Inspired by Stacy... my first miniature

tryppyr

tryppyr

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Feb 5, 2010
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Having seen what Stacy (and a few others) can do in smaller format, I'd decided to start making a mini. Tonight I cut the blank and am now starting to use small files to flatten the surfaces and refine it.

This is being made from a very small scrap piece of damascus... probably random, but maybe the shark's tooth pattern. It has a blade length of 7/8ths of an inch, and an overall length of 1.25 inches. Very rough at the moment. Sorry for the crappy picture... best I can do at this time of night.

DSCN5649.JPG
 
Good deal. It will help you with the proportions on bigger blades to see how things go on the micro scale,too.

Don't make any exceptions or compromises with a mini. If you would do it on a full size blade, do the same on the mini...just smaller and to scale.Take some measurements and make a scale comparison chart for the project ( or at least write them down). As in full sized blades, drawings and a plan of action will make the project go better.
If the full size blade would be 7" with a 5" tang, then your blade should be 7/8" blade with 5/8" tang.....or a 8:1 scale. At that scale, if the full sized blade is 3/16" thick...yours should be 3/128" , or 0.025" thick. The thickness is where most minis fail miserably. I have seen them made with blades that would full scale at over 1" thick.

Handle size is also a big place where scale falls apart. Do some careful measurements and work the handle down to scale. The harder and denser the material, the easier it is to work in small sizes. A scrap of ivory can be sanded thin enough to see through, and ebony works well...but oak and walnut are too large grained.
HINT - drill the tang hole in the handle material first, and then shape the handle. It can be very hard to drill a small hole accurately in the center of a 0.125" X 0.100" handle. Drill out a couple handle blanks, as they tend to have a high failure rate. If one isn't going right, just start another. Sneak up on the final details, as it is easy to take .005 off, but you can't put .001 back on. Another tip is to soak wooden handles in thin super glue when it is about 90% shaped. This stabilizes the wood and prevents a lot of splitting when the final shaping and assembly is done. It also makes getting a nice smooth finished surface easier. An Optivisor helps with minis a lot.

If you don't have a pin vise to hold the blade while working on it, use a 6" piece of 1/4" dowel with a hole in the end. Glue the tang in the hole and when the blade is done, warm it until you can pull it out.
A pin vise is great because it can also hold the blade while you are working on the handle end.Any hobby shop will have them for less than $5. An old X-acto handle will also work in some cases.
 
Impressive filework, Greg. What are your handle plans?

I made damascus cleaver with a 1" blade, but I couldn't figure out a handle for it so I wrapped it in beef jerky and sent it to Sam Salvati. I just e-mailed him asking for a pic of it to prove it happened. The handle is by far the hardest part. I'm so impressed by the handle work on such a small scale that the only custom knife I have ever bought is one of Stacy's micros.
 
Thanks for the tips, Stacy. I do have some ivory scrap, so I'll find a suitable piece of that for the handle. Obviously I already screwed up by not drilling the tang holes... but I don't think I have a small enough carbide drill bit anyway. I'll go looking for that. In the meantime, my plan for this handle was to make a simple cylindrical one held in place by a pommel and a guard.

I'll check in once I've made some progress.

I was thinking of the back story for this piece... "commissioned by Ken after a nasty divorce from Barbie."
 
tryppyr said:
I was thinking of the back story for this piece... "commissioned by Ken after a nasty divorce from Barbie."
Click to expand...

If the scale doesn't fit, you must acquit!


Nice little project there. (no pun intended)


Rick
 
As an aside, I was thinking this would be the first blade I would attempt to heat treat myself... for obvious reasons. I'll be using a propane torch and a little canola oil in a tin can... when the time comes. And I do plan to make this one very sharp.
 
I suggest a bic lighter and a shotglass of schrew's blood... It will pass the flex test, like totally.




I just realised that I have not added anything of value to this thread.... sorry.
Rick
 
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tryppyr said:
As an aside, I was thinking this would be the first blade I would attempt to heat treat myself... for obvious reasons. I'll be using a propane torch and a little canola oil in a tin can... when the time comes. And I do plan to make this one very sharp.
Click to expand...

I used my butane 3-flame cigar torch and a dixie cup of water. Bright red for about 1 minute and quench. Files will easily skate off of it.
 
Why do you guys do miniatures? Is it for the novelty of it or is it a good way to hone your skills for "regular sized" knives especially for fittings and and such. Same as making jewelry would? Just curious.
 
I'm not sure I can answer that, Patrice. As noted previously, I was inspired by the work Stacy did. I'm not particularly interested in the novelty of it, so much as I am learning how it is done... and I learn best by doing. Kind of a weak answer, but it's what I have.

The other thing is I found myself at a stall point on one project (waiting for a blade to return from HT), and unprepared to begin the next project (lack of emotional commitment to a blade style for the trench knife). This miniature became a means to fill that gap. Since I was considering a Bowie style blade for the trench knife, I decided to try a Bowie style miniature... though not particularly to learn anything about making the big one (at least not consciously).

- Greg
 
Patrice Lemée;9385634 said:
Why do you guys do miniatures? Is it for the novelty of it or is it a good way to hone your skills for "regular sized" knives especially for fittings and and such. Same as making jewelry would? Just curious.
Click to expand...

What else do you do with a scrap of damascus, make house keys? Hmmm, it might start like this. . . . OK, this one was made of a scrap of S35VN that Tait just sent me, but I know it won't rust in my tackle box.
 

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Patrice Lemée;9385634 said:
Why do you guys do miniatures? Is it for the novelty of it or is it a good way to hone your skills for "regular sized" knives especially for fittings and and such. Same as making jewelry would? Just curious.
Click to expand...


I know that I'm thinking of making them because my buddy Wayne Szalinski, this kinda "nutty scientist" guy was working on a top secret machine which miniaturized objects. Long story short (pun inteneded) he accidentally shrunk his children. You can imagine what kind of trouble he got into when his wife found out. Anyhoo... these poor kids had to do battle with rodents and bugs on several occasions and a trusty "properly scaled" blade sure would have come in handy.... so.... I figure... make a couple miniature blades and stash them in easy to reach places for little folks to use. I'm wondering if he would let me borrow that machine to make my miniature blades... I'll have to give him a call.

Oh snap.... I just called Wayne.... turns out that he is a fictional character and the story I told was actually a movie directed by Joe Johnston, starring Rick Moranis, Matt Frewer and Marcia Strassman.

Ma bad...



Rick:p
 
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Patrice,
One good reason is that I like to. It is a skill that showcases some of my talents in a combined form.
Another is that I can get from $50 to $500 for a miniature. Many collect them.
 
I really like the idea of miniatures, but do you guys just kinda go along with the same process as a full sized knife; I.e. scratch design or do you guys scale down dimensions from an actual knife in your collection or one you have previously made?

I may try and do one soon so I can be having fun with knives while in the house. The wife gets annoyed that I purposely don't keep a clock in the garage and am gone for hours at a time out there! Unless the mess from a mini is as large as it is from a full sized knife. I have been a model builder for years, and think a couple minis would go well with the boats, cars, planes, etc. I have displayed around the house.


-Xander
 
Just got back from my buying spree associated with this micro project. I couldn't find a proper pin vise, but that's okay since I already have one or two buried deep in my pile of watch repair tools.

I picked up some teenie weenie drill bits that will almost certainly not be able to drill through steel... but should have no trouble drilling through ivory.

I got an automatic centering punch to create a starting divot for drilling, and punched the tang a few times. ;)

At the hobby store I got some brass rods (for use on other handle projects) and a small but thick brass bar that should make a nice guard and maybe the butt piece. I also got a pair of pliers that seems to be used for bending/crimping.
 
Nice i like mini knives and make them because i can. Why not i find it fun and relaxing and like Stacy said people buy them.
I look forward to seeing this one finished.

Bob
 
Turns out the HF teeny weenie drill bits actually work! So on Stacy's advice I drilled the holes and skinnied up the tang so the handle could be properly proportional. Here's the (somewhat fuzzy picture of the) result.

DSCN5655.JPG
 
Thanks guys. It's not something that I am interested in making....yet, so I was curious.

We now return you to your regular scheduled mini WIP.
 
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