My latest sharp object

Chiro75

Chiro75

Joined
Feb 4, 1999
Messages
5,786
A real whopper of a knife, by my standards! This is the Zookeeper. 8 5/8" OAL with a 3 7/8" blade. African Blackwood and aluminum hardware. 1/8" x 1" 1095, clay coated. Flat grind. Normalized 7 cycles (which caused some warping). Straightened, ground a little to flatten it out again, then coated in Satanite and oil quenched. Concealex sheath. Nearly chopped my thumb off making the sheath. I was going for a simple, classic, clean drop point. Whaddya think?

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Nice ! I'm jealous of your hamon lol :) I like the spacing of the pins too... Did you notice a sweet smell when working with that ebony ?
 
Way to go bud. I know how youve really been working at these Hammon lines and heat treating lately and it looks like its paying of. Way to go !

Shane
 
Thanks, Shane. I spent a lot more time on this one in terms of HT'ing, and I think the book learnin' folks here have beat me into is paying off. That one used Satanite, too, and before this I was using some furnace cement that I thought was just as good. I think I was wrong. It did a decent job, but Satanite defintely is the way to go. I still need to get my grit powders and really start applying some of what I've learned from Don Fogg and Tai Goo. I'm hesitant because I'm afraid of doing a bunch of stuff and having nothing happen! Oh well...
 
Chiro, people like you make me jealous. lol nice job, great hamon. yet another fine piece of workmanship.

Alex
 
Make the sheath before you sharpen the knife!!! You crack me up. Great looking knife. When are you going to add some bolsters. Time to step it up a notch. And you said that you couldn't get that damn monkey to use the new grinder. :cool: :p
 
The monkey is a lazy S.O.B, so I'm glad he only gets paid in bananas! Bolsters will come along sometime. Maybe. Who knows? Thanks for the kind words, guys. Next projects are finishing Kim's knife that I started in, what, April? Also a knife for Ray's auction and one additional order, THEN I'm concentrating on knocking out a framelock.
 
YOU GOT A MONKEY!?? :eek: Man, when I was a kid I really wanted a pet monkey. Now as an adult I realize they could be a serious pain in the arse.

That knife looks great, Steve. One of the simple pleasures of knifemaking is watching others improve. Its like we have our own support group!
 
Chiro75,

Man I had no idea that that trade was going to score me Two
Killer blades. That Zookeeper is the cats a$$ I cant wait to
strap it on. Thanks for the great work as always, That puts
me up too 4 Chiro75 specials.:thumbup:


Zoo
 
:cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :D Where do you get those names?

Bolsters, try some micarta,or G10 bolsters next time! I bet you will like it:D
 
The Zookeeper name comes from the fact that the knife was made for ZOO. I could've called it the Ralphinator, but that sounds silly! :p I just took my Band-Aid off for the first time and I definitely cut my thumb badly this time. Sheesh! It's a full milimeter deep (not that I jammed a ruler in it). :barf:

I'd like to try bolsters. I have the what, why, how part down, but I think without a disc I'd be making a lot more work for myself than is worth it. I guess I can angle my table on the Coote and just grind everything at the same time for consistency, though, too. Hmm.
 
disc easy ,motor bolt to table, disc on shaft, foot switch 1/2hp motor is plenty for disc.
 
The disc part isn't necessarily the problem, it's the table to run it at angles. As a moron, I really wouldn't know where to begin getting/making a little table to angle so my cuts are the same. I can attach a 9" disc to my Coote, but I just don't have the wherewithall to fix up a table for it.
 
Chiro75 said:
The disc part isn't necessarily the problem, it's the table to run it at angles. As a moron, I really wouldn't know where to begin getting/making a little table to angle so my cuts are the same. I can attach a 9" disc to my Coote, but I just don't have the wherewithall to fix up a table for it.
Click to expand...


Delta 12" disk grinder. They have them at most hardware stores. Very nice table. Set it to a 45 degre angle and leave it there. Grind the dovetails on the end of the handle material and the bolster and it will alwarys match. They are about $150. They are very well built and ive had mine for about 2 years with no problems at all. I have 2. One at a 45 and one at 90 degrees. Use the 90 degree to shape the front of the bolsters then move to the 45 degree to do the dove tail and break the front edge of the bolster. You can see it pretty good in this post. Notice the front of the bolster.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=358828
 
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