first knife

good deal i will get that done and work on the rest in the morning and hopefully i can send it to you within the week. if it is ok with you i will send back the wood for the handles, a guy at church is cutting me some scales from some bois d' arc
( i guess that is how it is spelled) anyhow i can send those you sent me back if you want i am not real sure about the iron wood it looks like it has a vaneer on it to me, but i have never worked with it so i really don't know but thanks anyhow for the material i really do appreciate it. it is kinda funny i wanted to make a knife but was unsure if i ever would then you made me the offer and that put me on the spot to do it and get it done
now i am already thinkin about the next. my wife said i should make her dad and grandad one when i get done with this one so i told her i needed power tools becuase my
thumbs were killing me last weekend. but i really do appreciate the materials.

josh
 
No problem,just keep the wood it may come in handy and shoot me an e-mail to let me know it's on the way so I can watch for it .
The shiny scales are dymond wood it laminated like plywood and stabilized,real easy to work and polish.
Stan
 
There is a Spanish saying "Queder es poder" which means "To want is be able to", or, "If you want to do something bad enough then you WILL find a way to do it." You're off to a good start. In this case I define a good start as ANY start. You can always find excuses for not doing something. Keep the fun in what you're doing. Laugh at the mistakes and celebrate the lessons you learn along the way.

LonePine
AKA Paul Meske, Wisconsin
 
hey i am back i kinda got sidetracked with deer season but it is almost over and
i think i am ready to get my blade h/t and finished. any suggestions on the epoxy i
should use to apply the handles? i also got a band saw it is old and needs a new blade but it works. so i will try to get some more pics on soon and then hopefully i can get
this knife done.

jraney
 
Get the slowest setting 2 part epoxy you can find. You'll also need pins in addition to the epoxy. One of the better ones out there is Brownell's Acraglas, but you pretty much have to order it (very few places stock it). Many people started with Devcon 2 part, the slower the better. Make sure you rough up the handle and the scales and that everything is clean and dry prior to gluing up. Prep is one of the most important parts of getting a good solid handle.

When you glue up, don't clamp the handle together with too much force or you'll starve the joint by squeezing out all of the glue. Before it sets up solid, make sure you clean the glue the squeezed out from the front of the scale onto the ricasso. Use a little bit of WD40 or some alcohol on a paper towel and wipe it up well.

--nathan
 
I like the way you've set up your workplace

One thing I've learned about epoxy is that it won't cure in the cold.
I don't know about your place but if I epoxy something in winter time I wrap it in paper and take it in to the living room with me and let it cure over night in front of a radiator.

(don't get any epoxy on the living room floor you'll spend ages trying to get it off)
 
I admire the way you are taking on this project slowly and thinking out the steps. Keep posting your steps as you do them and ask first if you aren't sure.

There is no way to overstate the importance of getting the entire blade completely pre-finished before HT. Any spots not completely sanded smooth and scratch free will be that way in the finished knife. If you think sanding was slow work and thumb numbing on an annealed piece of steel, wait until you start the finish sanding on the hardened blade.
The difference will show when the chap who didn't make that effort shows his knife to friends and relatives and says, " I made it myself", and they nod and say "Cool". The chap who spent the time to get it right and sanded until the blade shines after HT, will say, "I made this myself", and the others will say, " No way! That looks super."
 
wow now i feel as if i need to sand some more on the blade. I had a few scratches that do not want to come out so i was going to cover them with my handles but now looks like i will be smoothing them up. but if it will turn more heads then i guess it is worth it.
i feel like this thing is taking forever and some folks i work with doubt i will ever finish it but i will it is just going to take some time. thanks for the info about the epoxy. oh i already have the pin material.

j
 
Patience,Grasshopper
When I first started I didn't have much,but I learned that it is a virtue.If I have some scratches that just seem to never come out and I'm ready to say "to Heck with it it's good enough"I walk away and come back to it later cause they gotta come out and they will with enough work.
Keep at it.
Stan
 
i know but it is just so easy to let the scratches go, but i am going to get these out plus i did not like the way i had my bevel, it was to me like a katana bevel
it really did not taper over most of the blade but rather just about the bottom 1/4 of the blade so i am trying to fix that along with the point it did not look good to me. maybe when i get done filing i will have a knife left. i have a picture i traced of my knife design
and right now what i have does not really look like it to me so i am a little irratated
about that, i have a mental picture just have a hard time making it look the same
with the file, but i will keep tryin.

j
 
does anybody else ever loose interest or get frustrated to the point they just have to step away for awhile?
well i did but i have decided to get this done so i will try to get some more pics soon.
 
I feel like I want to step away every time I am chasing that last scratch during finishing, but I am too pig headed and just dig in with more resolve to finish it the best I can.
 
Cool design. I like the profile and your determination to complete the task under less than ideal conditions. Thanks for posting.
 
well several things have changed, i now have a different house with a garage, the knife looks a little different as well
i learned that even though you can use a grinder it is not always the best tool for the job. the other day i brought home a bench grinder from my parents house, i was going to finally get my bevels the way i wanted but instead i cost myself
alot of some filing the blade back to smooth. the design changed just a little bit also not to much but enough. but after last
night i think i have this thing in order and ready to be sanded, there are no scratches that i can see so i am happy with that.
anyhow when i can find the camera i will try to get some pics on here.
 
jraney said:
well several things have changed, i now have a different house with a garage, the knife looks a little different as well.
Click to expand...

Oh yes, the on-going, dynamic knife design technique. I use it a LOT myself.

I look forward to seeing your pictures.

- Paul Meske
 
I've got a knife I started in September of last year. Still waiting to HT it. I just haven't had the urge to work on it since I got the blade finished and clay-coated. If you're a hobbyist, I think you have to have your muse while you work on it. With knives, I think you have different muses, one for each knife. Sometimes your muse is for a knife you are almost finished with, sometimes it's for a knife you haven't started. That's why a lot of makers have several unfinished knives on the bench. If you're just working on it to work on it, it becomes more job and less hobby.
 
well when i started i was ready to go then i ran into some dificulty for me anyhow and that seemed to slow the process.
then deer season came along and from october to the middle of january that is all i think about, so now sense it is hot
outside i got the urge to work through my problems and get this thing done. plus i found a knife in my cabelas shooting mag that i really like so instead of buying it i want to try to make it or something similar but i must get this one done first. i THINK
the next knife should be easier.hopefully.
 
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