Making an integral criollo - O1 and Antelope - Lots of pics

Ruben Calo · Dec 28, 2006

Grinding the blade.

Heat treating it. (Not this exact blade, as I didn't have anyone to take a picture and I needed both hands)

After HT with some cleaning of the working area.

Making a groove for securing the handle.

Finishing it.

Sanding the blade.

Almost finished blade.

Ruben Calo · Dec 28, 2006

Views of the groove.

Antelope horn.

Boiling it on water and vonager to soften it and be able to press it and get rid of some of the curves of it.

Pressing it.

Sanding it.

Roughly sanded, yet not polished.

A little bit more sanding.

Not yet polished.

You can check out how it was flattened for a better grip without loosing the patterns of the horn.

Ruben Calo · Dec 28, 2006

This was the original horn shape.
The first piece isn't sanded, the second one (the handle) it is sanded, and the third one, the tip, was sanded and polished to look all 3 stages. That is how the finished handle will look like.

Marking a sterling silver sheet for the buttcap piece.

Cutting it.

Cutted piece.

Testing it.

Marking on the same sheet to cut the end part for the buttcap piece.

Cutting it (I broke the saw as you can see)

Welding both pieces together.

Putting the handle together.

Thanks for looking!

Ruben

Ruben Calo · Dec 28, 2006

Finished knife:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4225705

Ruben

Mark Pointen · Dec 28, 2006

cool insights, thanks Ruben

SpearZ · Dec 28, 2006

Thank you, watching how it is done I really appreciate,

Keith Montgomery · Dec 31, 2006

Thanks, I always appreciate these threads that take you through the construction of a knife.

Mark Pointen · Jan 1, 2007

Ruben, what size stock did you start with? Also thanks again, there is so much to learn from a craftsman like yourself.

raker13 · Jan 1, 2007

Thank you for sharing.

bindlestitch · Jan 1, 2007

:thumbup: Beautiful knife and great post.
Thanks for sharing.
Later,
Stitch

Ruben Calo · Jan 3, 2007

Mark Pointen said:
Ruben, what size stock did you start with?

Mark, it was a 1" diameter rounded bar that I got flattened to 12mm. Then I started grindind from there.

Thanks.
Rubén

Knifemaker87 · Jan 6, 2007

did you do the flattening yourself? i really really like the blade style. beautiful lines... it is a GREAT knife. what kinda grinder do you have? it is really great to see work done my an artisan.
thanks
~Chris

Jim Rehrer · Jan 9, 2007

Hey Ruben love he pics helps apriciate what goes into your knives!
one question....once you make your butt cap how did you attach it?
thanks
Jim

Ruben Calo · Jan 10, 2007

did you do the flattening yourself?

Ariel Salaverria did if for me with his hidraulic press

what kinda grinder do you have?

I've build both the sander and the grinder myself, as there were no commercial options for my needs. The sander has a sanding belt of 75x1500mm or I can use smaller sizes (or grinding stones too) with the rubber addapter. It runs at 1400rpm

Then the grinder has 1.5HP and runs at 2800 rpm.

once you make your butt cap how did you attach it?

I glue it in place with the reinforcement of a welded peg that goes inside the handle.

Ruben

rebeltf · Jan 10, 2007

I love your tutorials ! Thank you so much for showing us the various processes involved in making a knife.
You and folks like you are a boon to the knife world :thumbup:

Ruben Calo · Jan 11, 2007

Thank you Molon!