Mid Tech. knife making on the 1911 Bowie, and the field test.

Mark Knapp

Mark Knapp

Joined
Dec 20, 2009
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I haven't been around this side of the forums for a while but I got a new computer (a crash is imminent on the old one) and I am learning to use it. A short time ago the patent on my 1911 Combat Survivor came through, I thought some of you would enjoy seeing a couple of pictures of it in production.

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Here's a shot of my Bridgeport CNC cutting the bevels in the 154CM blades. The fixture holds the blade for cutting on one side and then the other. My old CNC Mill has none of the fancy capabilities that Nathan has but it gets the job done on these blades.

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Here are some of the blades fit to the handle frames, next stop, pinning and soldering.

Thanks for looking, I hope you enjoyed them, Mark
 
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Mid-tech? If grinding bevels on a Bridgeport is mid-tech, then I'm still in the stone age! :D:D

I'm going to keep an eye on this. :thumbup:

Carry on......
 
Frank Niro said:
Hey, Mark, did you make the handle frames as well Thanks Frank
Click to expand...

Hi Frank, I started out using manufacturer defect 1911 auto grip frames that I welded up and machined for the knives. Because that required way too much rework, I had my own molds made and now they are investment casted for me in 304 stainless.

For anyone not familiar with the knife, it is a hollow handle survival knife that uses a 1911 magazine for a compartment for all your survival gear.
 
I would call that real going to it and getting it done the right way !!! Thanks for this, Mark. Frank
 
I'm plugging along, there are 35 knives in this batch.

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Here's my Bridgeport doing the machining on the grip frames, it takes 6 tool changes to drill, tap and machine the magazine catch button hole.

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A small Woodruff Key cutter is used to make the retaining slot for the mag. catch button. I made some soft jaws of hardwood to hold the irregularly shaped grip frames.

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"With a little help from my friend" Jon and his Haas TM2, the magazines are getting the windows cut into them for the compartment door.

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His machine makes quick work of the door opening. A diamond hone for sharpening is fit into the door opening to hold all the survival goodies in.

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The stainless steel magazine cases are a challenge to cut, the right end mill, feed, speed, and coolant is needed to cut the material cleanly and efficiently.

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My Bader III is used to remove the tool marks from the bevel and grind the compound curve on the point of the blade. The swedges will be ground next.

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Even with all the fancy equipment, quite a bit of hand work is necessary to get the fit and finish we want.

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By using the CNC mill to rough in the bevels and finishing by hand the old-school way, I am able to get the finish we want on many blades in a comparatively short amount of time. It took about eight hours to get 20 blanks ready for heat treating.

More to come, thanks for watching, Mark
 
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Nice knife, I did a tanto style blade a few years ago for a freind that used 1911 grips. He liked being able to swap grips to match his pistol :D
 
I've always believed it's not how you do it or what you use but how good it will be when finished ! I already figure these will be first class !! Thanks for showing a "different" approach. Frank
 
Thanks Frank and everybody.

I've got some pictures here of a couple more steps in the making of the knives.

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Here I am grinding the swedge or false edge on the spine of the blade.

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It's easy enough to do with an angle block clamped onto the tool rest of the Bader. The angle block helps keep the angles consistent on both sides of the knife and from knife to knife.

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I used layout die on the blades and scribed reference lines with a height gauge on a surface plate to insure consistent grinds.

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I used my surface grinder to grind the tangs to size accurately.

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Pins are used to align all the blades in the vise. The two holes in the tangs are also used to pin the blades into the grip frames later. Along with soldering and a tight fit the pins provide for a strong handle-to-blade attachment.

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Here are the two blade shapes I settled on, the top one, a basic camp knife Bowie shape and the bottom one, a little pointier, sleeker tactical shape with a longer false edge. I have some in 154CM and 1095. They're sand blasted along with the handles to help the Duracote adhere.

Next, some heat treating and attaching of the blades to the grip frames.

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed it
 
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