Pocket kwaiken WIP

[Logan Pearce]

Thanks for sharing! Makes me want to try it!

Right?! Curse him for inspiring us.

 

[Matthew Gregory]

No doubt!!! Awesome method, Phillip!

 

[Bigfattyt]

Excited to see how this one finishes out.

 

[wdtorque]

Neat seeing the steps Phillip. Thanks for sharing.
Moses looks like one serious Dude? Dozier

 

[Phillip Patton]

Thanks for the comments, all!

Dozier, he's actually a very nice cat. Very relaxed and easy going. He's also pretty smart. He knows his name, and comes when I call.


Ok, back to work. I made a course change over the weekend, which I'll explain in a few posts. First, the blade.


I finished with the grinder at about 600 grit:

then handsanded with 600 grit paper:

then into the ferric chloride for 10 minutes:

Then I sand the oxides off with 800 grit paper, then etch for 10 minutes, then sand with 1000 grit, then etch 10 more minutes, then polish with 12000 grit paper. Some sand to 1000 grit or more before etching the first time, but I've found that doing it this way goes much faster, and uses a lot less paper, as the acid acts as a chemical abrasive. I literally use one small piece of each grit above 600, and just a few seconds of time, for the same result.


After I'm happy with the blade, the sheath and handle are sanded square and flat at the open ends:

 

[Phillip Patton]

Now the bolster. I'm using 304 stainless, .048" thick. I'm doing as much of the slotting as I can while the piece is still attached to the sheet, since it's easier to hold onto:

Next it's cut off with the bandsaw:

and clamped in my guard slot filing jig:

and filed until it fits like this:

I filed too much, and ruined the first attempt, so the piece you see there is number two...


Now the holes for the locating pins are drilled:

 

[Phillip Patton]

I used double sided tape to hold the bolster in place:

and the bolster then guides the drill as I make the holes in the handle section:

then a similar thing is done with the sheath part. And now we come to the course change. Drilling the holes here didn't go as well, so the handle and sheath sections don't line up as well as I'd like. Also, I decided using magnets was not a good idea. They do, or course, attract steel filings like magnets, which then have a tendency to scratch the blade. It wouldn't matter so much on a mono steel blade, with the sanding scratches going lengthwise, but on a damascus blade like this, it would be glaringly obvious. So I scrapped the sheath half, and started over. I have a few pictures of that, but first let's finish with the bolster.

I used the double sticky tape again to attach the bolster to a block of steel, to make it easier to hold onto while the surface that will show is polished:

 

[Phillip Patton]

Now, back to the sheath.

Routing:

I routed it a little deeper, to make room for some thin leather pieces, which it will be lined with. Here I'm thinning the leather with my splitter:

Then the liners are cut out, using the blade as a template:

The leather and micarta gets some cement applied:

The leather pressed in:

Dry fitted:

The fit is nice and snug. So the pieces are sanded just enough to flatten them, then they're epoxied together and left clamped until tomorrow.

 

[Slau104]

Enjoy this WIP thread a lot. Thank you very much for sharing. Can't wait to see the finish product.

 

[john april]

very enjoyable thread. i really like the height gauge you made on the first page.

 

[Elite_KG]

Ever try magnets behind the leather inserts? Just a thought...

I enjoyed the thread. I would like to try the sheath and handle. I'm no blade smith, so the bulk metal work is out for me.

Good stuff!

 

[Phillip Patton]

I think the magnets would still attract junk. The fit is tight enough now though that the magnets aren't needed.

 

[Phillip Patton]

Well, I think today is the day for final assembly.

After allowing the epoxy to set up overnight, I squared off the end of the sheath section. Here it is fit with the blade and handle section, but without the bolster:

There is no wiggle room for the blade:

With the blade in, the bolster is slid on, and the holes marked with a pencil:

Then it's clamped in my drill press, making sure the end surface is square to the drill bit:

 

[Phillip Patton]

Trying it for fit again, this time with the bolster:

It looks good, so it's time to get ready to attach the bolster. First I notch the tang with the belt grinder so the epoxy will grab it:

Also, there were some scratches on the blade, so I etched it again for 5 minutes, then repolished with the 12000 grit paper (cloth, actually).


I didn't get any pics of actually putting the bolster on, because I use quick set JB weld for this, and I was in a hurry, but here is it afterwards:

 

[Phillip Patton]

I decided the best way to make sure that everything will line up right, is to epoxy the tang into the handle while everything is assembled. To keep things from sticking that shouldn't, I used wax where I don't want epoxy.

The rubber bands are for clamping pressure.

Until tomorrow...

 

[JParanee]

Going to be awesome

 

[stevewest]

This is worse than waiting for Christmas morning when you were a small fry.

 

[Phillip Patton]

Ok, folks, last batch of pictures.

After letting the epoxy cure overnight, the elastic clamps are removed:

and the sides are cleaned up on the grinder:

Then the edges:

It came apart easily. :thumbup:

Next I start to round off the corners. Checking here to make sure I don't get too close to the pin holes:

All done with 60 grit:

 

[Phillip Patton]

Now I switch to a slack 240 grit belt, and remove all the 60 grit scratches:

Then 400 grit:

Then 600:

Then a Scotchbrite belt:

 

[Phillip Patton]

Glamor shots:

Thanks everyone for your attention, and your comments!