Photos My first knife - in progress

C

Chris Perez

Joined
Mar 2, 2020
Messages
16
Hi there.
I just wanted to post my first knife in progress.
At this point, my progress is that I have the blade, wood and pins.
vI3llPP.jpg

I want to post this, since how to get this was a bit hard, as I am situated in Argentina for some years. Since I could not find any posts in here with Argentina in them. I want to give a thanks to the seller Nicolás Spadea @ http://spadea.com.ar/ He doesn't speak english and I do not speak Spanish - He is an honest and friendly person and we communicated over messenger but he also have whatsapp.

I bought this via mecado libre: He have many more blades ect.
https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.a...dea-tipo-solingen-carbono-1070-_JM?quantity=1

I hope it is ok to post this, to help other people here in Argentina who want to start in custom knifes also.

In case you wonder - ordering something from outside Argentina costs tons of money +30% tax on the price and 100% import tax.. So I really try not to do that.

Anyway - now it is time for me to work... and I really wonder about what shape of handle I should make. But maybe since I am totally new to knifes I should just go with basic flat handle og maybe try the 45 degree cut or try the edges of the handle. I find this very pleasing for the eye.

My work place is a cabinet size workshop I managed to borrow.

I will return with more.

All input will be received happily.
My other big question is; what preserves a wooden handle the best, if you do not cover it in resin.
If you live in BA or Argentina and have some tips and trick, on how to get materials ect please do not hesitate to contact me.
 
So - a lesson richer.
I cleaned the blade nicely trimming edges and using techniques I have seen on youtube.
I have seen a lot of wonderful youtube video about knife making on youtube. But how come I did not realise; You need more sand paper... just more. I need to buy some stacks. What sand paper grid do you guys use as final sanding on wood?

Sad part; the handle wood seems to split in the end.. that sucks.. but okay it is my first so I will properly change the handle another time.

Tool on my wish list: The belt sander - just the possibility of squaring everything up easily, seems like a dream.

yAMmSSM.jpg
 
Looks nice! What kind of wood is it that you are using for the handle? I'm sorry to hear it split at some point. I make smaller knives and use a cheap 1x30 belt sander which is perfectly adequate for my needs. Not sure if you could find one readily available.
 
Kanzig said:
Looks nice! What kind of wood is it that you are using for the handle? I'm sorry to hear it split at some point. I make smaller knives and use a cheap 1x30 belt sander which is perfectly adequate for my needs. Not sure if you could find one readily available.
Click to expand...
Thanks man - I honestly do not know I just got it with the knife...
 
I'm doing the handle and feel very proud of it compare the resources available.
I made a white liner which is the lid of a ice cream box. I have a hard time getting transparent epoxy glue so I glued the handle with some nice strong transparent normal glue. I worked pretty well.
kBkvCSU

I sadly notice that the thang (?) is getting thinner into the blade size earlier than I expected. So the handle sadly got a bit of air gap..
kBkvCSU.jpg

I also fell in love with the cola bottle handle - there for I simply had to go for it.
It is really hard to make without a semi circle file.. The one I ordered just arrived so it is time to go work again.

Regarding wood for the handle... what are the rules? Can I use any wood I want or does it have to be of a certain hardness?
 
Nice looking knife. Close to the last one I made. I am beginning to like the shape more and more, so I think I may make a few more eventually

I didn't see much answers to your questions so I will try to answer them. Without a belt sander, you can shape the handle with a good ol rasp. The ones with a half round seem to work well to shape it. Then you can use long strips of sand paper to smooth it out

As for the wood. There doesn't seem to be any real rule of thumb for the hardness or type, but good wood tends to fall into the tighter grain and medium and harder category.

Some of the easier to find wood that work well is, Walnut, maple (especially in the burl verity), Curly birch, etc

Most any of the Iron woods will work well if you can find any

I've used mulberry despite it not being very hard and it seems to be holding up. I've also used oak but it gets dirty fast because it is hard to keeps sealed do to its large pores. Otherwise worked well.

I like acrylic sealers but boiled linseed oil is another good sealer too. If it is a tight grain hard wood you may only need oil or wood wax for a good finish
 
PS: be careful with random plastic for liner use. Plastic used for food containers like ice-cream is often times made from polyethylene like LDPE or HDPE and are known for their difficulty to bond to qualities. It helps to roughen it up but you will only get so much bond with polyethylene and the joint is normally weak.
 
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