Rat Daddy Makeover

xaman

xaman

Joined
Nov 27, 2005
Messages
9,574
Well, after all the advice from this thread:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=534182

I decided that I would just use stainless hollow tubes as pins with epoxy, and not try the flared tubing. I still hope to give the flaring a try on another blade, but this one got the simple treatment.

Before pic:

RatDaddy002.jpg


Hand sanded to 600 grit:

RatDaddymakeover006small.jpg


Then with original micarta scales and stainless washers and screws:

RatDaddymakeover012small.jpg


Now, sporting ebony scales (sorry for the poor pics, it was getting dark quick):

RatDaddyMakeover001-1.jpg


RatDaddyMakeover003.jpg


She ain't bad for a "homemade" user... I learned a ton and would be willing to do it again, hopefully it would be a bit easier with better results. Thanks for all the advice :thumbup:

Cheers to Swamp Rat for making this wonderful beast of a blade :D
 
I have never said this to another man (nor at all for that matter ;)) but your Daddy sure looks good nekkid.
Great job....
 
Damn, I barely got the time to beat the crap out of mine much less dress him up in Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. That looks nice.
 
mhawg said:
Damn, I barely got the time to beat the crap out of mine much less dress him up in Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. That looks nice.
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Well, that's what you gotta do when Cobalt won't sell his RD LE :D
 
on_the_edge said:
Looking good! May I ask how long in total did you spend sanding that?
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Bro, I really don't know... I used a rubber sanding block, started with 120, then 220, 330, 400, 600

It took a while for sure, maybe 8-10 hours??? (My poor fingers would guess about 100 hours as they were pretty sore for a few days!) Honestly, if time is valuable (I'm sure it is), you'd be way better off sending it to Ban. I probably saved about $5 per hour doing this project myself! LOL And after all that it looks pretty amatuer...

BUT, I did have a lot of fun and I learned some things. AND, most importantly, all those hours not bing online saved me from spending hundreds of dollars in the exchange :foot:
 
Thanks for the compliments guys, I'm happy with it. Sure was a fun and educational process.

Hey Russ, that black/black Mojo was going to be next, good thing you rescued it :p
 
Yeah, very nice job Eli! Once you get into a hand sanding projecting, those 8-10 hours REALLY seem like 8-10 days.

It looks great, though!
 
kdstrick said:
very cool... one question... how did you re-connect the handles?
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I originally put the micarta scales back on with stainless flared head screws (into a stand off that was 1/4" outer diameter.) I had the idea to have interchangeable scales -- micarta and wood. The more I thought about it, the more i realized that was a novel idea but impractical. I didn't think I'd actually ever take the time to change the scales unless one broke, etc...

So I eventually just glued (5 min epoxy) the ebony scales on. The stainless screws just didn't look right with the wood scales -- too industrial.

I still want to try the flared tubing. Skunk posted that they needed to be cut absolutely even, with a lathe, otherwise they would be prone to split when you pressed them. That's primarily what prompted me to go the simple route and epoxy the scales.

I used the stainless tubing I had already (the stuff i bought for flaring) for pins. I didn't want to spend a ton on mosaics, and I figured it might be useful to have a hollow pin up front for a lanyard/d-guard. I had seen a few knives with hollow pins and thought it looked nice enough...
 
The pins make for a clean modern look, and maintain the simple bright steel and ebony contrast. Looks great–nice work!
 
xaman said:
Thanks for the compliments guys, I'm happy with it. Sure was a fun and educational process.

Hey Russ, that black/black Mojo was going to be next, good thing you rescued it :p
Click to expand...


Yea, that is true about the MOJO:thumbup:, but now you have given me an idea about my Rat Mastiff!!!!!:D
 
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