How I spent my Saturday evening...

[Daniel Koster]

Rene Sevilla (Death Dancer) sent me an E-Nep - which is a khuk-like knife made only in Aranyik, Thailand. It costs as much to ship it to the USA than the cost of the knife itself. So, I was very appreciative to finally find one that was looking for a new home.

It arrived Thursday and I got some time to play around with it. The finish was a bit tacky - perhaps because of the many changes in humidity it experienced. The blade was tarnished as well. But underneath the cosmetic shortcomings lies a beautifully designed knife. You really have to see it to appreciate it.

Anyway, I spent sometime this afternoon working with it to determine how best to accomplish a few "modifications"...

Here's a short list:

1 - blade cleaned, polished and sharpened
2 - bolster polished to mirror finish
3 - handle ground down to match my hand
a. - existing finish removed
b. - entire handle sanded down
c. - slight swell created by reducing the diameter of the handle at about 1.5" from the end
4 - handle stained with red mahogany stain (see pattern in pic)
5 - clear glossy polyurethane finish applied (still in progress)


Here are a few pics (more to come when I'm finished).

Here the knife is being "speed-dried" after staining:

Closeup of the handle:

Ok. That one was fun and not too difficult - just required patience. Now for the tough one...


I've been working on this knife for quite a while. It has a number of "experiments" on it already, so I thought I'd add one more just for fun.

Here's a list of the experiments before today:

1 - store-bought blade profiled to include 2 finger grips, shorter handle and a thumb grip
2 - very hard olive wood with spacers sandwiching a fileworked blade (that's been done before, of course) - the interesting part is that I filled in the filework with colored epoxy so that it's baby-bum smooth.
3 - ok. looks like I forgot #3...


But anyway, it's number 4 that really matters. A combination kydex and rabbit fur sheath.

I'll let the pics do the talking...


Let's start at the beginning - the kydex sheath formed and trimmed.

Closeup on the kydex

Glue-up to the fur

What a mess this makes!!! I have to work over the garbage can to contain it.

Finished product - topside

Looking at the spine

 

[Daniel Koster]

Looking at the edge

Upside-down - showing the belt loop

Now, the glamour shot of the finished product.

(sorry about the purple towel - it's late)



I'm no knifemaker, and what I make is just for me. Figure I ought to be able to learn a few lessons along the way and Boy, was this a lesson for me!


(going to bed now, see y'all t'morrow....)

 

[Bill Martino]

Nice.

 

[BruiseLeee]

How were the corn chips used in the manufacturing process?

 

[Daniel Koster]

...reward for the hard nights work...

even though I didn't do any work today, somehow the reward keeps happening again and again...

 

[Dave K]

You should have made the sheath out of the corn chips bag.

 

[Daniel Koster]

GMBO !!

 

[BruiseLeee]

GMBO?

General Motors Builds Outomobiles?

 

[Yvsa]

Originally posted by BruiseLeee
GMBO?

General Motors Builds Outomobiles?

No Bruise. It's Oldsmobiles. But then we wouldn't expect a Saudi to know that.