PK Villager, At Last!

K

Kazeryu

Joined
Nov 7, 2005
Messages
960
My rather belated christmas present to myself was waiting for me when I left the house today.

Thought I would share some quick scans of it as it arrived. It has since been given a brief mineral oil bath and may eventually get a coat or two of tung oil.

It's got a nice walnut handle which just fits my hand in terms of length (it could be a bit thicker, though) and a really dramatic curving belly. I really like the thick buttcap and the whole villager look. This is also the first habaki-bolstered khuk I own which works 'properly' - the habaki wedges the khuk in the scabbard securely. Release the habaki, and the blade is completely free to slip out.

I'm also enjoying the white metal - I think the brass is fine once it's tarnished a little, but it goes best with horn. The satin-finished white metal is a nicer match to the walnut, IMO. (I prefer wood for my handles, just because I like the feel of it)




Thank you very much Yangdu! It's absolutely perfect! :thumbup: :D
 
Great snag :thumbup:
Pen knives are sweet, villager Pen knives even sweeter, I absolutely love mine. Now, if I could just get my greedy mitts on a wood handled 15" Pen knife villager, oh joyful day. :D

Sarge
 
That's a beauty. I snagged a 15" PK last week and I love it. Hmmm, wonder if I might be needing a shorter one sometime. HIKV.
 
She's a keeper bro. Do yourself a favor and sand that walnut before adding the oil. The HI technique for finishing the handles masks a lot of the figure to the wood. When I've gotten a pretty handle I've gotten excited to see how much prettier I can make it with just a little sanding. Then that oil just sets it off. Pretty woods used by HI and hill walnut is great. Looks like yours is very light, but theres figure hidden in there you just gotta go get it.
 
How thick is the blade? I have a Pen villager that is about 12" and 11oz and 1/4" thick. This one must be much thicker.
 
You might want to consider a bit of stain to darken the wood, and bring out the grain if you're going for an all-over re-sanding of the handle. MinWax oil based stain works well and is compatible with subsequent coats of other kinds of oil finish, once it is completely dry. I like Laurel Mountain Forge spirit based stains too. They penetrate deeply, enhance figure, and look natural.

To keep the handle 'grippy' don't sand and re-coat to a piano finish.
 
I won't be going for a full finish - I don't like the polished feel. Just enough to seal the mineral oil in a little bit and bring out the colour without changing the surface texture. The first coat or three of a drying oil will sink in under the surface of the wood - that's what I'll be aiming for.
 
I'm not sure about putting drying (polymerizing) oil (boiled linseed, tung, etc.) over a non-drying oil like mineral oil. I'd test it out on some scrap first.
 
Already tested it on the karda for my AK. Didn't seem to cause any problems.

I imagine all it does is lock in the mineral oil so the wood stays nourished. It's not really any different from locking in the natural moisture of the wood - I'm just 'feeding' the wood a little bit before locking it up.

Any woodchucks out there feel free to tell me if I've got the wrong idea.
 
I have never tried using mineral oil on wood, and can't see why you would want to do it.
It has the potential to interfere with a finish.
I have heard of recommendations to use it on horn, but it didn't work for me when I tried it once.

I'd just use Watco or a wiping oil varnish. If you want to darken the wood, you could use a coat of a version of Watco with color, e.g. the walnut Watco, followed by plain. You could topcoat if you wish, or use multiple coats of Watco.
 
That is really a nice one. I like that better than the horn one I managed to grab after several months. Very cool, and great pictures. Please post again when you are done woodchucking it.

Thanks,

Norm
 
click for the real version:


This is what it looked like after a very brief mineral bath. I've taken it out for a brief trial run - it's true that this chops like a bigger knife!

I think it's better than my 15" AK in some respects - I'll have to take them out and compare them sometime. The only catch is that the really dramatic belly can catch in the wood if you're using multiple chops. Otherwise, very nice piece of blade - so much lighter than my AK, too!

I will post another picture later when I find time to tweak the handle a bit more.
 
:thumbup: Very nice! Don't stress about the wood finish. I think your tung oil will work just fine. You can sand it just a little with 150 grit to get the dirt out of the pores from the shop. That won't "un-villager" it. Then your 2 coats of tung will penetrate well and you will still have the grippy wood that you want.

If by chance your first coat of tung oil doesn't dry, due to the mineral oil, Just give the handle a quick wash with denatured alcohol or acetone (very flammable!!!). That will take the mineral oil out of the outer surface of the wood. Don't think it will be needed though.

Beautiful knife, and nice photo. :thumbup:


Steve
 
Lookin good. That oil brought out the character in that wood. Real pretty work.
 
That pic makes me want another PK:D Like one of them new 15 inchers. It is one of my most favorite HI "modern" blades. An ideal truck knife, camping knife and small shovel.
Looks like you did some work on the handle to make things fit nice and even. I wouldn't worry about mineral oil as a wood finish at all. We have a glued-up maple work surface in the kitchen that gets wet at least 3 times a day, all it's ever had done to it are semi-anual mineral oil treatments and an occasional scraping down to get rid of built up yuk. It's gonna be 30 years old this year and it's just fine. That said, I do use drying oil on all my wood handles. I've been using a 3 part mixture of tung oil, spar varnish and mineral spirits. Dan K. once suggested adding some acetone to make it penetrate better and dry faster. It does that, but it also causes the mixture to jell-up in a few days, so I add it to a small quantity of the 3-part and use it for a few sealer coats. Another view of things, huh?
 
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