New FF pics, and project progression

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Fiddleback

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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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I just love looking at that knife of yours Yvsa. I took a file to my FF yesterday and reshaped the handle. I wish it was curvier, but I did enhance that a little by filing selected areas more than others. It fits my hand now, and I smoothed it down to 1500 auto body sandpaper and gave it the first day's Watco. The grain in the Chandan handle is just unbelievable. Yvsa, what did you blue your blade and the white metal with? You are right that the shiny-ness takes away from the knife. Bura surely did a wonderful job on my knife. With a file I can tell its hardened from just past the cho to the tip. I'm very happy so far and having fun on the project. Posted below are the before pics.







 
aproy1101 said:
Yvsa, what did you blue your blade and the white metal with? You are right that the shiny-ness takes away from the knife.
Click to expand...

Andy I used a maroon Scotch-Brite pad to remove the polished finish and then used plain ol' Birchwood Casey Cold Blue to blue the blade and darken the white metal.
The metal has to all be scrupulously clean and it takes several applications of the cold blue to darken the white metal.
Good luck on your project. I know you're gonna love it.:thumbup: :D ;)

When you get a little more adept at doing the leatherwork you might consider taking the black leather off your scabbard and epoxying the edges together so the khuk won't penetrate the top or bottom. Make the epoxy nice and smooth on the outside and then wet and stretch some good ol' American Cowhide around the wood and stitch it up the back in the center.
Make a new frog with the sheaths built in and you'll have a rig real similar to mine.:cool:
 
Yvsa, your second paragraph has confused me. What did you mean by black leather? Would epoxy on the inside

I'm not planning any wood in my current scabbard design. I looked at yours again, and I think it is well beyond my skill at this time. Hell even though I've filed several knife handles it took lots of resolve to run that file over the Chandan. I will work that way though because it is truly beautiful and functional. On a scabbard such as that would you use thinner leather?
 
Great photos! Easy to see why Foxy Folly scored number 2 in the top ten survey.:thumbup:
 
aproy1101 said:
Yvsa, your second paragraph has confused me. What did you mean by black leather? Would epoxy on the inside
Click to expand...

Sorry about that Andy. I mean take the black leather off and discard it, then epoxy the edges of the wood case together making the wood case puncture proof. Then cover with the wet cowhide and stitch up the center of the back.
And yes, you can use thinner leather when covering a wood case.
Being epoxied together it's gonna beat the original scabbard hands down!!!!
The challenge comes when laying out the frog with the sheaths built in.

aproy1101 said:
I'm not planning any wood in my current scabbard design. I looked at yours again, and I think it is well beyond my skill at this time. Hell even though I've filed several knife handles it took lots of resolve to run that file over the Chandan. I will work that way though because it is truly beautiful and functional. On a scabbard such as that would you use thinner leather?
Click to expand...

You'll get there Andy. Just remember that patience and care can do dayumed near or as good a job as skill and knowledge.;)
Some woods like Balsa would be way to soft for a wood case. White Pine would suffice as would Basswood.
You have to admire the Sarkis and their carving skill although they do get carried away and aren't as careful fitting the wood cases as they could and should be sometimes.
A properly fitted wood case epoxied together at the edges and covered with a medium thickness, 5-6 ounce, of good cowhide would be nigh indestructible!!!!
The nice thing about covering or re-covering your own cases is that you can carefully sew the bottom end up so that no chape is needed to cover mistakes.
Of course that does leave the end of the scabbard unprotected. It's too bad we can't get rounded chapes on the scabbards.:(
 
Thanks Yvsa. Today is day two of Watco's Danish Oil treatment. When that's done I'm going to make the cho larger, then blue the blade and dressings. Then its scabbard time.
 
OK the reshaping of the handle is done and I've got 4 coats of danish oil on it. The grain in this handle is superb, and I'm really glad I sanded off whatever they use to finish the wood. It had dulled it immensely. I'll get a before and after comparison shot ready and post it too.







 
Here is the comparison shot. What a difference... May not be able to tell the scale, but I took off a LOT of wood with a file. It fits my hand now, and I am happy. Next time I think I'll be more aggressive shaping it, but I'm happy with these results for now.

 
OK here is the finished product. What a fun project. I think this khuk will be a good user. The more I chop with it the more I'm impressed. I will sharpen it tonight, consider that that hasn't even been done yet! It still doesn't outchop my GRS, but I didn't expect that.

The blade has been blued, the cho re-worked and the scabbard made. Hope you've enjoyed the pics. I'm still working on taking knife pics properly. What do you all think of that scabbard? Originally I was going to do a more traditional sheath with the two knives I made, but it was REALLY wide when you added the whelps (sp). So I did a split back quick draw type. I really like it. Left the leather natural colored and hope it ages to a browner tan.

So here's the pics.










 
Aproy,

Nice. I am working on my FF handle this weekend some ( I'm off today too) but I believe I am going to put more of a taper on mine from bolster to ring, and from ring to butt cap.

The blade is wide so I can't really take much off the top and bottom but the wood protrudes some from the bolster on either side so I think I can take a lot off side to side, but I'm also going slow.

Mine is a blem and is missing a chip right at the point at the end of the butt cap, so I'm saving chandan dust to mix in with some epoxy.

I have found that the more I thin down a handle behind the bolster to the ridge the less hand cramping I get. For some reason most of the kamis make this area too big for me.

Also I like more concaveness behind the ring, but with a wide flare at the butt cause when swinging I grip the khuk more tightly back there and more loosely up front right before it strikes the wood to minimize shock to my hand.
 
Hollow, Thanks for your input. I've got a lot less experience swinging these things than you do. I was very conservative with the handle. It was just FAT as all get out before, so I took lots of wood off and it feels better to me now, but I may ajust it more in the future. This is exactly the kind of input I needed. Much appreciated!
 
I recommend reshaping, or at the very least refinishing your handles anyway Astro. Whatever HI does to its wood isn't pretty. It dulls and hides the beauty of the wood. My jange is going to be a lot of work. The rouge is just caked into the poors of the saaj. It is a truly awful looking handle. Thanks for the input.
 
Neat rig, Andy. :eek:

Great transformation from government-issue into custom.

I still want- don't laugh- a kydex sheath for my 18" AK.

Not as pretty as that leather one, but allows for a fast draw.

and yeah- have a couple handles that need woodchucking.


Mike
 
Ad Astra said:
Neat rig, Andy. :eek:

Great transformation from government-issue into custom.

I still want- don't laugh- a kydex sheath for my 18" AK.

Not as pretty as that leather one, but allows for a fast draw.

and yeah- have a couple handles that need woodchucking.


Mike
Click to expand...
Me? I'm really thinking about sending Daniel ether a 18 AK or 18 Ganga Ram for a kydex sheath and have him pop off the wood handel for a micarta one! :eek: HORRORS!! I know but,hey! I want to use it!! :o
 
Aproy,

The concern I always have is you don't want to thin it down to the tang. The tang is fairly wide at the bolster so I always try at that point to not take the wood off any more than just even with the bolster.

However the tang tapers quite a bit on most of them by the time that it hits the ridge there, so you can taper it quite a bit from say the first third of the handle to the ridge. Then it's pretty small beyond that so from the ridge to the butt cap I like to thin that down a lot, esp side to side, but I seldom thin the flared butt cause it is kind of your pivot when chopping, or it's mine.

Here's a pic of some handles and it kinda shows how you can thin them down. Also shows the designs that work for me.:thumbup:


http://ramanon.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32989
 
Thanks for the pics and perspective Hollow. I may file some more off of that handle yet. Hey Ad that is a quick draw sheath. Its split up the spine after the curve. Its really hard to pick that point on a FF. I'm glad I took all the good advice here and made a cardboard model first. NICE knives Hollow. I gotta get a larger Sgt. Khadka. I got the 10" one in the DOTD not long ago and its the best fit and finish I've seen yet. He really pays attention to details.
 
Exceptional. Well done. Bravo.

Now you've really made it yours. I'm happy just looking at it. I can see character there.



munk
 
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