I made this

Steve, I'm about 15 miles west of Charlotte.
You got a wife or gf that can cook?:)


--Mike L.
 
I really like your work there Mike! Nice attention to detail on the handle and the grind.

Personally I like lanyards. Yvsa, that's good to know about the tubing. When I put a lanyard hole on that hawk I made with the battle axe head, I didn't have any copper tubing so cut the head off a .357 mag case and used that. It tapers a bit of course but that isn't noticeable. I drilled the hole for it slightly too loose by mistake, but epoxied it in and then used a flaring tool to expand it at each end. It looks pretty good IMHO.

I think a lanyard is good for larger knives, expecially if you're working around water. To date I have dropped one knife and one wristwatch into the bay. (Slipped on the deck of the boat I was on with my friend in a swell, and the underside of my wrist hit the gunwale and broke the band and dropped it into 50 feet of water. Just saw it glittering prettily on the way down.)

I agree that for a smaller knife in a dangler or other small sheath the hole takes up too much handle real estate and isn't that necessary.

Where would you guys buy the O-1 from? That comes in blanks right? Or did you use something else?

Thanks for sharing and any info.

Norm
 
Hey Mike did you do the design from a blueprint of did you just free hand the shape. I don’t know if this a dumb question but can I have an outline of it. I am going to try making my first knife and I really like the design of your knife.
 
Sure, Warrior, that could be arranged. PM me your snail mail address. I will send you a tracing. If I had a scanner I think there's a high tech way to do it...but I don't got no steenking scanner. :)

--Mike L.
 
Well I think its awesome Mike. Great work. Is this your first? Where did you get your mikarta? Sweet. What did it cost to have the heat treat done?
 
I made this several years ago. I really can't recall sources for the materials, but they shouldn't be hard to find. Ground it on a Dremel 1x30 belt/disc sander which is really a toy. The place where I worked had a bandsaw. I traced the outline on the steel stock which I had painted with blue stuff (Dykem) and cut it out. Access to the bandsaw was a real time saver.
Cutting out the outline with a coping saw would have been a real PITA.
If you don't have even a small belt sander or any power tools other than maybe a common hand drill, you can still make a decent stock-removal knife. It just takes patience and determination (qualities lacking in a lot of folks these days).
Get some annealed O-1 stock, paint it with "Prussian Blue" trace and cut out the outline of your knife and then "grind" out the blade bevels with files. It works. Just takes time and elbow grease. I am recommending O-1 because it is the easiest to work with, and makes a pretty good knife. Other tool steels, even when annealed dead soft, are much tougher.
After you get close with the file, start using sand paper, maybe 80-100 grit working down to maybe 220 grit until the knife is "almost" finished. You don't want to get it too "thin" at this point or the heat treating could cause warpage. After heat treat, back to the sand paper (backed up by a hard block) until you get the desired finish. Then attach the handle of choice. This is way over-simplified, and I'm sure Yvsa or someone else who knows metal working better than me can add some tips. (Yvsa has forgotten more metal working than I will ever know.)
If nothing else, this process will give you a real appreciation for the knives you can get from HI for a relatively few dollars (gotta plug HI). It will make you see why people are in awe of makers like Moran and Loveless.
And if you produce something that looks presentable and cuts well.....hold it up to the Gods and say

I MADE THIS!!!!!!!!!


--Mike L.

PS. How to make a knife in two paragraphs isn't going to give you much coverage. Try reading How to Make Knives by Richard W.Barney and Robert Loveless, and whatever else you can find, including Sarge's posts here.
 
Here's a little 3-finger knife. ATS-34 blade and Purple heart handle. 2 stainless and 1 brass pin for chuckles.

3finger2.jpg



Dangit wasn't supposed to be so big.
Sorry!
 
The tracing you requested is in an envelope and will go out in tomorrow's mail. Good luck with your project! :thumbup:

--Mike L.
 
Mike L. said:
Snipped:
Then attach the handle of choice. This is way over-simplified, and I'm sure Yvsa or someone else who knows metal working better than me can add some tips. (Yvsa has forgotten more metal working than I will ever know.)
If nothing else, this process will give you a real appreciation for the knives you can get from HI for a relatively few dollars (gotta plug HI). It will make you see why people are in awe of makers like Moran and Loveless.
And if you produce something that looks presentable and cuts well.....hold it up to the Gods and say

I MADE THIS!!!!!!!!!

--Mike L.
Click to expand...
Sounds just right too me Mike. I encourage your efforts as way too many folks piss and moan about wanting to make knives and use the, "I don't have any tools." excuse.:rolleyes: :grumpy: You are proof that simple tools can do just as good a job as any fancy grinder.:thumbup: :cool: :D
 
You honor me, elder brother.
It's strange, but I really like someone else's (Sarge's) work a lot better than my own.
Something like that ever happen to you?

--Mike L.
 
Nice looking knives Mike. Thanks for sharing them with us.

To answer Sarge, I've never had any use for a lanyard before. Then again, I don't go diving or rockclimbing

Bob
 
Mike L. said:
You honor me, elder brother.
It's strange, but I really like someone else's (Sarge's) work a lot better than my own.
Something like that ever happen to you?

--Mike L.
Click to expand...

All the damn time Mike, all the damn time.:rolleyes: ;) :D

However there are a couple I bemoan not having today that I made when I was maybe 19 or 20 or so. They were rather large Bowie style knives made out of car springs and were solid steel from handle to point.
I would cut out a double quillion guard and weld it in place and then I would use the welding rod to build up the handle to size making it all rough and full of holes.
Then after pecking all the slag off I took it to the large belt sander and buffer we had in the shop and ground any rough spots off and then polished the handle until it shined like a diamond in a goat's arse.
Looked like very old silver and I thought they were beautiful if not very useful in the winter without gloves.:o ;) :D
Maybe not conducive to cold or hot weather work but they were hell bent for stout and when thrown and stuck deep into a tree they would set there and quiver for quite a while.:cool:

I'm a *Big* fan of Tim Lively and wish I could afford one of his primitive Bowies.
Tim forges his knives in a reproduction of a very old time forge and does *Everything* by hand, no electricity used at all!!!!
Google Tim someday and check out his knives. Of course I'm also a *Big* fan of Daniel Winkler and Karen Shook as well, absolutely crazy about their work!!!!:thumbup: :cool:

Edit:
I Googled Tim Lively and got his website...
http://www.livelyknives.com/ On Google there is even information on how to make a forge like Tim's.
Here's one of Tim's Bowies I really like.

http://64.176.180.203/photo2.htm Hmmm, wonder why the image links didn't work?
 
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