Random progress pics

Brass mark-up tools, to not scratch the steel. You just saved me a lot of time with that one.
 
NickWheeler said:
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:
Click to expand...

I had been thinking of using a release agent but worried about contaminating the tang hole for the final glue up.

Do you do anything to remove paste wax remnants from the tang hole?

Would a quick sanding of the hole be worthwhile?
 
I had the ?. I did one and it worked wonderfully, and now I'm ready for final glue up, well almost.

The other thing is how tight should be tang hole be before bedding? I'm not sure with these glues, but some of my farrier glues, the manufactures want them a minimum thickness for strength. It's quite thick, 1/8" on that stuff, not sure if west systems or whatever you use, had the same recommendations. I have always tried to get as tight as I could, but I was just wondering.

Cody
 
Hey fellas-

Sorry I haven't followed up on this thread yet. I have had a LOT going on here and it all pushed this thread to the back-seat for a bit. I did not, however, forget about it... :)

"Spoiler alert ;)" FWIW- Here are two photos showing the end result.

I have many pics that were taken after my last post in this thread, but before the knife looked like the following pics.... that I will add to the thread... just gotta find the time! Hopefully pretty soon. :)

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It's ok, if you like that kind of work. And by that kind of work I mean flawlessly executed and damned near perfection. :D;)

Thanks for sharing, Nick!

--nathan
 
REALLY nice detail photos.



The wood finish on this is matte compared to the glossy finish you had on Lorien's chopper WIP

Is it staying matte, or is it still going to see a more shiny glossy oil finish ?
 
Okay, it's Saturday morning and I've got a bit of time to mess around with this thread again. :)



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This photo shows how helpful a center line can be. I had sanded the center line off, and had just been toiling away with the files and sandpaper. Something looked a little off, but I couldn't figure out why, because everything was shaped pretty damn symmetrical. I went back to the granite plate, 1-2-3 block, and surface gauge+pencil.... did another pencil lay-out line... and BAMN! I had drifted to one side during the shaping. The center line made it really easy to see, and then fix. :)
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It's funny what we knife makers fashion some of our tools from. This little sanding gizmo was made from a piece of 1/4" roundstock (cut from the for-sale sign frame we got when we bought this house) with a piece of 14-4 cable insulation shoved onto it. ;) :)

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Damascus etches MUCH cleaner--- with better, sharper contrasts, when it has been heat-treated. I use foil and the Paragon. This was the start of making some ss foil envelopes for the fittings.
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Sam asked me about a matte finish. I think it's just the lighting in my light tent... this one is my favorite color (just like Lorien's Koa handle)---- shiny! ;) :)

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I think if you look at all the photos, and then come back to this point... it's easy to see why some extra steps need to be taken (pins, screws, bedding) in order to take a handle like this apart, work on each piece, put it back together, check, repeat... MANY times.

The first 2 pics here--- I had gone back over everything very carefully to make sure everything was "clean" finish-wise.... the blade and all the parts.


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One of the last things to do, is mask off anything you don't want etched, CLEAN the parts...CLEAN... and etch. Then the etched parts have to be neutralized, oxides sanded off high spots, and taken to a final polish/finish before final assembly. This blade had to be done as well.

IMHO- There is NO way in Hell you could make a knife like this, and do it RIGHT, by just gluing it all together and trying to do the final shaping, finishing, and etching AFTER it's glued up.

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Here's the knife all finished up.

Well, that's actually not true, the pin wasn't completely finished when I took these, but I had a limited amount of time to get the pics done. So I finished the pin off AFTER I took these pics.

Thanks for following along guys :)



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There are multiple things to learn from each and every one of your photos Nick, at least for me.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to post here.

Brian
 
You just don't want me to finish that "Tools To Build" list do you? ;)

I hate to ask for more but a wide view of that handle vise would be great. I've been looking for a way to hold the handle/fittings without the blade.
Other question, what is the advantages of the slotting jig you made compared to using the drillpress? Apart from the the simple fact that jigs are cool. :D

Thanks
 
Thanks guys. :)

Patrice- like you said, jigs and fixtures and doo-dads are cool. ;) :D

To be brutally honest... a lot of the little gizmos that I make are a direct result of ADD. I will be in the middle of something, and my brain will drift away from THE task right in front of me, to ideas on how I could do the task a little easier/better... or often-times, more COMFORTABLY. That's why I have so many different sanding blocks/sticks. Sure, I could do everything with a couple different blocks... but having a stash of them makes thing easier, more comfortable, and most importantly for ME... easier to stay focused and on track. Sometimes a little diversion in my time helps keep me from TOTALLY derailing from what I'm doing.---- It's much akin to a person that's dieting allowing him/herself to have a candy bar once every two weeks and it being just enough to keep them from just going to Baskin Robbins and eating all 31 flavors and blowing their diet to hell... LMAO :)

As per my set-up for the line cuts. A drill press will work, that's how I originally started doing it. But this set-up, with the Foredom, V-block, and top-plate, is super easy to adjust to just the heights I want, has no run-out (which is extremely important when you're using a 0.009" thick separating disc!!!), and it is VERY easy to get close to it so that I can see what I'm doing. I also really like having the luxury of the foot pedal to start, stop, slow-down/speed-up the cutting disc. :)

Oh, the handle vise is just one of the various models from PanaVise. There are probably a lot of different versions/manufacturers of this type of thing that would work (maybe even better)... but my Dad had picked this one up at a yard sale for cheap and when I saw it, it seemed like it would work really well for what I wanted. So I "borrowed" it from Dad. ;) :D


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Okay, to the questions I missed.

I haven't had any issues the wax staying in the bedded hole.... it always comes out with the tang. I actually scrape it off the tang with a little brass chisel I made. It WAS a problem with the bearing grease, vaseline, etc... half of the stuff would want to stay in the hole. And it would make the bedded surface either rough or even a little rubbery. With the wax and Acraglas, the resulting bedded surface is SMOOTH, HARD, and CLEAN.

As far as the cavity goes... I don't know for sure, LOL. I like to stay as precise as I can with every step... so I broach the tang hole to a nice clean, close fit whether I'm bedding the tang or not. Especially since I am trying to stuff as much tang into the handle as I can... so there is no room for a lot of slop in the tang hole. IF I did, I would end up grinding/filing into the tang hole from the outside--- some guys think you can fix that. IMO, the only way to fix that is to start a new handle.

Salem, I could have sworn I took some snapshots of the little giz-whiz for drilling the index pin holes, but I can't find them now. I must have deleted them on accident. I'll try to remember to take some new ones.



Okay, hope that got me back up to speed guys.

Thanks! :)
 
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