My First Homemade Knife

Thnaks guy!

Coldwood- thaks for the kind word.

FiddleB-thanks, I get supplies from knifekits.com , and i see they have some micarta. Blue jeans would rock with the cold blue color! good idea! :thumbup:

RescueMike-Never know, maybe one day they will become available. ;)

Gibson-There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers :cool:
Yes, it does, in fact have a balance point, near the middle.:rolleyes:
It held an edge for a full hour before the pic. ;)
It can chop paper. ha. :D :D :D


OK, actually, as far as the edge, it's convex ground and pretty thick. It's probably 20° each side (40° inclusive). I'll have to keep thinning it on the wet wheel.
As far as edge holding? Time will tell. I heat treated with a torch. Then tested with file and hacksaw blade, they slipped off, didn't dig in, so I got "some sort of" treatment done to it. I need a gauge to really tell.
Tempered at 400° per Scott's instructions. (Razorback Knives).


Scales / Micarta discussion:

Well you learn through experience.
I rounded the handle very nicely to give a nice feel in the hand, but, it doesn't lend itself well to slabs. Also, when drilling the holes in the handle, didn't leave a lot of room for drilling and tapping screw holes for slabs.
Live and Learn.
What I did do, is put those 4 smaller holes (two front and two rear) for 550 Cord/lanyard attachment. So, in the end, it will either be naked, or cord wrapped.
Next time, I will plan slabs from the "get go".

Need a supplier of BlueJean Micarta, I'm liking that idea for a cold blued blade. :thumbup:

So, who wants to see my second knife??
OK, what the heck, this was designed by my USMC buddy.
NOT a WSK, at all. He wanted Uber-tactical.
Also finish yesterday. -5160- OAL 10" blade= 5.25" .250 thick.
EEknife4.jpg
 
Awesome duo, This is inspiring to get off my but and make my own finally.
How does that upside down belt sander work? That's a really good idea.
 
Oh no, you'll be hooked now. :D You'll be looking for more equipment. Thinking about the next knife you're gonna make and before you know it, you have a knifemaker's membership. :D Great job. It's very satisfying making your own outdoor equipment.
Scott
 
Gossman Knives said:
Oh no, you'll be hooked now. :D You'll be looking for more equipment. Thinking about the next knife you're gonna make and before you know it, you have a knifemaker's membership. :D Great job. It's very satisfying making your own outdoor equipment.
Scott
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Ain't that the truth, Scott! :thumbup:
I almost spit out my coffee when I read your reply, the page I had just left was a tool site! :D
AND, I was looking at designs last night. I'm a gonner.

Thanks for the info and pointers. Now I have to work on my fit & finish. These have some of those little scratch marks on them, but, they are users. ;)

"I love the smell of grinding steel in the morning!"

My next purchase is actually not tool related, it's going to be one of those cushioned rubber floor mats, my feet are killin me from standing on cold concrete better part of Sat. and Sunday.

Used a piece of scrap carpet on Sunday, that helped.
 
Both sweet. Really. As far as the blue jean mikarta goes, I'm sure its available, but I made my own.

Get marine epoxy (I use west marine system) at a marine store. You want a long open cure time!!!!! Cut jeans in ~6"x8" strips. Use the lightest old jeans you can find, they darken when you put the epoxy on. Wrap two 1' long sections of 2x8 with saran wrap. Get several clamps ready. Mix up the epoxy. Now you're on a time limit.

Paint a layer of epoxy onto one of your 2x8 pieces. Put down 1 strip of denim. Paint it with epoxy. Put down another. ETC. You'll want 20 or more layers depending on the thickness you want. When the epoxy gets gummy, you're out of time. Put on the top board and clamp. ***** Don't clamp too tightly or you'll squeeze out too much epoxy. ***** Sorry, but that part is trial and error.

Fit to tang like anything else. Sand (wear a mask) to shape. Coat with superglue (~30 coats in a WELL ventilated area). Polish.

SAWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!


Edited. Thanks RJ.
 
Fiddleback said:
As far as the blue jean mikarta goes... Wrap two 1" long sections of 2x8 with saran wrap.
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I'm guessing that should have been written as "Wrap two 1' long sections of 2x8 with saran wrap." i.e. make one FOOT long sections, not one INCH long sections. ;)

That's a very salient point about not squeezing the fabric & epoxy stack too tightly. You gotta leave enough of the epoxy on the surfaces to maintain the bonding.
 
very nice skunk... great work.....:thumbup:

drop me a line when you get some neckers going.....:D

mike
 
Skunk, one thing I can't stress enough that you get is a respirator. You don't want to be breathing any of that stuff. Especially micarta. Steel also. Black boogers aren't good.
Scott
 
Gossman Knives said:
Skunk, one thing I can't stress enough that you get is a respirator. You don't want to be breathing any of that stuff. Especially micarta. Steel also. Black boogers aren't good.
Scott
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Scott, thanks. I have a dust collection system for my wood shop, with cyclone collector and bags. I'll rig an inlet, but yes, I hear ya.

Micarta, of course, is a different animal, same as any synthetics as far as I am concerned. Like working on poisonous woods, such as Cocobola.
 
Scott, can you recommend a good safe respirator? Because I am a dumbass, I shaped the dymondwood handle of my girlfriend's boot knife with a Dremel and no mask. Sneezed blue snot for a day or two, NOT a good thing.

Now I'm using paper dust masks but I don't think that's enough protection. The chemicals used to make laminated wood and micarta and stuff have toxic properties, don't they? Plus of course the dust. (if you can see it, smell it or taste it, you shouldn't be breathing it... although of course there are lots of things you can't smell or see, that you shouldn't breathe either.)
 
I got mine from Home Depot. Buy the one that protects you from everything. I paid $36.00. They may have gone up in price. They have replaceable filter canisters. You'll have to occasionally take it apart and clean it under water. Dymond wood has resins in it like micarta. Not good to breath.
Scott
 
GibsonFan said:
OK thanks much. That's a very small price to keep your lungs intact.
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Yeah, the ones with the cannisters on them.

I have a good one I used for auto-painting, but, can change cannisters for dust, vapors, whatever.

They are a lot cheaper now, I think I paid 'through the nose' for mine.
(pun intended)
 
Hey Skunk! I am just catching up with my BF reading after removing tons of snow all weekend. Great looking blades you made there! Damn proud of ya! Keep'em coming! -Matt-
 
grease-man said:
Hey Skunk! I am just catching up with my BF reading after removing tons of snow all weekend. Great looking blades you made there! Damn proud of ya! Keep'em coming! -Matt-
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Thanks grease!

I'm doing final grinds on the wet wheel tonite.

They were way too thick! Next time I'm removing more material up front!
 
Magnum22 said:
i think it already is. very nice work. i think your next project should be a light box.
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I've been thinking about building a light box/tent and came up with the following links:

One

Two

Three

Of course, you can make the photos more "outdoorsy" by staging the knives on rocks or pine boughs inside the light box.

Skunk,

As far as putting slabs on your first knife, you could make spacers to fit two of the larger holes and have the bolts fit tightly through those.

My question is, since this came out of the famed "SkunkWerx Skunk Works", will it have the radar signature of a paperclip? :cool:

-- FLIX
 
FLIX said:
Skunk,

My question is, since this came out of the famed "SkunkWerx Skunk Works", will it have the radar signature of a paperclip? :cool:

-- FLIX
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Yes, and....
It's polished with dead alien blood, that's why all the critters follow me. :D
 
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