Random progress pics

NickWheeler

NickWheeler

Joined
Dec 3, 1999
Messages
9,437
I have no specific goal or agenda here. This is just sort of a shot in the dark to participate and see what happens. If anything... LOL

Not a tutorial, not a start to finish work in progress. Simply sharing a handful of quick and dirty pics I've snapped while working on a bowie.


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Maximum hidden tang, minimum whimpiness ;)
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Thanks for posting this, I have already learned a lot from the pics.
 
YOU ELITIST PIG!!!!







:p :D ;)

You know I'm messin' with ya man, I am really glad you came back.

Now, on to business, WHAT a knife!! That thin guard with the fluted collar is beeeeeautiful. I may be wrong but it looks from your pattern that you are planning to flute the corner of the butt as well?

Fascinating stuff, feel free to continue posting pictures :thumbup:
 
Nick,

I get the "Alignment Pins", but are the screws used to hold everything together while you shape multiple pieces?

Robert
 
Thanks guys :)

I was curious what would happen by sharing some pics with a totally open ended, non-structured thread.

The guard and spacer are twisted W's damascus, the two 0.020" spacers are stainless. The locator, or indexing pins, are 1/16" precision ground dowel pins. The screws are 0-80 and are just used to hold the 3 spacer pieces together while shaping/finishing them.

I drew the pattern as a simple plate guard, but when I was going through the drawer looking for guard stock, I found the twisted W's (it was a failed guard attempt from about 10 years ago).

It was twice as thick as I wanted for a plate guard. Rather than grind it down, I decided to shape it more like one of my typical fighter guards. Then I got this silly idea to put a facet on all 4 sides of the guard lugs... that was sure smart. :rolleyes: The only way I know of to do that and make it really clean and symmetrical is to file them in, then clean them up with a fine stone in the Foredom, and then EDM stones. Mostly because they are such a small surface... it's really easy to royally f them up.

The "catch" here, is the damascus needs to be heat-treated to get the best possible etch... yet another chance to screw them up when 95% of the knife is done. ;)

Oh, the blade is pretty huge 11-3/8" of W2 differentially hardened with time and temp, and the handle is a block of killer Koa from Mark at BurlSource. When you can see the curl at 50X, you know it's crazy good wood. :cool: :)

A flute on the butt end of the handle would be cool, but the honest answer is that I drew the pattern too short, and that was an extension. ;)
 
It is a privilege to see.

Thanks
 
Nick, what is that "abrasives" thing labeled at 320? And where can a guy find those things? If it's what I think it is, it seems like an awesome thing to have.
 
Thanks for the look inside Nick and at some of your layout.

I kept looking at the last picture, but I suppose your spacer pack is pinned to the handle, so you might not need the guard around to get in the way or scratched. Maybe not till later when you get closer to the finish you want. Do you use the tape on the spacer as a thickness guide to leave the wood a little proud of the furniture.

Thanks again, good stuff, Craig
 
Nick, I'm curious about the relief milled into the back side of the guard. Looks like you've milled/filed the slot on the front side and relieved behind it on the handle-facing side. Is that to simply cut down the amount of time you have to spend filing for a perfect fit since there is less material to remove? And I'm assuming the "well" will be filled with epoxy in the end?

Great looking work as always. I love looking at random shots. It really helps to see various stages and how you do things. And I'm glad to see you still posting. Not to blow smoke up your arse or anything, but it would be a tremendous loss for everyone if you didn't post. :)

--nathan
 
So far so good... ;) :)

The orange thing is an EDM stone. You can get them at just about any mail order tool supply outfit. I bought all of mine from moldshoptools dot com. Really great people there.
I really don't like using them, because you need to use a cutting lubricant- it can be water, WD-40, dedicated stone oil, etc... but it makes a slurry all over the part and makes it impossible to see what you're doing. That's based on my self taught experience. A guy who was actually taught how to use them might know a lot better approach than I do.

The handle block has been bedded to the tang. AFTER all the spacers were fit, index pins and screws applied, and the handle block made to mate up to them with a gap-free fit (btw- -the pins go through all 3 spacers and into the wood block) I coat the tang with Johnson's paste wax (THANKS John White!) I used to use grease, the wax works much better. Then put the handle together with Acraglas and clamp it together overnight.

That's what was going on in the very first pic.

The next day I put the blade securely in a vise, and knock the handle block off with a piece of wood and a hammer.

After that, you clean up the wax, and the handle will go back on to the exact same spot, every time.

This allows you to put the handle and spacer stack on the knife withOUT the guard, and they will still seat where you want them too.

The black tape is just to keep me off the spacers while hogging handle material off. After I get fairly close to the spacers, and the shape I'm after, I typically put three layers of pinstripe tape on the spacer and hand finish the wood down to that level.

Clear as mud right? ;) :foot:
 
Fletch Helical said:
Nick, what is that "abrasives" thing labeled at 320? And where can a guy find those things? If it's what I think it is, it seems like an awesome thing to have.
Click to expand...

Nick, I am also curious about the EDM stones, where to get good ones and also what a good basic assortment of grits would be. I can see my pistol trigger jobs becomin much easier with stones like those, much easier than sandpaper around a needle file. Oh and for my mini knives as well.


-Xander
 
Nathan, thanks bud :) I was typing while you posted.

You already answered the question though. :D I normally only mill that relief about 0.010" bigger than the slot on the face. But this piece of stock being an old failed guard, it came from a time when I used to just mill the handle side of the guard with a 3/8" endmill.

It won't hurt a thing, the guard is still a drive-on, press fit... but it looks a little funny here. :)
 
That is a huge blade. :eek: :thumbup: :D. But, I bet if it's like your other big blades I've handled it will feel like a knife half it's size!

Your use of the patterns to scribe the guard shapes is great. I have some .050 stainless sheet I've been using to make guard patterns with but I was making the whole guard shape and getting the sides exact is time consuming.... :( Your method allows identical scribed lines and saves sooo much time! Nice. :D

I have over a dozen ideas I've either already started using or plan to use from things you showed Greg and I when we came up to your shop.
 
Xander- I wish I had a good answer. I talked to one of the guys at moldshop and he put together a "sample pack" for me that consisted of about 30 different stones. I have only used about half of them.

A tool and die maker--- or the grunt polisher that does the stone work after the senior machinist does the machine work ;) --- could tell you more about stones in 30 seconds than what I could. :o

Brian, thanks a ton, I really appreciate that! :) The 1/2 pattern is another thing that I came up with after struggling to get symmetrical dagger blades, and thought I was a genius. I mentioned it to Tim Hancock at a show and, as usual, found out he had been doing that for like 20 years. :foot:

BTW- the scribe lines you can see in the red dykem are on the backside of the guard, and were done with the brass scribe. It cuts into the dykem, without scratching the steel.
 
NickWheeler said:
Xander- I wish I had a good answer. I talked to one of the guys at moldshop and he put together a "sample pack" for me that consisted of about 30 different stones. I have only used about half of them.

A tool and die maker--- or the grunt polisher that does the stone work after the senior machinist does the machine work ;) --- could tell you more about stones in 30 seconds than what I could. :o

Brian, thanks a ton, I really appreciate that! :) The 1/2 pattern is another thing that I came up with after struggling to get symmetrical dagger blades, and thought I was a genius. I mentioned it to Tim Hancock at a show and, as usual, found out he had been doing that for like 20 years. :foot:

BTW- the scribe lines you can see in the red dykem are on the backside of the guard, and were done with the brass scribe. It cuts into the dykem, without scratching the steel.
Click to expand...

I remember having to make cut and paste valentines in elementary school and we cut out symmetrical hearts that way. :)

Sometimes knifemaking is all about exposure to a lot of different experiences and types of knowledge and seeing what we can apply from all those areas.


A brass scribe, that's pretty smart I was wondering why 2 different scribes.
 
Nick, you rock and your pictures speak a thousand words!! Thanks for sharing!:D
Greg
 
fast14riot said:
Nick, I am also curious about the EDM stones, where to get good ones and also what a good basic assortment of grits would be.
Click to expand...

I bought some from McMaster-Carr. I have white and orange stones, both in 320 and 600 grit. I have absolutely no previous experience with them, but wanted to experiment with using them on hand-rubbed finishes. The white stones seem softer and don't stay flat very long. The orange stones seem harder and create a more polished surface. Everytime I've tried them I've ended up switching back to sandpaper. Still experimenting with them, though!
 
NickWheeler said:
So far so good... ;) :)

....The handle block has been bedded to the tang. AFTER all the spacers were fit, index pins and screws applied, and the handle block made to mate up to them with a gap-free fit (btw- -the pins go through all 3 spacers and into the wood block) I coat the tang with Johnson's paste wax (THANKS John White!) I used to use grease, the wax works much better. Then put the handle together with Acraglas and clamp it together overnight.

That's what was going on in the very first pic.

The next day I put the blade securely in a vise, and knock the handle block off with a piece of wood and a hammer.

After that, you clean up the wax, and the handle will go back on to the exact same spot, every time.

This allows you to put the handle and spacer stack on the knife withOUT the guard, and they will still seat where you want them too.

The black tape is just to keep me off the spacers while hogging handle material off. After I get fairly close to the spacers, and the shape I'm after, I typically put three layers of pinstripe tape on the spacer and hand finish the wood down to that level.

Clear as mud right? ;) :foot:
Click to expand...


Thanks much Nick. Nope, crystal kind of clear. I was wondering what was going on, but didn't expect all of that, makes sense.

Craig
 
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