My newest knife kit WIP, thanks Shaughnessy for the ironwood & blade!

[GrizzlyBear]

Just thought I would post a thread about my newest project. I ordered one of Shaughnessy's Ironwood scale sets and Aus-8 blades.

This is a shot of what I got in the mail after doing a ricasso-tip pulled finish with a green scotchbrite pad (read it was = to 600 grit). I'm not a fan of mirror finishes and really like the brushed finish look. I didn't have any paper except for some 800-2000 I had left from finishing my last kit. I did have a pack of new green pads so I went to town. The rest of the tang has been roughed up with 100 on a disc attachment on my cordless. I think I may either leave it at the current finish or go one step higher with some 800...haven't made up my mind.

For handle placement, I was thinking about stopping it about 1/2 way through the finger notch, about where that faint line is at where I stopped the sanding disk. Or, should it go on through the notch closer to the ricasso?
On my first kit, I took the end of the handle to the forward edge of the finger notch.

I also haven't decided what I'm doing for pins yet. I thought about drilling the holes a bit larger to accept some small mosaics and adding a 3rd 1/4" mosaic in the center of the handle.

I'm going to do what I can with the tools I have till my little shop is built (3/29), then I can finish out the handle polishing properly. Looking for any insight and suggestions. Thanks!!

 

[GrizzlyBear]

I went ahead and decided where I wanted the handles to be cut from and traced the outline. There's a split on the inside face of one of the scales that I hope I don't get into with finishing. I tried to avoid it as much as possible with layout while still getting good graining for the handle.

 

[J. Hoover]

I like where you placed the handle, I might would break it off just shy of covering the entire knotch, and 45 it to the top. Then 45 the end of the scales for a smooth transition when sheathing the knife.
i doubt the crack will bother you but if it does a little brown epoxy will fix it right up or clear expoxy mixed with the sanding dust. Just mix it into a good slurry and fill the gaps with tongue depressor, you'll never know it's there. Ironwood is some serious hard wood, hope you have a good sander with fresh paper. It will burn on you using old belts.
You will probably need a carbide burr or bit to make the tang holes larger.
the knife you finished looks very nice, love the way the red finished out on the scales.

 

[GrizzlyBear]

I like where you placed the handle, I might would break it off just shy of covering the entire knotch, and 45 it to the top. Then 45 the end of the scales for a smooth transition when sheathing the knife.
i doubt the crack will bother you but if it does a little brown epoxy will fix it right up or clear expoxy mixed with the sanding dust. Just mix it into a good slurry and fill the gaps with tongue depressor, you'll never know it's there. Ironwood is some serious hard wood, hope you have a good sander with fresh paper. It will burn on you using old belts.
You will probably need a carbide burr or bit to make the tang holes larger.
the knife you finished looks very nice, love the way the red finished out on the scales.

Thanks for the tips!! I'm going to pick up the first of my shop tools today or tomorrow, one of the HF 1x30s (mainly to be used for sharpening) which should help with scale finishing.

Thank you on the comments on the first knife. I was really hoping for that really cool multilayered look that you get from dymondwood, micarta and the like. But, the red that should have been in the center of the black had to be sanded out due to a mess up on my part where the dymondwood chipped out really deep....and because I waited too far in to drill the holes for the pins instead of at the beginning That was one of several learning mistakes that I won't make on this blade.

 

[Shaughnessy]

Griz if you think that crack will show, you can sand a little with some CA too on there and the crack should fill in and blend. You can use a a wood rasp to do some initial shaping, and that will help save a little on belts. Good luck, and have fun.

Larry

 

[GrizzlyBear]

Thanks Larry. I think it'll be fine, I turned it to the inside of the scale and put it towards the end, I don't think I'll get into it when cutting out the pieces. I used CA to fill the edges of the chip out I had on my last kit, worked just fine

-Craig