M A S S I V E recurve bowie *WIP*

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I have yet to see one of your knives that isn't stunning, and this one is certainly looking like it will be no exception.

No, I take that back, it looks like it will be outstanding even for you.
 
Alright so i'll have quite a few updates this week. Im trying to do one every night, to keep the load a bit easier on me, as i take a lot of pics and run my mouth for quite some time ;D
hope none of you mind!
So here is a barrage of photos and ramblings :D

First things First i drew the tang back (softened it) with a bucket of water and map gas. It was already relatively soft because i clayed it, but heres an extra measure. It will come in handy when i go to drill my pin hole :)


So now I've got to decide where to cut my shoulders in on the tang, what angle etc... Also i have to remove a fair amount of material from the tang itself as it's simply too big. I like big meaty tangs, but this is a bit much LOL


Using a brass scribe and a straight edge, i align the knife up to the drawing and scribe my guard face on. I think this is a pretty important step. The wrong angle can create a funky relationship between the plunge line and guard face leading to a rather unsightly ricasso IMO.


slapped the file guide on and we're off!


Roughing things in on the grinder. I also take the opportunity to taper all the planes of the tang. This will help in many areas including the construction of the knife as well as how the knife feels in hand after things are all said and done.


I true everyone thing up withe a file. (I also use sand paper and a small sanding paddle but i didn't take a picture)


and here we have it.


Now lets switch to the guard. Referring to my drawing i eyeballed what looked like the right amount of guard material (plus some insurance) for the s guard :)


then i hacked it out with my little angle grinder, that was fun/sketchy!!! :D


then i took the block of severed 416, trued it up and removed the mill scale by hand on a human powered surface grinder. AKA sandpaper glued to granite :D ;)


Now I'm terrible at math, so don't try to decipher that mumbo jumbo written on the notepad... Even though math isn't my forte, I still managed to figure out where my guard slot needs to be, and how big! woo glad thats over :barf::p


Punched some little marks for the drill to follow...


i don't think this needs a caption. Even thought this technically constitutes a caption... and you're reading it. ;)


Yeah thats a sizable guard!!


ok so now i play connect the dot with my fancy "Knew Concepts" jewelers saw. Its not a milling machine, but it works :D


Little tip with Jewelers saws.... If you wax the blade you will be much, much less likely to break blades over and over. I broke a TON before i learned about this.... :(


and I just hack out little chunkies like this.


Filing to open up the slot further.....


A little tip on files that i learned form an old machinist.... Flatten a piece of brass tube and then run it through the file to cut a little fork like pattern into the brass. Then you can use the little brass fork to push out heavy swarf that a file card simply cannot handle. works great! :D


So I'm starting to get a bit closer to the scribe lines which calls for control. I do press fit guards so theres a fine line between just enough and too much! I use my file guide to keep me within the parameters. However, this guard is farrrrrr too big to fit inside my file guide. So i took the guide apart and super glued it to the face of the guard and squished it together in the vise. Works like a charm! :cool:


And here is where you'll be able to find me for quite some time as i open up the guard slot to the exact diameter of the ricasso.
There will be some fine tuning down the road, i'll have pics and whatnot of that probably sometime tomorrow. This is a ton of fun; i'm enjoying every step of the way.
Should have the knife done by the beginning of next week... Well thats what I'm shooting for at least ;):D
 
This is fascinating to "watch" and read!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to document and thoroughly explain not just what your doing but your reasoning and why. Like so many have already said, your quite talented!
 
Big thumbs up, can't wait for the next episode. This is what "reality TV" should be.
 
Alright guys, been turning and burning to try and get this done before I leave for blade show (no table, I just want it done before i go) LOL
Here is what i've got!

So I had been thinking about the handle design A LOT, and decided to change it a tad. You may not be able to notice the differences without the original beside it as they are quite subtle. However, IMO the changes are for the better. Flared the butt end a bit more and tweaked some of the curves and angles in the knife.... Boy is handle design Challenging!


Now to get the guard seated down against the shoulders. Fits like a glove! If we were talking about OJ's glove.....;)


Getting closer!


Now i do everything with files, so i blame that on my turtle like pace.... ;) Hopefully sometime soon i'll have a Mill....


This last little 1/8th inch or so ALWAYS takes the longest!


And we are there! pew, glad thats over :p


Doing a little "fine tuning" to get the guard to fit even tighter. I peen the perimeter of the guard slot to push metal inward. Bang it back on, it conforms to the ricasso, bang it off and sand the peen marks out. Works like a charm!


Referring to the drawing, I look at what I need to do for my lugs. Looks like i can just sculpt the bottom lug instead of having to bend it. YAY! :D


Roughed in the lugs..... Sorry no in progress pics. I got immersed in shaping the guard and didn't get any photos. It is all shaped on the grinder with the edge of my platen and then cleaned up with a 220grit 1" scalloped slack belt.


Began to feather the curve in on the face of the guard....


Ok so now it's time to bend the top lug. Disclaimer* i had NEVER done this until now. This was the only logical way i could have thought of at the time and honestly had no idea if it would work.... stay with me and see if it did ;)


First heat i could only get the tip of the lug hot enough to bend. Its really a pain trying to heat things in open air, especially without an acetylene torch (was using MAPP gas)


My buddy Shawn McIntyre suggested I wrap the part in left over KAO wool. It trapped the heat and worked MUCH better. Thanks Shawn!!! :cool::D


With some "Gentle Persuading" i was able to achieve the desired curvature! Whats most astonishing is the fact that my cheapo Chinese vise didn't grenade on me!! :eek:


Ground the hammer marks off and did a test fit!
I'm satisfied....


Cleaned it all up in preparation for the Finger scallops...


Grind em in!
SO, I grind them in a tad bit bigger than what i intend for them to end up being. Reason is, when you go (or at least when i go) to shape the handle you'll inevitably grind down the sides of the guard a tad, thus reducing the size/depth of the scallop. If you were to take the scallop to spec right off the bat you would end up with a tiny/undersized scallop from what you really intended; at least if you shape handles the way i do...... SO compensation is necessary! :D:thumb up:


And here we have it Folks, not 100% done (i shape the handle transitions once the handle is on)



I Haven't had a lasting feeling of satisfaction for quite sometime. However I'm tickled with how this guard came out! I was completely prepared for utter failure for my first attempt, and I'm quite happy that it worked out! :)


And here she sits...
I plan on getting the remainder of the pieces fitted, the blade finished, and have it all glued up within the next 24 hrs, propelling me towards a tuesday finish!
I've got a long day ahead of me..... :D


Thanks everyone!
 
Extraordinary work.....thanks for taking the time to post all of this.....very impressive! :cool:
 
How is that handle coming along Mark? I'm itching to see more of the process. :thumbup:
 
Rookie82 said:
How is that handle coming along Mark? I'm itching to see more of the process. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Hey! its going well.

Hit a couple road blocks though; one being that i was traveling for the past week for blade show, and two being that CF is not very cooperative!
The stuff has been giving me fits when trying to fit the tang. I don't have a mill or anything so doing it all by hand has been a slow process.
None the less I'm determined to "Git-R-Done" :D
I'll Have an update for you guys this evening; almost done, just have the little details to attend too!

thanks!
-Mark
 
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