RyanW / Turner SanMai Chopper WIP

Thanks Roger! I hear a lot of people like to see liners between Steel and Wood. Anyone with opinions on this I would love to hear them.
 
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I was going to close this thread as to not "Clutter Custom & Handmade Knives" with my WIP. But I was asked by someone that I hold in very high regards to re open it.

I appreciate and welcome any constructive comments and critiques that any one has on any level.
 
holy smokes....every time I wander over this way I find something remarkable. Great look to this one, and I've got a feeling it'll work pretty great too. Thanks for taking the time to share your craft
 
Ryan,

Your stuff is great and I love looking at your work!
 
sshbiker said:
Fantastic WIP of a beautiful knife! I'm looking forward to seeing it finished.
Click to expand...

RyanW said:
Thanks Roger! I hear a lot of people like to see liners between Steel and Wood. Anyone with opinions on this I would love to hear them.
Click to expand...

Nice WIP Ryan,
Liners? Yes I use em about every chanch I get. Mostly just the very thin .010" black fiber. I think they look good but serve to seal the wood, bone or ivory and helps prevent warp and shrinkage.
 
Looking good Ryan. You better use that ironwood on something awesome, or i will have to beat you lol ;) Now get to work!!!!!
 
Oh and i have to say that the maple is a perfect match for that. Mark definitely hit that one out of the park. Great job so far buddy, excited to see this one finished, Sorry for the delay on getting you the ironwood :(
 
I really appreciate the support everyone, this has been a fun project for me. Bruce I had heard that in the past about the liners but it seems like there are a few opinions out there (As Always). I will be using liners with any natural materials from now on, thank you!

Mike I expect to get the Ironwood in the mail today. I am absolutely positive I will love it. How about I make a Kitchen Knife in the near future? If you are not familiar with Mike Davis work make sure you check it out. He is putting out some crazy kitchen knives! :eek: Thanks brother.

I have almost finished everything up...

Here is what the scales look like after a 24hr epoxy cure, pretty nasty but I am pretty sure more glue is better than not enough.
04MTGlueScale.jpg


I then hit the flat platen and even out the scales and make sure I have nice clean pins without any blowout or missing epoxy. Here you can see that EKG line that I wanted to match or compliment the SanMai pattern.
04MTRoughSlab.jpg


I than carefully take the scales down flush with the spine, and butt with the flat platen (On the finger section I use the 2" wheel, to keep the curves right.)
04MTRoughSpine.jpg

04MTRoughButt.jpg


I then take the 10" wheel and start contouring the handle making the palm swell. I actually have a photo of one of Nick Wheelers handles above my grinder as an example of the contour I am trying to achieve.
03MTRoughFingers.jpg

03MTRoughSpine.jpg

03MTRoughHandles.jpg


I then put the knife in the knife vise and begin hand sanding with thin strips to round the corners and blocks to make sure everything remains flat, especially around the pins and spine. Moving up through 150 the 220 Grit. I then liberally apply 100% Tung Oil, I got this stuff from the local wood working store, it was not cheap but it finished extremely well.
enviroMagic.jpg


After 10-15 minutes the Tung oil has time to soak in, I sand with the last grit I used (220) then move to 400 and apply another coat of Tung Oil and wait. and continue up to the final grit. This actually fills any small voids and polishes nicely. I took this handle up to 1000 Grit.

03MTHandle.jpg

03MTFinalhandle.jpg

03MTFinalButt.jpg

03MTCloseLogo.jpg


Mark, the spalted burl is beautiful, but as with any natural material it changes as you work with it. The EKG line is pretty much gone, but I am not upset at all on how it turned out. Looking at the overall package it all blends together perfectly IMO.

I have to put the final edge on it and decide what to do on the sheath today, I will post the final photos with sheath a little later.
 
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Here are the final photos. Thanks to Mike Turner for the beautiful SanMai Billet, and Mark "Burl Source" for the beautiful wood. If you are interested in their stuff just click on their names it will take you to their profile where you can contact them...

SPECS:
Steel: 3/16" Wrought Iron and CruForgeV SanMai (Mike Turner)
OAL: 15.5"
Blade: 10"
Handle: Black Spalted Maple (Burl Source)
Sheath: Leather With Multiple carry options

RyanWSanMaiChopper-1.jpg

RyanWChopperSheath.jpg


RyanWSanMaiChopper.jpg


RyanWSanMaiChopper1copy.jpg



Here it is with it's recurved Brother!
RyanWknivesChopper.jpg
 
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That came out fantastic Ryan, that design should give a ton chopping power and the San Mai looks incredible!
 
What a great end result, Ryan! Can't wait to hold this big 'un in a couple days. Thanks for taking the time to document the whole process. Mike's San Mai is very cool stuff. You may put a hammer in my hand yet! :D;)
 
That turned out great Ryan - I like an oil finish on a fine wood handle like this.

Roger
 
Thanks everyone for the comments, Takes a little time to take photos and post them here but it is a good way for those starting out to see the process and those that have the experience to help me long the way if I can do something more efficient or better. I am open to all suggestions.

Roger I agree the oil finish really makes a nice wood show it's character. and Jonny I will teach you how to forge, once I learn haha!
 
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