My ESEE Copies, My 2nd attempt at knifemaking

S

scooternut

Joined
Dec 24, 2012
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SO last winter I set out to makes some knives. I made 4 of the same knife at the same time, therefore, all with the same mistakes. Learned alot, loved them at the time, but knew that I could do better So, as the snow fell this year, I was excited to try my hand at it again and the ESEE shapes were just calling out to me. I made these, a few kitchen knives (gifted), and another ESEE Izula 2 copy that is paracord wrapped and in my jump bag at work (Im Police). IM quite proud of my progress and found a reason to like being locked in the shop over the winter.

All are 1084, ground on a craftsman 2x42 with ceramic tile platen, and treated in my paint can forge.

One is an ESEE 4 with canvas mycarta, vinegar patina, and my own homemade kydex with some commerical belt clip I scored for free. The shiny scratches are a recent failed attempt at sharpening stones). Perfect truck door knife! The other 4 are ESEE Izula copies, one is finished with brazilian ebony scales and a full custom kydex, I even began making my own kydex belt loops. Gifting that one to the guy who cut up the wood for me (it was flooring). One is finished and wears my own custom kydex with most excellent custom belt clip (very easy to make by the way). The other two are in progress, one being normalized and ready for heat treat, the other ready for bevel grinding with just the corners knicked off so far.

EseeCollectionCustom_zps4ed37270.jpg
 
"mill out" you make it sound so easy. Laughing here. I dont know machining but watching for a Grizzly mini mill on craigslist, maybe one will show up someday. Just time spent with a drill press, a 1/8 grinder bit (scored a butt load of them for free) in one of them like 30k rpm pencil grinders, and then hand file work to clean it up. The holes are waaay out of round if you look close. I really like the Izula in my hand, thinking the Becker version with longer blade might be a better choice. Though is the short blade really that limiting for what Ill use it for? Doubtful.

Thanks for the compliment.
 
Very cool man. I'd be far happier to carry one of those than a production piece. With all due respect to Ethan (or whoever designed them) of course.
 
I was told the wood is brazilian ebony. Leftover pieces from a hardwood floor my brother installed. This stuff is beautiful though, that bad pic does nothing for it. I sanded it to 1500 and havnt treated it with anything and it still looks amazing. I made a kitchen knife for my brother with it also. Maybe Ill get a better pic up of those scales.
 
Those look good. Grinds look nice and flat. Straight bevels... kudos...
People underestimate how hard it is to make a round hole, no?

If you have a drill press, a set of even fairly cheap step-drills are really handy for holes up to and even above an inch. The really nice dewalt jobs at $50 a pop are great, but I have seen better $/mile out of the cheap HF sets.
 
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