Having some fun

Que

Que

Joined
Dec 7, 2009
Messages
185
This past Sunday I had a hankering to buy a knife. The problem was that money is a bit tight this month, so I was out of luck. Then, it hit me. Make my own. Okay, I'm not a knife maker and do not have the equipment to make my own blades, but over the years I have acquired a number of knife kits and have even worked a one. They range from Woodcraft mystery steel to AUS6 to 440C all the way up to Spyderco Mule S30V. To date I had only worked one 440C folder from Premium Knife Supply. I am an artist/artisan who works extensively with acrylic, cellulose acetate, wood, soft metals, bamboo and ivory, so much of the skillset overlaps some of those of knife making. I decided to finish off a Woodcraft skinner kit with cellulose acetate scales. Below is a photo of the results about 85% completed with final buffing to the handles and finishing the blade to yet be completed.

I heavily modified how Woodcraft had suggested doing the scales opening up around the front jimping and actually enclosing the rear upper jimping between the scales enclosing the whole handle rather than just part of it as was intended by the maker. I then took the scales down just a bit at the rear jimping so that the jimping extends above the scales just a hair but is functional but still enclosed between the scales. The original kit called for the scales to be pre-finished and screwed on but I went with aluminum pins grinding most of the scale (except for the leading edge at the blade which was finished before attaching) to the blank.

I know that it isn't the best steel (Woodcraft couldn't tell me what it is), but once the blade is finished I think I'll have a nice little skinner for limited use. If you have ever considered trying a knife kit I would highly recommend it. I'd love to be able to make my own blades, but with a kid in college the machinery (despite having a pretty full shop) just isn't in the budget. I think once I'm working the Spyderco Mule blanks and more 440C and VG-10 blanks I'll really have something.

Give it a try!

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Here's the upper rear jimping enclosed between the scales. Enough jimping is exposed to be functional yet pretty much invisible when viewed from the side.

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d762nato said:
Looks good to me nice job. :thumbup:
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Thanks. It was a fairly quick project requiring about an hour and a half of actual work time. The photo is lousy but it gives an idea. A key aspect of working these kits is protecting the blade as much as possible which I was only partially successful at and had to (and will have to) do touch-up and refinishing. With the rest of the blank I ground trhe material right down to the blank (altering the shape of the blank just a hair) but that kind of refinishing of the steel is relatively easy.

I'm really looking forward to working with a whole range of materials from synthetics to natural woods. I have some killer amboyna burl that will be excellent. The Spyderco Mule blanks will be the best, but at $85 they are somewhat pricey compared to other kits. But heck, it's S30V.
 
DennisStrickland said:
those blue scales are wild . would look good on a fillet knife. thanks for pics
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The material is some amazing stuff. It's like peering deep down through clear glass through the black into the blue which can alternate between deep cobalt blue to bright electric aqua blue depending on the light and the angle. Cellulose acetate is very warm to the touch and is often used for objects that come into contact with hands like fine pens, knitting needles, tool handles (industrial grade) and knife scales. It's also extremely shock resistant and will bend a long, long way before it breaks. It's unique stuff. I work with it a lot.
 
Que, how hard is the cellulose acetate to work? I'd love to try a scale like that on my Spyderco Cricket.

That looks great.
 
Psychopomp said:
Que, how hard is the cellulose acetate to work? I'd love to try a scale like that on my Spyderco Cricket.

That looks great.
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It tends to be a bit tricky. It has a pretty low melting point for tooling (not an issue as to durability) and finishing it can be extremely difficult at first. Some Italian pen companies have finishing techniques that are closely guarded and very proprietary. I have been working with it for over ten years and have developed my own techniques. I work with it on a daily basis.

It's one of the oldest plastics but it is being looked at again for many applications due to the fact that it is a natural and replenishable plastic. Some folks confuse it with cellulose nitrate (AKA celluloid) which is a whole other ball of wax, obsolete for decades, and dangerously unstable. Some cellulose acetate materials that I have took up to two years to produce a single batch constantly cutting and curing under stringently controlled environmental conditions. It can be quite expensive to produce at certain levels of quality, those well above industrial grades (seen in some tool handles and other applications).
 
DennisStrickland said:
que the stuff is really intriging , is it casein based?thanks dennis.
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No, casein is an entirely different animal. This is wood (and possibly cotton) based. I know that camphor also plays a part in the mix. If you do a search on ebay under "cellulose acetate" you will find sheets of CA being sold. I actually have a few of these particular sheets that range in thickness from 4mm to 5/16". They aren't thick and are fairly transparent which may present some issues. My supply of CA is much thicker sheets in the blue/black, orange/black, and an imitation ivory. Not mjuch of the CA (produced in Italy by Mazzucchelli) gets out to the US. There was once quite a surplus market for it but that has dried up. Old labor intensive "chop block" CA that took years to produce is now long gone since the early 90's. The extruded CA (like my blue/black material) is pretty much unobtanium as well. When I first ran across it a decade ago it was being sold for knife scales. I quickly bought it all (not for knives).

Materials aside, there is a lot of fun to be had in finishing off a knife. In what I do for a living (my second career as I am retired from law and now full time at a business that I started a dozen years ago) I design shapes and ergonomics for tools that are not unlike knives. Bringing my designs and materials to knives will be a lot of fun. I hope to continue to be able to obtain quality kits like the Spyderco Mule. It's a shame that the Woodcraft "mystery steel" of this knife isn't of the same quality as others being offered. Still, it's good for practice.

Below is an example of some of what I make also showing the orange/black material ( and 6061 grade aluminum):

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Did this six inch 440C skinner yesterday using the synthetic ivory material. You can just see the grain that makes this cellulose acetate material so unique. It was originally made for cutlery. I applied a brushed finish to the bolster as a contrast to the highly polished blade and scales.

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Great looking Knife Art .. and the new tamps look pretty sweet too!

Going to Chicago this year?

Bill
 
Bweist said:
Great looking Knife Art .. and the new tamps look pretty sweet too!

Going to Chicago this year?

Bill
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Hey Bill! Nice surprise seeing you here. I was wondering if anyone from our little corner of the world was here to recognize my work as lots are into knives. Yes, I will be in Chicago if only to drink Heineken and eat brats with you and Terri under the tent.

With your skill-set I was curious if you have tried your hand at knives. I'd really love to be able to work my own blades but I don't see that happening. My shop is well equiped for many tasks but blade work isn't among them. With a kid in college that investment isn't happening. It seems that among "unfinished" blades being offered by knife makers and knife supply outfits it will have to keep me happy.

I'm also going to be looking into some of the blades being offered by knife makers for finishing. Anyone have any recommendations?
 
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