My first knife "order"

I roughly sized and shaped the "bolsters". I'm not thrilled with the fit of the holes, which once again has me thinking of silver solder. Most likely, however, I'll cop out an use JB Weld. Alternatively, I may elect not to use them at all. You can see I am already planning to dome them, if I use them.

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I have reshaped the front of the handle, and now thing the "bolster" would not work. I still have not done final assembly yet, but here's what the bog oak knife will look like without the "bolster". So far the handle has only been sanded to 400 grit and then given a light coat of butcher block conditioner to bring out the pattern.

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+1. I like the look without the bolster. Very clean and classy. That said, the bolsters add a pinch of 'utility' to the appearance...

I'm glad you posted something to get this back on track. I was having nightmares of you and Stacy on an infomercial with the late nite knife dude in zumba pants hocking $19.99 dvd's.

But wait folks... there's more!
 
Regarding the bolster, I could reshape it to fit again, but its utility would be greatly diminished now that the leading edge of the handle is significantly smaller. Also, not too surprisingly, the slot I cut into the G10 block is much closer to perfect fit than the slot I cut into the bolster, so it will be much easier to get it sealed properly.

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Always a pleasure to see your knives being build.
Two thoughts:
1)The stainless bolster won't be stainless unless it is hardened
2)If you use a bolster in front of the ivory you won't see the front of the ivory.
I find ivory beautifull (and rare/expensive) I'd show as much of it as reasonably possible within a design
 
Stainless steel has chromium ( and other alloys) at or above 12%. This doesn't do much to protect the 85% of iron in the steel until the steel is heat treated. Once all the alloy is locked into the matrix it makes the steel much more corrosion resistant.
 
Makes perfect sense, now that you explain it. Obviously, metallurgy is not my strong suit. Since I never had a plan to heat treat the "bolsters", I suppose I should just leave them off.
 
Greg,

Many of the best knifemakers in the world are using stainless steel for guards and bolsters that are not heat treated.
 
Sure... in fact you would be hard pressed to find many top makers who actually heat treat their stainless guard or bolsters.

Fitting is done of the guard right up to the point it is soldered or JB welded on.

If you heat treated the guard....good luck with final fitting...lol

Bob Loveless shop was about 15 minutes from me and years ago I visited him and watched him fit a guard on a drop point hunter. The stainless guard was not heat treated then and not now. I check with my friend Mike Lovett who is an exceptional Loveless style maker about using heat treated stainless guard and he said absolutely not.

Just think about it... all of the stainless steel nuts and bolts, guns and fishing gear that is not heat tread and does just fine with minimal care.

Your guard will be fine.
 
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This morning I put the cutting edge on the second blade. As I said before, the second blade has a different geometry, as I used the stones to put a bevel on both sides of the blade. My plan is to give the guy a chance to use both and let him tell me which works best for his uses.

I went into the kitchen today to do a slicing test on a carrot. Both went through either end of the carrot like butter at all points along the blade, so I was pleased with that. However, I noticed that when I used the tip of the bog oak blade the whole blade tended to flex (like a spring), which occasionally caused the cut to curve out at the bottom if I put any pressure at all into the cut.

In any case, I'll give them a more thorough test tonight when I am preparing the ingredients that go on our pizza (mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers) so I can see how well they function over a larger range of textures.
 
Hardenable stainless steel is stainless after HT.
"Plain" stainless steel can't be hardened but is also stainless as is. I guess that Loveless used that normal stainless
 
The pizza ingredient slicing test revealed that the bog oak knife is sharper, so I need to spend more time at the stones with the amboyna knife. I tried using them both left handed and right handed. That test was inconclusive since I have no skill at all in my left hand. However, I would say the Amboyna knife felt less likely to cut the guide finger on my right hand.

Glad I did the test. At least now I know I need to work some more on the amboyna blade.
 
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