MINI Knife Tutorial and WIP

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

In response to requests for a tutorial I wrote up a basic plan. I am starting two minis and will make them a WIP. The first is a damascus bowie in 10:1 scale. The second is a wakazashi in 25:1 scale. The full size knives would be 16" and 36" OAL ,respectively.
The bowie is forged from a damascus rivet wire. It will have a stag crown handle and a D-guard. It will be made in four pieces - blade, guard, handle, pommel nut.
The wak is forged from a W1 steel wire. The koskirae will be in 14K gold, with silk ito. There will be seven pieces - blade, habaki, tsuba, fuchi,tsuka, mekugi,kashira.....and maybe a kake.
Both blades have been forged and hardened at this point. I will post more photos and instructions as the work progresses.

Here are the basic instructions:

Mini Knife Making Tutorial

Making a miniature knife is not much different than making a full sized knife. The main differences are in holding on to the parts, and seeing what you are working on.

Plans/Drawings:
You will need to have an idea what you are going to make. Draw up a full sized drawing of the knife. For instance a bowie with an 10” blade and a 6” handle. The bowie would be ¼” thick at the spine. Now, figure the scale you want to work in. For a first project 10:1 is a good place to start. That means that every inch is now .1 inch. Using a cheap HF digital micrometer, you can easily (mentally) move the decimal point and see that the mini is 1.6” long with a .8” blade and .6” handle and you will want the blade to be .025” thick.
If you are going to try a really small scale, use the millimeter readings, and use 1MM equals 1 inch. That is approx. 25:1.
Make all the parts of appropriate scale. It shows poorly planning when the guard works out to be about ½” thick when you factor the scale in. Keeping the handle width and sizing to scale is one of the hardest parts. Often the wood/ivory is only a few thousandth of an inch thick over the tang hole.
On most minis, scaling the hardware isn’t too much of a problem, but on some things, like a habaki with walls that are only .005” thick, it can really be hard to keep to scale.

Tools:
Besides the measuring devices mentioned, an assortment of small tools are required. Some sort of holding device is a necessity. A pin vise works well, as do several other small clamping tools. When making a blade, leave the piece of parent stock on to hold as a handle for as long as possible. Tweezers, scalpel/Exacto blades, modeling saws, a jeweler’s saw with size 1/0 blade, needle files, a Dremel tool or flex shaft, size 60-80 drill bits, and clamping tweezers are all handy things to have. The same adhesives used in other knife work will work on the small scale knives. I use a lot of slow set cyanoacrylic glue.
Good lighting and magnification are needed. An optivisor, or similar hood is nearly a requirement, but a good hand magnifier will do.
Place all the tools and parts you are using on a small tray, like a lunch tray. This keeps the tiny things from rolling off the table into never-never land. It makes putting it aside to answer the phone or quit for the night much easier, too.

Materials:
You can use any piece of metal you wish to make a mini, because it doesn’t have to perform like a real knife…….but if you use steel, and make a real miniature knife, the effect ( and fun) is much greater. Any tiny scarp of knife steel, even damascus scraps, can be used. Other metals to use for the handle hardware are brass, nickel, precious metals, and of course -iron/steel.
Handles can be made from any dense and very fine grained material. - ebony, rosewoods, ivory scraps, bone, antler, even leather.

Procedures:
Shaping the profile is best done with small files or with the Dremel, using sanding drums, small abrasive wheels, and Cratex wheels. Keeping a good grip is important, because finding a ½” long blade on the floor can be hard. Holding the tang or the blade tip in a pin vise while working on it is the best way to go. Once the profile is set, proceed just like you would on any knife, by setting the plunge lines ( if this applies) and then making the bevels.
If you are going to harden the blade, do so now. For carbon steels, getting it above non-magnetic and quenching in water or brine is usually no problem. You can use oil, too. Stainless steel minis should be heat treated in a foil bag. Just stick them in with a regular knife. Temper as the steel requires. I usually give carbon steel minis a one hour temper at 400F. The tang can be drawn down softer with a small butane hobby torch if needed.
Sanding can be done with abrasive strips held ( or glued) on a popsicle stick.. Scratches look much worse on a mini, so get it smooth to at least 1000 grit. Buffing can be a trick, so until you gain good skills with the Dremel ( never try to buff a mini on a full size knife buffer), buffing with a felt/leather rouge stick is the best way to get a mirror polish.

Guard:
Once the blade is finished, it is time to fit a guard…if the style has one.
One common mistake is to make the guard too large and thick Use your micrometer and your scale drawing to determine how thin and wide the guard should be. Make the piece a bit oversized to start, and after drilling/sawing the tang slot file the profile to shape and scale.


Handle:
Select the material and cut off a piece about 50% bigger than you need. For a hidden tang ( the easiest to start with), drill the tang hole and fit it to the tang. Then start removing the excess material and shaping the handle. Trust me, if you shape the handle first, the tang will end up off center. Faux stag can be made by using ivory, bone, or antler, and carving in the texture with minute ball burs. Stain the stag and rub/sand/buff the highlights white.

Detail work:
While any mini draws good comment from observers, a few tiny details can make one really pop. A few strokes with the jeweler’s saw blade and a needle file will add file work. A tiny hole or two drilled in the handle with fake rivets ( or real rivets) glued in adds a lot. If your skill level increases enough, you can make threaded tangs and tap pommel nuts, or just make fake pommel nuts and glue them in the rear tang hole.

 

[panch0]

Wow Stacy! That is some awesome looking work! One must have alot of patience and a steady hand to do that sort of tiny detailed work.

 

[gga357]

Very cool. Very interesting.

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

Holy crap! 25:1 scale? That thing will be 50' long, hehehe. Seriously, though, I look forward to following this.

 

[12345678910]

This thread just started in Whine and cheese, It may be interesting to you if you like the miniatures

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

OK, today I cleaned up the bowie blade, flat sanded it to 600 grit,did the bevels and plunge, file worked the spine, then hardened and tempered the blade. After that I made the guard and then the handle and pommel nut. All the parts are now made, and the final etching, bluing, and assembly is all that is left.

I'll explain the process as I post the photos.

First, here are some tools and things that make this type work easier. You probably have most already.

Steel for mini knives is everywhere. Hobby shops carry steel wire ( usually W1) and it can be forged into blades easily. Other sources for blade steel are broken knives, old needle files,and the scraps from regular knives. Steel for the guards can be found on metal boxes, electrical cover plates, etc. Brass can come from the hobby shop,or old engraving plaques and plates.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

To hold the blade and guard parts, use a pin vise. The collets come in different sizes, and will hold everything from a small bar of metal to a tiny wire. You can see that I have the blade on one end and the guard on the other.

Work the blade exactly like any other knife. Leave the tang long in the beginning, to allow a better grip . Make sure to use the micrometer to check the thickness. I was doing this blade and it looked good, but something was off. I measured the blade to check how much it was off. It was .045" thick. While that is thin by most standards, it correlates to a blade that is nearly 1/2" thick on the 10:1 scale. I thinned it down to .030", and the proportions jumped into a much better look.

I did the file work before I finished the sides. You can do it whenever you wish, but I find that the more metal you have to work with the easier it is to do. Also, you are not worried about scuffing the bevels at that point.
The file work is just a simple rope pattern. First take a jewelers saw ( I had a 2/0 blade in mine) and make a series of diagonal strokes where the file cuts will be. BTW,This is an excellent method regardless of the size knife you are file working. Next, take a small triangular or a double half-round file and make the rope cuts. A few strokes and it is all done.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Now, onto the guard and handle.
I took a piece of .030 steel, and cut a very over-sized strip. You want to shape the guard down toward the slot, and never try to cut the slot exactly in the center of a perfect size guard...it won't happen, believe me.
After annealing the metal, I cut the tang slot and made it a tight fit on the blade. It won't quite go all the way on, which is good, as I still have to give the blade an etch and final sanding. It is easy to make the slot bigger, but very hard to make it smaller ( again, good advise for full sized knives,too). Once the slot was right, I bent and shaped the guard, then made a small hole for the pommel nut. This knife has a false pommel nut, which is fine for a mini. The nut has a round tang that goes through the rear guard, and into the handle. Once glued in place it looks like it is on the tang. The blade tang was cut to allow just enough extra hole in the handle for the pommel nut tang to go in. The pommel nut was made by chucking a small steel wire in the flexshaft handle ( dremel will work fine) and "turning" it with a small file as the cutting tool. Took about 60 seconds to make the nut and tang. A quick rub (while turning) with a piece of 400 grit paper and it was done. I photographed it and the guard on the parent stock metal to show how I keep it all together until i am ready to cut them off and assemble the knife. Such a small part gets lost easily, but a 1" long wire is easy to handle and keep track of.

The handle is faux stag crown. I used one of my favorite materials for this project. You can see a full sized piece of the stock in the photos. Who knows what that material is????
I cut a slightly long and thick section, then drilled and fitted it to the blade tang. Once it fit well, I left it on the tang (without the guard - mainly for getting a good grip, and for perspective and size comparison). I took a 1mm ball burr and started making random grooves. After it started looking a bit like stag, I started making it smaller ( to be the scale size of an approx 1" crown). When I liked the look, I switched to a .5mm ball burr and refined the grooves. I added some random bumps and dips. If you place a piece of stag in front of you when you do this the first couple times, it becomes easy to make very realistic stag crowns. Even the butt or the antler can be made very realistic ( not done on this knife). After the crown is carved, burnish it with a small brass wheel or a brass brush. Staining the stag will make it look older. many materials work for faux stag. Ivory of most any type, bone, antler tips, and my favorite - a raccoon baculum. The grain and pores of a baculum are almost perfect for the scale we are dealing with.
Once the stag was carved, I carefully shortened it and fitted it to the guard ends.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

It's a racoon pecker.
Interesting minis. I used to do a lot of them.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

With the four parts shaped, the final steps are:
Etch the blade in FC, then hand sand it to 1200 grit. This blade is damascus, so I etched it, if your blade is plain steel, blue it, give it a satin finish, or mirror polish it as you wish.
Next , The pommel nut is cut free from its wire stock, and set in a small box to be used in a few minutes.
Now, we cut the guard from its parent stock ,trim it to fit the crown butt, sand and polish it.
The pommel nut is soft soldered to the guard end. Use just a minute piece of solder, from the inside. Clean up the joint, wash and de-grease the guard, and blue the guard.
Check the fit of the blade, and trim the tang so when fully seated it comes to about 2-3mm shy of the pommel nut tang.
Make any adjustments to the seats at the ricasso now. Normally a small gap at the spine or choil that was only .010" would be considered a tight fit. However, on a 10:1 scale mini, that gap looks like an 1/8" misalignment on a full sized knife.
Remove the blade and slip the handle on the pommel tang. I do this with the crown upside down. That way the front end is above the guard edge and you don't have to try and push it in sideways. Rotate the handle to the proper position and make one last check on the fit of the handle ends.
Test fit the blade and see that everything is snug, tight, and all gaps are closed.
With all right, remove the blade and put one drop of slow set CA down the guard slot ( and into the handle). Slide in the blade, seat it firmly, wipe off the glue that squeezes out, and hold the knife in the jaws of a pair of tweezers from tip to pommel nut. Check again, wipe the excess glue with a paper towel dampened with acetone, and set down for an hour to fully cure.
After the cure, wipe the knife down with acetone and give it a hand buff with a rouge cloth or a 3M pink paper.
Sharpen it and make a display stand.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Next - The Sword

The wakizashi is a more complex project, partly because of the 25:1 scale, and partly because of the handle assembly. Those not familiar with Japanese blades and their hardware may want to look are some sword sites to get the basic parts and their relationship down before attempting a mini wakizashi . Here is a good site:
http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/glossary.htm
There will be several steps that can be done in several ways. Some will be easier, but not look quite as good. Others will be very difficult, but will showcase the makers skills to the extreme. I will try and explain these choices as we come to them. When possible, I will photograph the difference.

The blade was very basic, and except for the machi and the mekugi ana, there is not much to do. Polish the blade as you wish, paying detail to the yokote as much as possible. The nakago can be made a bit thin and undersize if you are fitting a two piece tsuka. This sword will have one made in ivory. Use elephant ivory for this as any other material will not work at the extreme thinness of the tsuka sides. They are about .005 to .010" thick. An old piano key is perfect.

Before I go into making the tsuka by the traditional method, I will give the alternatives. All these are done with the habaki, tsuba, and fuchi ( if one is used) in place. Apply a tiny drop of CA to lock them in place securely. Here are some sneaky ways of achieving the look of a tsuka:
1) Make a complete two piece tsuka. This is often hard to do to scale, but is rewarding if it works. If it doesn't work, just go to plan "2" or "3".
2) Wrap the nakago with a piece of white paper, and tie the ito over that. Dampen the paper and roll it around the nakago ( try different types of paper and see what works). Clamp with tweezers and let dry. When dry,apply a tiny drop of thin CA, and let it cure. You can sand the paper to shape and tie the ito over it with fairly good results. Most likely it can't be removed from the nakago, so there will be no need for the ana, as you won't be able to fit a mekugi.
3) Build up a tsuka by applying strips of thin masking tape to each side, apply several layers if needed.Trim with a sharp scalpel. Do tsuka-maki over that. This works surprisingly well. To have a mekugi, just peal off one side, drill the ana, put tape back on and complete the ana from the other side.
4) Build up a faux tsuka by painting lacquer type model paint over the nakago. Build this up in layers, allowing a complete drying between coats. Sand to shape as you go. Tie the ito over the last layer when it is almost completely dry.
5) make the nakago a stick tang, and build a hidden tang handle. This sounds like the easy way out, but is risky on mini swords below 10:1 scale. The handle tends to break off at the guard without extreme care.

OK, on this sword I am trying #1, using a small scrap of ivory. I sawed it in two ,but you can just use two small thin pieces. Make it a good bit oversized and too long at this point. Sand/file the mating surfaces flat.
Inlet one piece to about 50%. Put the habaki and the tsuba on, leaving off the fuchi for now. With the ivory snug against the tsuba, drill the mekugi ana through the ivory. Inlet the other piece slowly until it just fits over the nakago and barely touches the other piece of ivory. Take your time and go slow fitting the nakago, the fit needs to be as snug as possible. A bit on the over tight side is OK ( tiny gap between the two pieces), it will loosen up as you work it later.
When the inletting is done, apply a minute drop of slow set CA to the end of one tsuka side,REPEAT - to the end only, and place the other tsuka half on. Hold with a pair of tweezers ( or fingers if you are brave and fear no CA glue) at the end where the glue is, slip in the nakago, aligning the two halves quickly, pull out the nakago and wipe it off, repeat the insert/remove/wipe several times.This will get out any CA that creeps up into the inletted channel. Remember, only apply glue on the end past the inlets, don't try and glue the sides together. On 10:1 scale, you can make a solid joint down the sides with skill, but at 25:1 the two sides are only glued on the end. You will see why soon.
Once the CA is cured, drill the ana through the second side.Make a metal mekugi with a 1" long piece of steel wire. Check the fit with the blade in the tsuka. Whenever possible, keep this pin in the ana. Now, slip the blade into the inlet, insert the mekugi pin, and start shaping the tsuka with a fine sanding disk or cratex wheel ( removing the habaki and tsuba first ).
Sand and shape slowly until it is starting to look like a tsuka. Go thinner and thinner until you think it is right. Measure with your micrometer and check against your scale plans. Most likely it will translate to being about 2.5" wide and 1.25" thick. That, of course is too big. Keep going until it is just a tad below the final size needed ( the ito will add thickness). When your nerves won't take any more .....quit .... there comes a point where there just isn't any material left to sand away. If all went well, you will have a paper thin tsuka. The open slit down the sides are a good thing, as the sides will curl in tight as the ito is wrapped.

That is where we will stop for today. It may be next week before we go on to the tsuka-maki.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

More shots:

 

[Fletch Helical]

The fact that you're putting as much effort into a mini as if it were a full sized piece is incredible. If I were to look at a mini like that without knowing I would think it wasn't actually a functional knife. I mean taking something like that and doing a HT and all the trimmings is pretty crazy, I don't think I'd ever have the patience to do that.

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

I'm totally amazed. Not just at the work, but at the fact your eyes can handle the minutia without popping out of your head!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Bloody Hell! I just typed the next installment and we had another power outage. Dumped the whole post. Oh,Well, here it is again:

Today, I changed the tsuka because the ivory one was a bit out of scale and couldn't be made any thinner. I turned one from a piece of gold tubing , ovaled it, and soldered on a kashira. The ito will tie in the center recess. Once tied, it should look like a fuchi, ito, and kashira.
I also made a saya. It is desert Ironwood Burl and ebony. It looks so good that I may make a matching wooden handle as an alternate . They can be exchanged by driving out the mekugi. The saya is 1" (25mm). If I make the wooden handle to match the width of the saya, I can call it a mini aikuchi ( tanto without a guard) in 10:1 scale. What do you think???

I will take the camera gear in to work tomorrow, and shoot some pics of interest. I will also try and get some action shots of the tsuka-maki.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Had time to take a few shots yesterday.
Here are some shots of my workspace. As you can see, tiny is no problem to do if you have the right tools.

Also note the mini-KMG. It is a flex-shaft powered Wolf belt sander, ¾”X10” . Running on my 1/3HP flex-shaft, it will really do some serious sanding. The belts come in grits from 100grit to 5 micron. It even has a dust collector ( not shown in photo). It mounts on my GRS Benchmate system.

As to some tricks:
Look at the way I place my finger on the saya when sanding. This allows smooth sanding and thinning of the sides. The unseen thing in that photo is shown in the next image. I make a bamboo, blade shaped, insert that is the exact size of the blade. This prevents the saya from collapsing while the sides are sanded very thin. It also allows a better grip. The shot also shows good detail of the mini burl pattern I selected for this mini-saya.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Final installment:

I did the tsuka-maki today. I use the GRS benchmate ring clamp as the jig. It rotates and allows alternating knots. The ito is silk embroidery thread. I tie an overhand knot on one side, rotate 180, tie the other side, etc. When I get to the ana, I insert the mekugi. After knotting to the end, I tie it off and secure the knot with a tiny dab of CA. After trimming the mekugi flush, I give the thread a light coating of thinned lacquer.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

This is the final product.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and are inspired to try one.

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

Absolutely beautiful! Amazing detail. Why did you choose silk thread? It seems to have a fuzzy look to it. Does the lacquer remove the fuzz? Would braided fishing line be suitable?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Braided fishing line ( Spiderwire is the best) would be fine for 10:1 scale, but embroidery thread is more to scale for 25:1. The lacquer makes the fuzz go away. Also, I usually wax the thread, and didn't this time.