On the Bench - Knife #23 Nears Completion

[Erin Burke]

Hey Guys...
I've been out of circulation for awhile. I've got lots of excuses for not sharing any knives lately -- a new baby, a few minor shop transformations, some new tool builds -- but they are mostly just excuses. I've had this blade sitting on my bench since the end of last year. It was actually rough-ground at the same time as Knife #21 back in September. Something about this blade scared me away, made me lose interest... or, I don't know... kept me away. I'm one of those guys who has trouble giving my heart to a new creation when there's still one on the backburner, so bottom-line... I've been in a knifemaking funk.

This first photo shows the knife as it sat for the last quarter of a year; a rough-ground blade, a sketch, and a set of scales that just seem to fit the design.

I bought this set of scales years ago... so long in fact, that I have no record of what type of wood they are. For some reason I want to say Madrone burl. They were part of a batch of "stabilized" scales that bought off ebay back in the day.

The following photos show the knife as I finally started to make progress this month. I'll use the term "guard" serveral times, even though I'm not quite sure this qualifies as a guard :

Guard and Frame rough cut. The back of the guard is actually milled to accept the front of the frame... something I learned from a Bruce Bump thread a while back. I'm absolutely sure that I did not execute it as cleanly as Bruce, but it worked out much better than the alignment pins that I used on my first frame handle (Knife #15).

After some shaping of the guard pieces.

Rough file-work on the guard spacer

Filework added to the frame edges as well. I normally do not prefer filework, and try to stay away from it on my knives. In this case, it just seemed like the right thing to do. The prospect of filework may have been the very thing that kept me away from this project for so long...
You'll note that there are some gaps visible between the frame and the back of the guard. I subsequently had to adjust the frame a bit to clean these up.

Here's a photo of the handle scales shaped and cleaned-up a bit. They sucked up a LOT of CA glue to fill the cracks and pores.

Just a side note... the photo below shows one of the new tools that I mentioned earlier. It is used for thoroughly and evenly seating a guard up against the blade shoulders, and is another great tool idea that I blatantly borrowed from Nick's fantastic WIP thread. It's just a chunk of 1/2" plate with a milled slot that I use for a driving surface, and a 1-1/2" X 1/4" tube with a 1/2" striking surface welded to the top (so I can beat on it with a hammer). There's a slot milled in the side of the tube to accept the end of curved tangs. To see how it works you should check out page 11 of Nick's thread. The whole package is painted to match my unofficial shop color pallet. ... and it works great.

Here's how the knife sits at this moment... all epoxied and clamped.

All that to say, I'm kind of excited about knifemaking again. I'll need to do some final clean-up and sharpening on this one, build a sheath, and take photos before I can call it done... but I'm fairly happy with how it is shaping up. :thumbup: I'm also getting back a level of excitement about my next few projects. Thanks for listening.

Erin

 

[Don Nguyen]

Are those scales wet or what? They are glossy as the beezknees!

It looks fantastic. Love the guard deal.

 

[Rob Cole]

Wow, nice. I can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Erin Burke]

Are those scales wet or what? They are glossy as the beezknees!

It looks fantastic. Love the guard deal.

Thanks Don... the scales are dry in that photo. I'm not sure whether I'll leave them that glossy though.
Erin

 

[Don Nguyen]

What process are you going through for that finish?

Also, I recognize your grinder

 

[Carl_First_Timer]

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Looking good.

Thanks for posting these pictures. I have been giving some thought to the tang style you have used here, the "tang and spacer wrap", to save tooling steel. Looks about like what I had envisioned. Are there any pitfalls to using this style?

 

[panch0]

I really like the way its turning out.

 

[Hesparus]

Sweet!

 

[Erin Burke]

What process are you going through for that finish?

Not much of a process on these... I sanded to shape (to about 800 grit), then filled gaps and cracks with CA (which took several hours as these scales kept drinking it in), sanded again, applied a couple coats of tung oil thinned with turpentine, then a coat of un-thinned tung oil. I will likely have to touch up the finish after removing the clamps tonight.

Also, I recognize your grinder

It's all about the color scheme... recognizable branding.

Thanks for posting these pictures. I have been giving some thought to the tang style you have used here, the "tang and spacer wrap", to save tooling steel. Looks about like what I had envisioned. Are there any pitfalls to using this style?

Carl, I'm not sure I understand exactly what your asking, but I would never use this type of construction to save steel. It adds significant complexity to a knife for insignificant cost savings. In this case, my blade and handle frame are made from the same steel. For me, it is really just a stylistic element that allows you to use a full guard (like on a hidden tang) but have the exposed steel on the handle (like a full tang). I would also like to point out that this type of construction really makes you think about how the handle will be held together internally. As I mentioned, my frame is milled such that it fits into the back side of the guard. This provides indexing to make sure everything lines up... but does little to hold the frame in place. You'll notice that I have a hole in the tang for a handle pin. This pin ties the scales to the tang... but there is really still not much support tying the frame in place. I did, however, drill a hole near the butt of the frame for a second "hidden" pin to tie the frame to the scales. Further (and not shown in the photos) I ground a number of matching notches in the inside of the frame and the outside of the tang that will be "bound" together with epoxy to prevent any slippage between the two. I hope that makes sense.
Bottom line for me... frame handles are very cool but add a LOT of labor to a knife. I only build this way when it is important to the knife's design.

I appreciate the nice words guys. My wife and kids will be out of town this weekend, so I'm very hopeful that I'll be able to build a sheath and take glamour shots... maybe even start on another knife.

 

[Carl_First_Timer]

I appreciate the time you took to explain all the details. Thanks.

I like knives with a full guard, and I like using scales, mainly because I do not like broaching out a handle. I have been contemplating my next build, which was going to be similar to this, or incorporating mortised scales. Now that you mention it conserving metal would not really come into play. I may still try this. When I do i'll know who to talk to about the problems I'm sure I'll have.

 

[Frank Niro]

It's a very good looking knife Erin !!! I especially like the styling you have and use as well as the fact that it sure appears you don't cut down anywhere to get the extra "kick" into your work. Frank

 

[Bruce Bump]

Thanks for the mention of my procedure Erin. Thats a nice designed knife. Looking forward to the glamour shots.

 

[Mike Davis]

Good to see you back in action again Erin!!! I know what having a baby can do to your free time lol. Great looking knife, Like Bruce, i am wanting to see the glamor shots

 

[Erin Burke]

I like knives with a full guard, and I like using scales, mainly because I do not like broaching out a handle.

Carl -- all things being equal -- I'd rather broach out a handle any day of the week than fit up a frame.

Frank and Bruce... I really appreciate the kind words. Before being ready for photos, I have to bumble my way through a sheath... and I have the ominous feeling that my wife may try to take her nice camera with her this weekend. I may just have to put my foot down. :foot:

Mike... having another baby really hasn't put much strain on the household. I think we're just getting used to it. We're probably just awesome parents.

I had to do a little clean-up sanding last night after removing the clamps (there was a bit of epoxy that I was unable to wipe off thoroughly with them in place)... so I'm touching up the finish on the face of the scales. I just rubbed on a second coat of tung oil on this morning before heading to work.

I also got a chance to profile and grind some rough bevels on my next knife last night. I'm on a roll now boys.

 

[Patrice Lemée]

...wife may try to take her nice camera with her this weekend. I may just have to put my foot down...

And there I thought you were a wise man Erin.

Knife looks great. Makes me want to try that frame handle thing someday.
I am sure glad you are back in business.

 

[NickWheeler]

Looking good Erin!

Like Bruce said, thanks for the mention I should point out you're using guard fitting tool version 6.0 though. I'm using the latest release, 8.0 in the new shop.

I gotta ask though... why all the fit-up work before finishing the blade? Or does the blade have some kind of patina or etched finish and I missed it?

Keep the roll, well.... um... roll'n.

 

[Patrice Lemée]

Please Nick, no more jigs. I am just starting to catch up.

I was wondering the same thing about the blade. I use to do that and I find that leaving the grind/finishing of the blade (what I struggle with the most) for the end was a bad idea as I am usually running out of steam about the whole project.

 

[type00rev]

Great looking blade, Erin.....thanks for sharing. The scales look great with that high polish.....I bet they feel luxurious in hand!!

 

[james terrio]

I like it very much, it has excellent flowing lines. I guess that would be called a ferrule, not really a guard? Either way, it works. :thumbup:

 

[Erin Burke]

I should point out you're using guard fitting tool version 6.0 though. I'm using the latest release, 8.0 in the new shop.

It's impossible to keep up with the Joneses. It's such a common sense design (one that I'd have never come up with on my own) that I wonder how you improved upon it. Did you build in an integral slide hammer??? With maybe a puller attachment for getting the pesky guard back off?

I have to say that my Millermatic was one of the best shop purchases that I've made in a while. I'm still a major novice at this welding business... but being able to build some of these cool fixtures and tools is near as much fun as actually making knives.

I gotta ask though... why all the fit-up work before finishing the blade? Or does the blade have some kind of patina or etched finish and I missed it?

The blade, frame and spacer all have a subtle gun-blue and bleach finish.