- Joined
- Oct 18, 2013
- Messages
- 35
Hello everyone! Hope you all had a nice holiday season and/or New Years!
Halfway into November, I decided that I wanted to make most of my Christmas presents instead of just putting half a thought into buying gift cards, kitchenware, etc. I like the thought behind a handmade gift, and the satisfaction is worth the time and effort. Being a knife nut, I wanted to make knives for two of my friends and my grandpa, henceforth referred to as "Pap".
I made a post some time ago asking for help with putting together some knives as Christmas presents. Many of you helped out, steering me away from buying low-quality Damascus blanks and giving me plenty of sources for far better knife blanks. I eventually chose Strigamort's suggestion, and went with ordering a few D2 blanks from Gene Martin.
Before I go on, let me say Gene was a blast to work with. He sent my package with express shipping when I told him I was a bit rushed for time, and even warned me that I was ordering way too many pins for the three knives I planned on making and offered to revise my order. (I was aware I over-ordered, but it was an exceptionally nice thing for him to offer.) Overall, he's a great guy, and his blanks were worth every penny. I'll probably be ordering a couple more from him soon.
And here's what they look like when some of the black is taken off.
I also ordered some mosaic pins and lanyard tubes that his wife makes. They are exquisite.
Let me take the time to say that this was my first completed attempt at putting together knives. Some of my methods my seem half-hazard or oddball, but keep in mind I'm winging it after watching a couple of tutorial videos. If any of you want to give me hints, advice, criticisms, or just blatantly tell me how bad I screwed something up, I welcome it. Onward!
The first thing was deciding which wood to have on each knife. I figured Pap would appreciate a more traditional, domestic wood for his handle, so I chose walnut for his. For my two friends, I chose cocobolo and goncalo alves, the former because I've heard it's great for handles, and the latter because it manages to be both pretty and tough as nails. Here are what the blocks looked like when I ordered them. Also, let me apologize for the low quality pictures from this point on.
That's the goncalo alves at the top, cocobolo in the middle, and walnut at the bottom. I ordered some extras as backups in case I screwed something up.
Walnut is a softer wood compared to the other two I used, so I decided to try stabilizing it. My setup for this was rather crude... I used a mason jar, a brake bleeder, and copious amounts of hot glue. Here's what the amalgamation ended up looking like.
I have some family members and/or friends that may be reading this and not know what stabilizing is. Basically, I'm just drawing the air out of the wood and replacing it with the wood hardening agent it's immersed in, which was Minwax Wood Hardener in my case.
People sometimes say this setup doesn't draw enough of the air out of the wood, but it seems to have worked enough for my needs.
After drilling the holes in the blocks, it was time to stick the pins in and epoxy everything down. After reading good things about West System G-Flex epoxy, I decided to go with it.
I cut off that fairly long piece of pin and had a long enough piece to use later, but even so I feel like I wasted much of it. It was the best I could do with a dremel tool and hacksaw, though.
After letting it cure for 24 hours, it was time to grind and sand the handle into shape. Here was my tool of choice, and by choice I mean it was the only thing I had to work with.
I really can't complain, though, it did the job.
Here are the the knives after most of the material was taken off.
Cocobolo:
Goncalo Alves:
Walnut:
All three:
Next, I rounded out all the edges. This was the hardest part for me, as I was consistently worrying about nicking the blades on the sander, or taking off too much material, or not getting the contours right, etc. If I had not procrastinated and waited until 2 weeks before Christmas to do all of this, I would have taken my time and sanded them by hand. I tend to have that problem.
After taking the contours off and doing a small amount of hand sanding, it was time to finish the handles. I decided to use tung oil, mainly because I've read that it is one of the few things that can put a meager finish on cocobolo, the waxy wood that it is. It's also supposed to hold up to wear well.
Here's a picture of them with a single coat.
I didn't think they turned out too bad for my first time, but there are some obvious flaws. (To my eyes, at least.) For starters...
...there is a bit of a gap between one of the scales and the steel of the goncalo alves knife. Not really sure why. Warping while it was curing?
Here's one thing I don't get. The cocobolo has a plethora of these pockmarks through it. Is that how the wood normally is? Or did they send me a half-rotted piece?
Also, it is quite a bit thicker than the other knives, as can be seen when compared to the walnut knife.
I would have fixed this, but I ran out of sanding belts.
Seriously.
One other flaw was with Pap's knife. There is a small chunk missing near the lanyard tube, probably from the drill press. I don't know how I didn't notice it until this point.
I love that knot, though. Overall, I'd say his was my favorite of the three.
Finally, after three more coats of tung oil and putting blades on them, I completed them. Here are some pictures of the finalized cocobolo.
And some final pics of Pap's knife. (Taken with an older camera, sorry.)
Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the finished goncalo alves knife, but it looks much the same as the single coat picture.
I had so much fun putting these together, and I have learned much along the way. (Like polishing your blades BEFORE putting the handles on, and orienting the mosaic pins and lanyard tubes!
) The sense of accomplishment was wondrous, and it has only left me hungry for more. I would love to try my hand at actually forging knives now. Simply bolting on handles has been highly enjoyable for me, so I can't imagine what actually making one from scratch would be like. I can't wait to find out! Some people have even asked me how much I would charge to make a knife for them, which has just inflamed that desire.
Halfway into November, I decided that I wanted to make most of my Christmas presents instead of just putting half a thought into buying gift cards, kitchenware, etc. I like the thought behind a handmade gift, and the satisfaction is worth the time and effort. Being a knife nut, I wanted to make knives for two of my friends and my grandpa, henceforth referred to as "Pap".
I made a post some time ago asking for help with putting together some knives as Christmas presents. Many of you helped out, steering me away from buying low-quality Damascus blanks and giving me plenty of sources for far better knife blanks. I eventually chose Strigamort's suggestion, and went with ordering a few D2 blanks from Gene Martin.
Before I go on, let me say Gene was a blast to work with. He sent my package with express shipping when I told him I was a bit rushed for time, and even warned me that I was ordering way too many pins for the three knives I planned on making and offered to revise my order. (I was aware I over-ordered, but it was an exceptionally nice thing for him to offer.) Overall, he's a great guy, and his blanks were worth every penny. I'll probably be ordering a couple more from him soon.
And here's what they look like when some of the black is taken off.
I also ordered some mosaic pins and lanyard tubes that his wife makes. They are exquisite.
Let me take the time to say that this was my first completed attempt at putting together knives. Some of my methods my seem half-hazard or oddball, but keep in mind I'm winging it after watching a couple of tutorial videos. If any of you want to give me hints, advice, criticisms, or just blatantly tell me how bad I screwed something up, I welcome it. Onward!
The first thing was deciding which wood to have on each knife. I figured Pap would appreciate a more traditional, domestic wood for his handle, so I chose walnut for his. For my two friends, I chose cocobolo and goncalo alves, the former because I've heard it's great for handles, and the latter because it manages to be both pretty and tough as nails. Here are what the blocks looked like when I ordered them. Also, let me apologize for the low quality pictures from this point on.
That's the goncalo alves at the top, cocobolo in the middle, and walnut at the bottom. I ordered some extras as backups in case I screwed something up.
Walnut is a softer wood compared to the other two I used, so I decided to try stabilizing it. My setup for this was rather crude... I used a mason jar, a brake bleeder, and copious amounts of hot glue. Here's what the amalgamation ended up looking like.
I have some family members and/or friends that may be reading this and not know what stabilizing is. Basically, I'm just drawing the air out of the wood and replacing it with the wood hardening agent it's immersed in, which was Minwax Wood Hardener in my case.
People sometimes say this setup doesn't draw enough of the air out of the wood, but it seems to have worked enough for my needs.
After drilling the holes in the blocks, it was time to stick the pins in and epoxy everything down. After reading good things about West System G-Flex epoxy, I decided to go with it.
I cut off that fairly long piece of pin and had a long enough piece to use later, but even so I feel like I wasted much of it. It was the best I could do with a dremel tool and hacksaw, though.
After letting it cure for 24 hours, it was time to grind and sand the handle into shape. Here was my tool of choice, and by choice I mean it was the only thing I had to work with.
I really can't complain, though, it did the job.
Here are the the knives after most of the material was taken off.
Cocobolo:
Goncalo Alves:
Walnut:
All three:
Next, I rounded out all the edges. This was the hardest part for me, as I was consistently worrying about nicking the blades on the sander, or taking off too much material, or not getting the contours right, etc. If I had not procrastinated and waited until 2 weeks before Christmas to do all of this, I would have taken my time and sanded them by hand. I tend to have that problem.
After taking the contours off and doing a small amount of hand sanding, it was time to finish the handles. I decided to use tung oil, mainly because I've read that it is one of the few things that can put a meager finish on cocobolo, the waxy wood that it is. It's also supposed to hold up to wear well.
Here's a picture of them with a single coat.
I didn't think they turned out too bad for my first time, but there are some obvious flaws. (To my eyes, at least.) For starters...
...there is a bit of a gap between one of the scales and the steel of the goncalo alves knife. Not really sure why. Warping while it was curing?
Here's one thing I don't get. The cocobolo has a plethora of these pockmarks through it. Is that how the wood normally is? Or did they send me a half-rotted piece?
Also, it is quite a bit thicker than the other knives, as can be seen when compared to the walnut knife.
I would have fixed this, but I ran out of sanding belts.
Seriously.
One other flaw was with Pap's knife. There is a small chunk missing near the lanyard tube, probably from the drill press. I don't know how I didn't notice it until this point.
I love that knot, though. Overall, I'd say his was my favorite of the three.
Finally, after three more coats of tung oil and putting blades on them, I completed them. Here are some pictures of the finalized cocobolo.
And some final pics of Pap's knife. (Taken with an older camera, sorry.)
Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the finished goncalo alves knife, but it looks much the same as the single coat picture.
I had so much fun putting these together, and I have learned much along the way. (Like polishing your blades BEFORE putting the handles on, and orienting the mosaic pins and lanyard tubes!
) The sense of accomplishment was wondrous, and it has only left me hungry for more. I would love to try my hand at actually forging knives now. Simply bolting on handles has been highly enjoyable for me, so I can't imagine what actually making one from scratch would be like. I can't wait to find out! Some people have even asked me how much I would charge to make a knife for them, which has just inflamed that desire.
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