More Customizing Fun...

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Vess

Joined
Oct 2, 2001
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Played around with a few new ways of doing things, trying to see how I can minimize the number of screwups per inch... :)

Did two dragonflies this time, but now I am realizing that I am really running out of new design ideas. And I still have one serrated Dragonfly left. Any suggestions? :)

Thuya Burl 'Fly:
thuya_fly_all.jpg


Amboyna Burl 'Fly:
abmoyna_fly_all.jpg
 
Thuya one is single-sided, and without the grooves behind the Spyderco hole. I did it after I finished the amboyna burl one, which turned out way too thick and beefy with double scales and the clip. For such a small knife single scale on one side and clip on another actually works best... :)
 
Did two dragonflies this time, but now I am realizing that I am really running out of new design ideas. And I still have one serrated Dragonfly left. Any suggestions? :)
Click to expand...


How about a pseudo-bolster? What I mean by this is to use two different woods on the scale. One very short, in dark wood, and a longer one in a lighter wood for the rest of the scale; or vice versa. A bolstered look, but all in wood.
 
Hey, yeah! I like where Carlos is going with that. Maybe a Yin-Yang theme in ebony and light hardwood (without the dots if need be) ala yin-yang Cricket.

That would be very cool. I can see my custom Harpy with this combo-scale pattern now...
 
How about a steel bolster,mill off about a 16th in of steel on the last 2/3 rds of the scale and lay on the wood to come even with the bolster.You would get something like the Anni.Delica.
 
All right, so bolsters are a definite interest, huh? I'll try it then. I actually did a fixed blade a while back (Rustic Skinner on my website) that had amboyna burl as a bolster, and padauk as the rest of the scale. That looked pretty decent, so I might try it again.

Metal bolsters could be fun too, but I don't have that much metal left, just a little of nickel silver and some brass. Brass would look just bad, but nickel silver, polished to mirror finish, might work... :)

Oh, and the mixed scale Cricket is also something I'll probably do very soon. Can't decide if I can made the holes on the Yin-Yang symbol, and if maybe I can put pins or something there. Have to think it over a bit first... :)
 
Wow, that is awesome! Very nice! Kinda want one myself! Paul
 
lets see if i still remember the url for my pic.

I did a clip with the dremel & sanding drum, then cleaned up with 220a and 600paper. looks great on my ss cricket.

clip.jpg
 
Vess,what do you use to finish the wood with.I just got some Maple burl and think I am going to try something.
Oh and what kind of sand paper to finish it,I just tried some 3m 2000 grit and it leaves a grey stain on it.
 
Depends on the type of wood. Thuya is so oily almost nothing is needed, but usually I finish the handles by dunking them into Danish oil and letting them soak for several hours. Then after it's dry (takes days) I apply some kind of wax to it (Carnuba or Renaissance Wax). Then I polish it up on a felt cotton wheel, and that's it.

When working on the handle, I usually use 50-100 grit sandpaper, and then progressively finer ones, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500 and 2000. With 1500 and 2000 I usually take a small new sheet of sandpaper for every handle, so it won't have any old gunk on it. I stay away from abrasive paste compounds of any kind, because they tend to get into wood pores, and sometimes re-color wood in places. Sandpaper is the way I usually do it.
 
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