My first total failure

U

unky_gumbi

Joined
Aug 28, 2009
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7,951
Well it all started with the broken handle, just as I was getting ready to put the knife together. After contacting the company I bought the block from and getting some advice from here I krazy glued the handle back together and continued on. Becausr of the broken handle I had a piece of threaded rod welded on to the tang just to give it a little more strength. I modified the handle a bit got it ready to go back together and the tang broke at the pin hole because of the extra grinding I had done on the tang. I got a new piece of threaded rod welded on at the break point and continued again finished reshaping the handle, polishing the brass and cold bluing the blade, because of all the crap it had been through it had gotten some rust and I couldn't sand out the pit marks to my satisfaction. Everything was looking good, I had it epoxied together and a rough edge on it so I gave it a couple(5 or so)of mild chops into a 2X4 and low and behold the handle let loos at the crack spot again.

I have soaked the crack with krazy glue, but don't think it will hold up this time either so this knife will be a wall flower. Too bad because to my eye it looks good:(

bowiebeforecrack.jpg


bowieBW.jpg


bowieC.jpg


I have the edge razor sharp and polished now and started a sheath for it, but like I said it will only cut paper from now on and never leave my yard or be played with by anyone but me. Good thing I have another one waiting to be HT'd so I can try to recreate this one with. I learned a lot from this so hopefully the next one will stand the test of time.

BTW the company I bought the original block from said they would send me a new one so I at least didn't lose the money I spent on the block
 
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Unky
Did you fill the tang hole with epoxy?If so it should not have cracked again.
You did a real nice job on that one.Sometime you have one that is just a learning experiancce.
Stan
 
Yup that was part of the modification of the handle, I cut off the end right where the red and black spacer stack is, drilled in from there to meet the original hole so I could put a nut on the threaded rod I blocked the bottom hole and the pin holes and loaded the handle up with epoxy and used a bike spoke to make sure that there was no air trapped inside. I think the real problem is that I used Miles Gilbert Bedrock glass bedding kit instead of the Acraglas kit because the Acraglas kit was in non resealable bags and the Bedrock was in glass jars. I let everything sit for 48 hours before working on it so it should have been cured fully, but I checked out the leftover epoxy in the mixing dish and it is fairly flexible. After the 48 hours were up I made up the spacer stack for the butt end of the knife and drilled 3 positioning holes through it and used it as a template to drill matching holes into the butt cap and the main handle. Mixed up some 5 minute epoxy and stuck 3 3/4" sections of spoke into each hole and clamped everything together and let it sit for another 24 hours and did the finish work to blend the handle pieces together.

It was a learning experience for sure, even if it was a disappointing one. I have a second blank I made that still needs to be HT'd so once the replacement block comes in I will start all over. I will agree it sure is nice to look at and feels good in the hand, it may even be safe to use now but I wont trust it so I will just admire it from now on.
 
Sorry about your bad look but it is good looking.
That BW picture is excellent btw. Dozier (not the famous one)
 
That one was completely done with hand tools other then the original tang hole that was done on a drill press and the welding of the threaded rod. We figure that drill press hole is what caused the first crack. The guy that drilled the hole didn't let up and forced the hole in causing the acrylic to over heat, expand and fracture the wood. When I drilled the pin hole in with a brace and bit I landed right on the fracture. I figure I had about 75-100 hours into this one from cutting out the blank with a hacksaw- filing in the bevels-hand sanding the blank-shaping the handle with a file and sandpaper- making and shaping the guard with hand files and needle files, and buffing everything out with leather and pieces of denim.
I doesn't really matter as long as I learned something from it, the next one will be better, only thing is the next one is about 4 months away.
 
That knife looks great.

At least it failed while you were testing it for failure, and not later.

Nothing stopping you from putting another handle on is there?
 
that is a great shame, but i still say that knife is a looker. you did fine work, whatever the problems.
 
That's not a total failure, she is a real looker! :cool: You can't help that you got a real Blonde under that dye job! :eek: :) :D :D

Sorry I couldn't resist that!!!!!! Truly the knife looks great. I know it would be a pain but, have you thought of rehandling it?
 
alternately, you could sent it to me, and i won't tell a soul about the flaw...
 
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