in my mind was a totally messed up, trashed looking knife. Not sure if this is a good forum for this, but I certainly didn't want to put it in with the knifemakers discussion as I don't equate doing this with knifemaking at all so I wasn't sure where else to put it, and I'm not trying to sell it. Unfortunately I'm not a professional photographer and couldn't quite capture the look of it in person, but hopefully the photos give a good enough idea. Thanks for any comments either way, recommendations for improvement, maybe even a better forum to put it in, anything you think might help.

And one of the pre-carving/anodizing shots showing the backspacer and clip that goes with it.

 

[The Aflac Duck]

This probably belongs in Maintenance, Tinkering, and Embellishment, but either way great job. That looks pretty nice!

 

[nbruch]

Thanks, Blues Bender. Maybe I'll see if I can get it moved over to that forum as that sounds like a better place.

 

[Mike45ACP]

Your a brave man! Great job.

Mike

 

[SurfisLove]

It looks amazing, what tool(s) did you use for the actual carving work?

 

[poolhustler]

I like it.. great job!!!

 

[NJBillK]

It looks amazing, what tool(s) did you use for the actual carving work?

This^.

Great job, I am also curious as to the tools used and time spent.
Possibly a carbide scribe and repetition for desired depth?

 

[nbruch]

Not sure where the thread will go, but before then, I wanted to make sure I said thank you to all of you for taking the time to comment. I'm glad you're liking it. As for how, yes, it was a carbide bit. I had seen an Alan Davis knife for sale that said it was a hand-carved Ti scale, so I contacted him and asked about it. He gladly told me that, yes, it was simply a carbide bit. So I bought a few different types, sizes, etc, and tried to get the same effect he had on his knife. I wasn't getting that to come out too well, but one thing I tried ended up like this. I thought it looked pretty interesting, so I practiced once or twice, and figured now's as good a time as any. Of course, once the bit first touched the knife, I wondered what I'd been thinking, but it was too late then. I should have practiced more as I even had to guess how to make one or two things look a bit better and which bit to use to do it with as the different shapes and sizes give different results, as well as how you hold them relative to the surface. One day I may get some Ti to practice a lot on and see if I become confident, but by the same token, as much as most Ti framelocks cost, if I mess one up it might not be worth it.

 

[Zemapeli]

Great work. Art :thumbup:

 

[jbmonkey]

Very nice work. thanks for sharing.

 

[nbruch]

Thanks all! I'm going to try to place this topic in a slightly more appropriate location.