Knife Game

thanks Roger:)
I'm teaching her to appreciate handmade knives too, and you've given me a great idea:DThanks again!
 
Roger,
Can you explain few more details on the handrubbed finish, what indicates when you are ready to move to the next grit? How many grits used, and how long generally spent w/ each? (Looking great!)
Thanks,
David
 
Hi David,

The blade comes off the belt grinder at a (hopefully) even and (hopefully) flat 400 grit. At this stage, all the scratches run vertically (you can see this in a previous photo) - and you need to get them to run horizontally along the length of the blade.

I start at 220 grit sandpaper (the lower the number, the coarser the grain) and start cross-hatching: shorter diagonal strokes, back and forth along the length of the blade, before progressing to longer strokes running the full length of the blade.

At this stage, any high or low spots will be revealed, and depending on the severity, may require a return trip to the grinder to even them out. Getting a clean 220 is the longest, hardest, most frustrating part of the process. I'm not sure how long it took me, but the overall process was hours.

Now, I pause to note that Dan can take a knife from belt to finish sanding in less than half the time it takes me - a combination of cleaner grinds to begin with, vastly more experience and better technique.

You know you're ready to move onto the next step when all the scratches are heading east west, evenly, no waves, no swirls, no wiggles where you short-stroked. Dan method is that when you are pretty darned sure you are done at a certain grit - say 220 - you get a fresh piece of 220 paper and do 50 strokes on each side of the blade (and don't forget the spine and the underside of the ricasso). THEN you're ready for 320, 400, 600, 800 and so on. Oh - and you need really good lighting - if you can't see the flaws in the finish, you can't fix them.

A note on satin-finish bowies - if you think it's twice the work as sanding a hunter, you'de be wrong. It's way more. A 4" by 1 1/4" hunter yields an approximate surface area of 5 square inches. A 9" by 2" bowie yields a comparative surface area of 18 squaure inches - more than triple the hardened steel surface to make pretty.
 
Thanks Roger! ,
-I've never heard that explained before. Jeez! that sounds like a little bit of WORK! :)

When Karl and Lin have a chance, i hope they'll show a few photos too.
This is a great experience to see.
David
 
Hi Redsnake,

The target date for completion of all knives is Blade '09. I hope to get back to Dan's some time early in the new year to finish up mine.

Roger
 
I've not yet begun my portion of the game.
As soon as I finish up my end of the year items, I will go into the "design" stage!
 
Just thought I'd "kick" this back up to the top and revitalize it .
I'll be starting on my portion of "The Game" in the next week or so, so that I can have my knife ready come "Show Time"!
Stay tuned!
 
I can hardly wait for an update from Roger "the Novice" Pinnock, on his knife.

PS

Roger, if it is not spoken for, I would like to be first in line.
 
I think this will be really interesting, interpretation at its finest!

Is someone going to document the results with some pics to share with everyone here? Maybe one of the Pro Photogs setting up at BLADE would take a few Pro-Bono snapshots?
 
Okay, when I last checked in the blade was pretty much done and the guard and handle material epoxied on.

Which led to some shaping:

orig.jpg


I will say this about the Bakelite - doing the initial grinding where lots of material is being removed quickly with a coarse belt is far from fragrant. But when it comes to fine-tuning the shape of the handle on a finer belt, I quite like the way this stuff grinds. Less material is removed at a given grit / belt speed as compared to wood, so it was easy to go slow and get just the right shape.

I'm pretty happy with the way the handle turned out in terms of feel. It's pretty much right where I want it.

While I have a hard time calling this piece "finished" - as I keep seeing things I'd like to touch up - it's close enough for pic or two. So say hello to Old Yeller.

orig.jpg


The sheath doesn't go with this particular knife - it's just there as a prop. But this knife will get its own Paul Long treatment. You can see a bit more of the texture in the wrought iron guard up close:

orig.jpg


Etching the guard after it was already on the knife was a bit of a challenge, but Dan had the idea that some carefully applied clear nail polish would keep the acid from etching either the blade or the Bakelite. Which was a good idea, except for my less than completely careful application of said nail polish to one side of the blade resulting a brightly etched line on the ricasso which gave me fits to rub out :mad: resulting in one of those areas that could use a bit more attention. :o

Anyway, overall, I am pleased with the knife and happy to have been included in the project. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. And came out of it with not one, but two knives (as told elsewhere, the backup blade made it to completion against some staggering odds): :p

orig.jpg


Roger
 
Woo Hoooo!!
Awesome, Roger!
Those two together make one heck of a pair.
They both have a special Pinnock "flair" to them and are praiseworthy.
Bakelite is a dream to work with, you are correct.
I have one more Blade Show knife to go and then I'll do mine, probably starting around Thursday.
Of all the knives I've made from those materials, I've never had two of them side-by-side, nonetheless three of them!
Gonna be fun.
Way to go, Roger.
 
That's lookin real good Roger! :)Karl told me you about had yours finished. I'll do my best to have one by Blade Show, but at this point, I just have to play it by ear. Good job. :thumbup:Lin
 
Well done my friend, simply well done!

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
:thumbup:, Roger!
Ole yeller, eh?:D Bet that one's hard to put down, too:)
 
I got to see this one at it's final stage, as well as through most of it's initial formation. Roger worked his buns off to get Ol' Yeller to completion for Blade. I'd say he is one heck of a knifemaker!
 
I just dug out my materials. I'll look at them for a couple of days and see if I get a little inspiration as to what knife to make. In the mean time, I have to stay busy. :) Lin
 
Matthew Gregory said:
I got to see this one at it's final stage, as well as through most of it's initial formation. Roger worked his buns off to get Ol' Yeller to completion for Blade. I'd say he is one heck of a knifemaker!
Click to expand...

An exemplary one as well.. somewhat humorous, what with Roger's VERY busy schedule, he is the first one finished with the "game" knife.;)

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
lwrhea said:
I just dug out my materials. I'll look at them for a couple of days and see if I get a little inspiration as to what knife to make. In the mean time, I have to stay busy. :) Lin
Click to expand...

Git 'er done, Lin!

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
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