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!Pics added! Taking the 7 towards "tactical"
- Thread starter granitestateofmind
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2012
- Messages
- 5,522
Hey Mike. I think you've done very well. I can only wish to do what you have done. Very nice work!
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2013
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- 7,205
I think of it more as a willingness to ruin a perfectly functional knife....and hoping you fail.
You don't have to wish, you just put steel on the grinder....I know you know how as I've seen your very original and well done mods.
Thanks for all the props. I do appreciate it.
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2014
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- 888
pretty kool vision and skills you have sir
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2011
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- 1,020
I think its very well done!
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2014
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- 71
Is it done? The suspense is killing me! great looking mod so far
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2013
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I wish I had some more time to work on it....but it's not done yet 
. Got some SS rod yesterday and made some new pins as I didn't like the color of the brass. I need to regrind the bevels and do a little more work on the swedge before I can epoxy and shape the scales.
. Got some SS rod yesterday and made some new pins as I didn't like the color of the brass. I need to regrind the bevels and do a little more work on the swedge before I can epoxy and shape the scales.
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2013
- Messages
- 7,205
Did some more grinding tonight. Set up a jig to try and straighten out the swedge a little more:
It's not perfect, but I got a little closer to what I was trying to do. Table is tilted up as far as it will go and not drag on the belt, probably around 15°.
Finished. With the swedge at least.....
I had to stop before I could blend it with the original grind line as the top of the swedge was gonna end up sharpened if I didn't. As it is, it's a little thin. Started in on the edge; when I reprofiled it I blunted it pretty good to get the shape I was looking for. Luckily, hardened steel doesn't come off as fast as annealed steel, so I went at it freehand and slack belt, 80 grit alox for those interested.
I was too lazy to unbolt the platen and had to work the top of the belt, which caused a few relatively minor unintentional fouls. I think it'll be all good when I start trying to blend with my new and untested scotchbrite (equivalent, picked up at Grainger - it was all they had on hand in 1x42) belt. Should take the coating off, too.
Swapped out the 80 for a 120 and came a little closer to the edge. Might have accidentally sharpened it a little bit....
.
So far I'm reasonably happy with how the edge and the swedge meet. It's not even on both sides, but hey, I'm only an egg.....
This side is better:
And some spine shots, just to finish off the thread:
Thanks EVERYONE for your compliments and kind words. It is hard with all the urging on to not have it done, but I have limited time to run the grinder and I'm trying not to pooch what I've done so far. Trust me, I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out as much as everyone else; probably more so, as I have an idea of how I want it to turn out, and I'm hoping reality comes into close alignment with imagination.
It's not perfect, but I got a little closer to what I was trying to do. Table is tilted up as far as it will go and not drag on the belt, probably around 15°.
Finished. With the swedge at least.....
I had to stop before I could blend it with the original grind line as the top of the swedge was gonna end up sharpened if I didn't. As it is, it's a little thin. Started in on the edge; when I reprofiled it I blunted it pretty good to get the shape I was looking for. Luckily, hardened steel doesn't come off as fast as annealed steel, so I went at it freehand and slack belt, 80 grit alox for those interested.
I was too lazy to unbolt the platen and had to work the top of the belt, which caused a few relatively minor unintentional fouls. I think it'll be all good when I start trying to blend with my new and untested scotchbrite (equivalent, picked up at Grainger - it was all they had on hand in 1x42) belt. Should take the coating off, too.
Swapped out the 80 for a 120 and came a little closer to the edge. Might have accidentally sharpened it a little bit....
.
So far I'm reasonably happy with how the edge and the swedge meet. It's not even on both sides, but hey, I'm only an egg.....
This side is better:
And some spine shots, just to finish off the thread:
Thanks EVERYONE for your compliments and kind words. It is hard with all the urging on to not have it done, but I have limited time to run the grinder and I'm trying not to pooch what I've done so far. Trust me, I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out as much as everyone else; probably more so, as I have an idea of how I want it to turn out, and I'm hoping reality comes into close alignment with imagination.
- Joined
- May 19, 2012
- Messages
- 2,913
Do this next time, 8 oz resin and 1 tea spoon of hardender, Works everytime. I have noticed any more resin or hardender it all just starts to jelly after 12 minutes, good looking 7, can't wait to see the finish!
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2011
- Messages
- 3,006
Swedge is looking good. And I like the MikeKarta! Your orange "liners" came out really nice and straight.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2012
- Messages
- 1,487
Looks really nice! I wish I had the talent to do something like that.
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2013
- Messages
- 7,205
Both sides have been sanded up to 1500 grit. Got some more detail work (guard, ramp, "tactical" end) before I epoxy the scales on. started at 120 grit to get the coating off, then 180, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800 then jumped to 1500 - should've done 1000 and 1200 in between but I didn't have any. May have to correct that. Still came out pretty acceptable after buffing it with green compound on a 4" muslin wheel.
Tools of the trade. I used a block of aluminum barstock as a sanding block - turned out that the roll stamping that they did depressed the metal all around the stamp, and the flat block wasn't getting the paint off in between the letters, so I had to switch to a stiff foam block and my finger. It was sunken in that much.
Here you can see pretty clearly what I was up against:
Those grind lines really show when you start removing the coating! Also revealed some other high/low spots:
It was really looking like the flat grind wasn't actually flat.....just more like a VERY large radius hollow grind. Took some time with the 120 before I couldn't see the grind lines anymore.
The swedges came out better than they should have for a first attempt at grinding them, but the transitions on both sides are pretty rough. Can't get lucky all the time, I guess. I don't think I'm going to try to fix them...I've done what I can, and Imma stop before I make it worse. Anywho, if you're hungry for more pics, head on over to the knife making thread hovering near the top of page 1....you'll get to see some neat stuff from some of the other 'Heads as well.
Tools of the trade. I used a block of aluminum barstock as a sanding block - turned out that the roll stamping that they did depressed the metal all around the stamp, and the flat block wasn't getting the paint off in between the letters, so I had to switch to a stiff foam block and my finger. It was sunken in that much.
Here you can see pretty clearly what I was up against:
Those grind lines really show when you start removing the coating! Also revealed some other high/low spots:
It was really looking like the flat grind wasn't actually flat.....just more like a VERY large radius hollow grind. Took some time with the 120 before I couldn't see the grind lines anymore.
The swedges came out better than they should have for a first attempt at grinding them, but the transitions on both sides are pretty rough. Can't get lucky all the time, I guess. I don't think I'm going to try to fix them...I've done what I can, and Imma stop before I make it worse. Anywho, if you're hungry for more pics, head on over to the knife making thread hovering near the top of page 1....you'll get to see some neat stuff from some of the other 'Heads as well.
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2013
- Messages
- 7,205