Matthew Gregory
Chief Executive in charge of Entertainment
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2005
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- 6,399
I had a great opportunity to host my friend and fellow knife enthusiast Mr. Mike (aka Mike157 here on BF), after regaling him with tales of the beauty and wonder of winter here in Western New York. I've sent him photos and we've discussed it for ages, so he finally decided to fly out to spend a few days to experience it for himself, and make a knife in the shop with me.
I've been working on a prototype of my kwaiken, a smaller version of my 5", as many people need it to be below 4" for legal reasons, and I figured this would be a good design for the two of us to work on. I made one while he made one, each with an identical steel and profile, but with slightly different design elements. Here's how it went...
First, we started with a fresh sheet of Crucible CPM-S60v in .210" thickness, and cut the profile out on the bandsaw:
Next, we cleaned up the profile on the grinder:
From this point forward, it was House Rules, and I don't use work rests or jigs for any other processes, and neither was Mike. He elected to run with a rounded spine, and a hand satin polish on it. Like a fool, I failed to get a photo of him grinding it, but he handled it with aplomb. It's a tricky task to get right.
Once these details were buttoned down, he rough ground the primary bevels:
Both of our blades, ready for heat treat. My process for this requires two full days, so that left us some time for shenanigans before we could get back to the project.
Mike elected to drill holes to reduce weight in the handle, and I agreed to taper the tang on mine so we could feel the differences between the two when they were finished. After heating in the kiln and quenching, they both took a long nap at -320º F. When they came out, they were only slightly warmed by the outside temps at my house. It gets cold here.
Mike, adopting the behaviors of the locals to fit in, made sure to dress appropriately for the conditions...
As the tempering process had begun, it left us time to wander about, so I took him to my beloved forestry and let him run around with the bulldog. 5º F never felt or looked so good!
Once you're moving, it really does become more comfortable than you might expect...
It was about at this point that Joey P. called to harass me, but we cut him short so we could keep moving and stay warm, and I'm pretty sure I was supposed to call him back, but both of us got distracted by something shiny and I spaced it up until right now. Whoops.
As soon as the tempering process was finished, we got back to business doing whatever finish grinding was necessary, including cleaning up the little squidgey bit under the plunge, which once again Mike did on the grinder, freehand.
Deep red rayskin was chosen to appear under the tsukaito, and on went the wrap:
Turk's head knots were applied, after much deliberation on whether or not they should get them at all, and we both agreed they added balance to the overall form. Here's where they sit, awaiting a good resin soak.
Shortly before starting this thread I put Mike on a plane back to where the weather is pleasant, and probably the people are, too.
Five days of typical unhealthy Midwest winter comfort food, outside temperature delta of nearly 50º, sleep deprivation, constant knife talk, an overbearing bullmastiff and superb coffee. Good times!
Hope you all enjoy the follow-along, and I can't express how much I'm blessed to have such a good friend as Mike is, sharing in this madness with me.
I've been working on a prototype of my kwaiken, a smaller version of my 5", as many people need it to be below 4" for legal reasons, and I figured this would be a good design for the two of us to work on. I made one while he made one, each with an identical steel and profile, but with slightly different design elements. Here's how it went...
First, we started with a fresh sheet of Crucible CPM-S60v in .210" thickness, and cut the profile out on the bandsaw:
Next, we cleaned up the profile on the grinder:
From this point forward, it was House Rules, and I don't use work rests or jigs for any other processes, and neither was Mike. He elected to run with a rounded spine, and a hand satin polish on it. Like a fool, I failed to get a photo of him grinding it, but he handled it with aplomb. It's a tricky task to get right.
Once these details were buttoned down, he rough ground the primary bevels:
Both of our blades, ready for heat treat. My process for this requires two full days, so that left us some time for shenanigans before we could get back to the project.
Mike elected to drill holes to reduce weight in the handle, and I agreed to taper the tang on mine so we could feel the differences between the two when they were finished. After heating in the kiln and quenching, they both took a long nap at -320º F. When they came out, they were only slightly warmed by the outside temps at my house. It gets cold here.
Mike, adopting the behaviors of the locals to fit in, made sure to dress appropriately for the conditions...
As the tempering process had begun, it left us time to wander about, so I took him to my beloved forestry and let him run around with the bulldog. 5º F never felt or looked so good!
Once you're moving, it really does become more comfortable than you might expect...
It was about at this point that Joey P. called to harass me, but we cut him short so we could keep moving and stay warm, and I'm pretty sure I was supposed to call him back, but both of us got distracted by something shiny and I spaced it up until right now. Whoops.
As soon as the tempering process was finished, we got back to business doing whatever finish grinding was necessary, including cleaning up the little squidgey bit under the plunge, which once again Mike did on the grinder, freehand.
Deep red rayskin was chosen to appear under the tsukaito, and on went the wrap:
Turk's head knots were applied, after much deliberation on whether or not they should get them at all, and we both agreed they added balance to the overall form. Here's where they sit, awaiting a good resin soak.
Shortly before starting this thread I put Mike on a plane back to where the weather is pleasant, and probably the people are, too.
Five days of typical unhealthy Midwest winter comfort food, outside temperature delta of nearly 50º, sleep deprivation, constant knife talk, an overbearing bullmastiff and superb coffee. Good times!
Hope you all enjoy the follow-along, and I can't express how much I'm blessed to have such a good friend as Mike is, sharing in this madness with me.
