Knife #not sure . . . Still needs improvement!

J

JBaker

Joined
Nov 11, 2010
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34
Just finished my third or fourth knife (not really sure, since there's so much time in between knives), and I'm fairly satisfied with it, but there's one thing I want to fix and several I want to improve on next time. I was hoping I could get some advice on the process and steps you take to accomplish these things.
First off, where can I get some reasonably priced good leather?! I'm planning on remaking the sheath. Although I'd say it's OK for a first try (haven't made any leather sheaths before), it's definitely nowhere near where it needs to be. The only stuff I could get locally was from Hobby Lobby, and it was way too thin! I also screwed it up when I tried to mold it, I'm sure you can see the outline of the blocks I used.
Next off, do you pin your handle and then finish it, or finish and then pin it? I pinned it last, and I feel like that was a mistake because I'm having trouble polishing the pin.
That leads me to my next question. How would you suggest I fix my mistake? I thought about using tape, but I feel like there might be a lip. I'd like to get it as flush as possible, and I'm hoping I can do that without re-finishing the entire handle.
Also, when you pin your handle, how do you clean the epoxy off the blade? I seem to still have some residue in several cracks and crevices.
As far as the gap between the guard and the ricasso, I worked for a good five hours or so hand filing out the guard and trying to fit it to the ricasso. It doesn't look to bad from a distance, but it could be improved.
I had a nice clean finish on the blade, but between finishing the blade and the handle, it managed to get itself scuffed up! This puzzles me, since I had it taped the entire time.
Lastly, how do you go about designing and executing your handles? It's one of the more fun parts of the process for me, but I also seem to lack a coherent approach to accomplishing this.

http://s1369.photobucket.com/user/jbbbusiness9/slideshow/

Thanks for your guys' help and advice!
 
Hermann Oak leather can be purchased from Amazon, Springfield Leather is the seller. They come in 12x12" pieces of various thicknesses at around ~$15/ec. Purchasing sides, shoulders, etc would ofc be much cheaper per sq/ft-but I find the price to be reasonable for individual or small projects.

I finish my handles after they are attached-although on lighter materials this might have its own problems since you'd be finishing steel with the handle material at the same time.

I'll leave the other questions to others.
 
JBaker,

1. Tandy leather sometimes has a pretty good sale on some of their economy veg tanned shoulders. The last one I bought was like $3-$4 per square foot.
2. I finish the pins at the same time as the handle.
3. You need to clean the epoxy off of the blade when it is still wet. You can cut some q-tips at an angle and scrape the bulk off with the stick end, then dip the cotton end with alcohol and clean the residue. Alternatively, you can take a piece of brass and make a scraper out of it and scrape the dried epoxy off of the blade. The brass being softer than the steel shouldn't scratch the blade.
4. For handles, I draw the knife out first on paper, then cut one out of cardboard and hold it to see how it feels, when I'm satisfied with that, I cut the pattern out of 1/8 micarta save it for future use.

Hopefully that will help some.
-Adam
 
Tandy Leather is a good choice, they have two stores in Atlanta so depending on how close you are... Otherwise you can order online from them. I bought a single shoulder of veg tanned 6-7oz few weeks back and another one today they have them on sale for a flat rate of $25, I pick out the one I want from the pile.

I been doing the same as Adam with drawing it on paper, tracing it on cardboard, but I did not think of making it in micarta to save the pattern thats a great idea
 
One thing I learned between my knives from years ago, and today is to force myself to go thinner in (nearly) every regard. Thinner blade stock, thinner taper, thinner handle materials, and scales overall.

I'm not sure why it is, but a lot of us new makers make super chunky designs that are just plain frumpy. Think sexy at every opportunity (thanks Andy!).

For scales, I look at custom knives in similar designs to what I want to achieve until I'm sick of it then freehand the whole mess. I'm not much for planning and drawing. It works for a great deal of guys, but my best stuff develops as I grind away.

You want to pin em, then finish the handle. For pins like yours be sure to use a block behind your sandpaper otherwise the harder material (pin stock) will remain proud. You'll need to sand those down in order to remove the scratches. Just do it right and refinish the wood. No shortcuts that I'm privy to.

My first handle from 8 or so years ago.

IMAG1910_zpsd97281eb.jpg


My last handle (with a couple of knives in between).

IMAG1529_zps5ec9ff73.jpg
 
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Thanks for all the good advice! Strigamort, I was afraid that's what I'd have to do to fix my mistake! Your also right about my handle, definitely chunkier than it needs to be!
How about trying to tighten up the gap in between the ricasso and guard? I'm trying to find good ideas, since right now I don't want to go out and get a file guide if I can avoid it.
I'm not too far from Atlanta, so I may stop by there some time when I'm going through!
Thanks again!
 
What is your guard made from? For steel guards people use various methods to fill them, from peening the edges, to solder and jb weld. I've not done one so I can't really help. I'm going to be trying bolsters on a full tang knife next. I'm not up for hidden tangs and guards just yet.

Btw, I have a hide of leather that I bought for sheaths. It's also too thin, but makes excellent strop material.

I like your knife, it's got a bit of an Ed Fowler look to me. :)
 
To finish the pins, I use a set of jewelers files. They come as fine as 600g. Take your time and file them flush. You can use a polishing wheel in a dremel for the final polish if you want to but its not needed. I typically file them flush prior to sanding the handle.

For the epoxy, have a can of laquer thinner and a few q-tips ready when you glue up the guard. Once the epoxy starts to set up, wipe the excess off before it fully cures.
For the leather, most cities have a Tandy Leather Factory. If not they have an ebay store as well.
 
Strigamort, The guard is 5160, which I blued with hot vinegar. There's quite a bit of info on that on this forums, which was very helpful. Peening the guard sounds like a good idea, I might give that a try on the next knife, and I'll have to try using some the scraps of my leather for a strop, though I've never used a strop before either! And thanks! I appreciate your compliment!
Willie71, I'll try using the laquer thinner. I did try wiping it off, but that was with just a rag.
 
I forgot to mention that I really like the rear bolsters.

What kind of epoxy are you using? I used 5 minute on the last one and it was a bit of a nightmare, not to mention the ding in strength. I've got some slow setting stuff now for my next knife.
 
Thanks! It was actually a mistake. I was trying to drill a lanyard hole, but the wood cracked. I was going to scrap it until my brother suggested that I do the inlay. It turned out much better than I hoped!
I've been using the bondo epoxy. I got it at lowes a while back, but it seems to be decently strong. I experimented a little with it when I tried making my own micarta with blue jeans, and it's very strong!
 
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