Keyhole Fighter WIP

[KHall]

Update 7 Part 2

I then mixed the epoxy and put the knife together. No pictures of the process, because of the limited time I had to assemble the knife before the epoxy harden. My assembly process was: pour the mixed epoxy into the void in the handle block, smear epoxy on all the contact surfaces, slide handle into the keyhole, pout additional epoxy into the tang slot, insert the tang into the keyhole block, place the knife assembly in the clamp, lineup the blade and handle, use a C-clamp to apply additional pressure to the keyhole block and the African Blackwood, and finally clean up all the epoxy that squeezed out.

 

[stew]

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing the process.

 

[Gottmituns78]

Can someone explain to how to subscribe to a thread, this is an awesome WIP!

 

[KHall]

Update 8

The glue-up went well, no movement while in the clamps. Here are a few shots.

Next, I begin to shape the sub-hilt area with a ½” wheel on the KMG.

Next, I go to the disk grinder to flatten both sides and make them parallel.

With the sides parallel I drill a hole for the tang pin (1/8 SS).

Here is a shot of the keyhole as I start to clean up that area.

Now with the pin in place I can start to grind toward final shape. I move back and forth between the disk grinder, ½” wheel, 8” wheel and the flat platen as I slowly grind the guard/keyhole to shape. This is a slow process, because I don’t want to remove too much material at one time and I don’t want to cause any issues with the epoxy with getting it too hot. To control the temperature I swirl the handle in water and allow time for it to cool. The following is a set of pictures showing some of the ways I am shaping the guard and handle. Most of the focus is on the guard.

At this point I have finished the shaping with the grinder. The next update will focus on my hand sanding process. I think it starting to look like the drawing.

 

[Doug Timbs]

Looking very nice. Can't wait to see the finished item.


Doug

 

[Big Chris]

Really enjoying this. Waiting for the next posts.

 

[Buffalohump]

Excellent WIP piece and truly impressive craftsmanship... :thumbup:

 

[KHall]

Update 9

As I start to hand sand I focus on rounding the top and bottom of the handle. I use a shoe-shine technique where I put the sand paper strips back-and-forth to round off the curves, starting at 220 grit, and then using 400 grit.

After I get the wood to finial shape, I go back using the same process and clean up the guard, using 400 grit.

At this point I’m nearly finished. The hand sanding took about two hours. It is a slow process, but I have the most control over this part doing the sanding by hand. Now, I need to go back using good light and look for scratches clean those up and apply a finish to the Blackwood and un-tape the blade and clean-up any issues there.

 

[Big Chris]

Do you have to watch over sanding the wood where it meets the guard? This is something I have wondered and thought this would be a great time to ask.

 

[KHall]

Hi Big Chris,

The area where the wood meets the metal is always a difficult area to sand. If you are not careful you can or will sand the wood down more than the metal. When I was shaping the guard area I did all of it with the KMG. When shaping with the platen or the belts, the KMG apply equal pressure to both the metal and the wood. The metal helps hold the belts up from digging into the wood. If you look at the last picture in post #44 you can see that wood and the metal is even. When I was hand sanding I did very little work on the wood. What I did do was with 400 grid or a scotch bright pad. With the rest of the wood part of the handle I stop grinding with the KMG when everything is not to final shape. I find I can shape that area with better control by hand. It takes much longer, but yoiu don't over grind by hand very often.

Hope this answers your questions.
Regards,
Ken

 

[tedinatl]

Ken,

That looks beautiful! thanks for taking the time to write up and post this WIP. What do you use for a finish on the blackwood?

Thanks,
Ted

 

[Big Chris]

Ken,
Thanks for the clarification.

 

[KHall]

Update 10

As I begin to talk about my handle finish approach let’s go back and look at picture from the last post. In this picture you will see little voids in the Blackwood. My objective is to fill those in. To do this I’m using super glue. My approach is to use my finger to spread a coating of super glue over the entire wood area, let it dry, sand it smooth (800 grit paper), then repeat the process 5 or 6 times. This provides a nice even buildup of glue. Then complete the process by buffing the entire handle.

Applying the glue

Several layer of glue and some sanding.

Pictures after many layers and sanding

Then buffing

Then I sharpen the cutting edge

And then the knife is finished. My next step is to make a sheath for the knife over the next few days. When that is complete I will post more pictures of the completed package.

Thanks for following this WIP.
Ken

 

[keithf]

Fantastic thread Ken. Thank you for taking the time to show us all the build on this. You have answered many questions.
Cheers Keith

 

[Doug Timbs]

Great job Ken. Thanks for showing the process, the knife looks terrific. Looking forward to seeing the sheath.


Doug

 

[Schleifstein]

And here I was budgeting for a buffer...:thumbup::thumbup:

Beautiful knife, Ken. Thank you for this thread.

 

[RogerP]

This is just terrific.

 

[KHall]

Final Update

Finally I got the sheath made. Here are a few more pictures of the knife and the sheath. Thanks to everyone who can along for the ride, hope you enjoyed the build out.

Thanks
Ken

 

[erik markman]

Very cool!

 

[Doug Timbs]

Looks great Ken, clever idea with the keyhole on the sheath. The Hamon looks good on the blade. Thanks for taking the time to show the process.


Doug