Gonna Give It a Go!

jideta

jideta

Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Messages
2,099
So I'm really bored having to stay home (high school art teacher) when I usually got stuff going on.
Well first I finally got to trying to make some sheaths for some of my well, sheathless knives (see sheath forum).
I also bought a couple of blades that needed sheaths for future projects, then I thought, what the hell, let's try putting some blades together:

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Seems easy enough, non?
 
screwed the pooch on the first one!
gotta with that drill angle:

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2nd try:

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Bodgering your own kit together is tons of fun, as long as you don't take yourself too seriously. I have ruined a lot of wood, hardware, and modded a few blades into scrap along the way, but it has all been worth it in the long run. If you ever want to try making handle scales on a good blade, Becker Knife and Tool has a lot of potential. Nice work on your first try, I never liked messing with horn or antler due to the smell when cutting or sanding.
 
Bored on a Sunday.
Time to do something with that Mora blade I got:

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Messed it up by shortening the tang; I thought I was going to use a stag handle.
Also tried drilling it with a hand drill: no go.
So:

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Some bocote I had laying around.
Glued up:

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Then spent the next hour and a half doing some stock removal.
 
How I spent my Sunday:

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I think I should have pushed it into the handle a bit more; not really sure how it was supposed to sit.
Didn't realize the half hole I made was showing until I had glued it up.
Looks like it was supposed to have a guard or bolster, but then again, look how far back the grind is?
Oh well. Letter opener.
Sunday project.
 
lol
I was looking at it last night and figured I could have saved myself a ton of grief and sawdust if I had just used a broom handle.
When school opens up again, I'll take it to the belt sander and give it some form.
On a side note, that Mora blade was kinda misleading when I ordered it on Amazon. They don't list the width and the picture makes the blade look like a regular size blade, not this sliver of steel I ended up with!
 
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more stuff:

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Not sure why I kept ordering them upswept skinner type blades.
Micarta, fake mother of pearl, and pins.
Gonna make more dust!
 
Looks like fun! I think the blade at the bottom of the picture is going to make a even better iteration of the knife in post #7.
 
comis said:
Looks like fun! I think the blade at the bottom of the picture is going to make a even better iteration of the knife in post #7.
Click to expand...

That blade turned out to be even smaller!

the other blade:

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Trying to figure out how I'm gonna cut the scales.
Pin them first!

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I knew I was going to have problems with the pins without a drill press (at work, no can go).
Best guess with hand drill was a no go and the pins were crooked.
I had to use a handsaw in some places for I couldn't use the jigsaw ( I miss my bandsaw too!) because of the pins and clamp.
Making dust:

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not glued up yet:

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Better than my first efforts.
Blade is flawed; there's tooling mark on one side that I can't seem to get rid of.
I messed up on the rear pin. No drill press!
Cocobolo is really red! Like padauk! except maybe redder! Okay, well no cause padauk is really red. Cocobolo smells kinda nice.
Oh and be careful if you're trying this at home, some of this exotic wood sawdust can be hazardous to your health.
I thought this went fairly well!
 
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All the blades were bought.
The Damascus blades were sanded/polished.
Guards and pins were bought
Handle materials were all sourced by me. I bought the antlers and I had the wood from other stuff.

Tools used:
old Black and Decker jig saw
cordless drill
hand saw
hack saw
Dremel
wood clamp
hand file
hammer
sandpaper
epoxy

You can do without the jigsaw. Only used to cut the scales, hand saw can do.
By far the most used was the Dremel, and it helps to have the correct attachments; cutter and sanding drums were used the most.
Basic stuff.

I did miss my bandsaw, belt sander, and drill press! Probably would've made life easier, and maybe helped make construction cleaner, but not essential.
My chisel set would've been nice to have also.

Buy a kit and have fun!
Nothing like using something you made (or halfway made) yourself!
 
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Ivory paper Micarta.
Getting better at cutting the scales out!
Micarta is some nasty stuff!
I figure I got about four hours in this with a Dremel using only the sanding drums.
Probably less than half the time if I had my belt sander (I was in fact going to wait until tomorrow and get access to my classroom).
Then I hit it up with 400, 600, 1500, and 2500 sandpaper.

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Now I gotta go back and clean up where I hit the blade!
Next time, take the scales off!

Gotta admit though, I'm a sucker for white, ivory, or black Micarta.
 
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This stuff was really nasty!
Basically mother of pearl in resin, I think.
Good: really soft! shapes well and fast
Bad: smells bad and is probably bad for you too! soft so it scratches and chips easily. Like Micarta you need to sand down to get a nice finish

One more blade to go! Going back to wood me thinks
 
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