Reshape of Mk1 handle

hawkhead

hawkhead

Joined
Aug 13, 2008
Messages
1,277
I could not wait for my Mk1 navy to arrive. When it did I was disappointed to find the handle was not shaped well for me. So I did what any craftsman would do, I modified the handle to fit me. I almost sent it back, but I really like the style and the blade itself. About one hour is all it took to complete. I ground the leather gently, hand sanded 220-400 and lastly rubbed in mink oil. My only criticism is the pommel, it is slightly too large. Overall the Mk1 is a great hunting and general purpose knife.

100_1546.jpg

100_1534.jpg
 
Looks good, personally I find the Mk. 1's ergos too be to thick at the front and too skinny at the back. Garandimal here on the forums somehow managed to reshape the pommel on his Mark 1 down to a more appropriate size. Hope to see a lot more of your work in the future.
 
You did a great job man, I think the blade shape of the mk1 looks really nice. The finish on that leather came out nice.
 
looks good i have the mk1 with the rubbery like handle but it fits my hand fine lucky i guess!
 
Thanks for looking and commenting everyone. It is nice to be able to show fellow knife and tomahawk enthusiasts my work and receive feedback.
 
Ka-bar is cutting the leather too narrow on the mark 1 and the mark 2 near the pommel, and they need to go back to fiber spacers instead of the plastic ones. It makes the knife seem cheep. Just my opinion.
 
hawkhead said:
I could not wait for my Mk1 navy to arrive. When it did I was disappointed to find the handle was not shaped well for me. So I did what any craftsman would do, I modified the handle to fit me. I almost sent it back, but I really like the style and the blade itself. About one hour is all it took to complete. I ground the leather gently, hand sanded 220-400 and lastly rubbed in mink oil. My only criticism is the pommel, it is slightly too large. Overall the Mk1 is a great hunting and general purpose knife.

100_1546.jpg

100_1534.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice work on the leather.

I've spent a lifetime w/ a handful of hammers, KA-BARs, and Pilot Survival Knifes, so the original Mk1 handle shape suits me fine. (though I textured it w/ a wire-brush and Sno-seal)

Don't stop at the leather, the pommel was easy.

unsheathed.jpg


pommelsmajor.jpg


pommelsminor.jpg


buttend.jpg



It just takes One piece of high-tech equipment...

sander4x24.jpg


...and a little patience. :D

What I did was establish the bevel angle at the major axis on the handle side (in), rolled the knife both ways to reproduce that angle around to the minor axis along the inner plastic spacer, and then did the same for the outside bevel, except that I used the re-establishment of the pommel waist (equator) line as the control. When the waistline was straight around the pommel, the outside was done. Then I just buffed it up a little w/ some emory-cloth and green scotch-brite pad.

Easy.

Like your work.




GR
 
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Thank you for the insight and"how to" . You gave the mk 1 a whole new and in my opinion more authentic look. Kabar does have a smaller pommel on the 3/4 USMC. Why didn't the use that one instead?
 
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