Skinners are taking shape.

I spent the day on the disc grinder to get these flat before I start on the bevels. Some of them still show remnants of the scale, but they are pretty true now.

IMG_9183.jpg


Here's a overhead shot that holds the perspective better than the other pictures. I'm still contemplating tweaking the fatter ones a bit to be more in line with two on the left. It's amazing how different they can look on the table vs. in hand vs. in pictures.

IMG_9189.jpg
 
Hey Erik. Just saw this thread. Looking great! Second from the right is a standout for me.
 
Erik,
Just found this most recent update. The batch is looking good!! Can't wait to see the bevels start to appear on these.

Good stuff!
 
alb1k said:
I'm going to taper all of these tangs. These are the thinnest m380 stock pieces I could get at the time- all are .140 to .160. Would anyone put a distal taper on these?

EA
Click to expand...

Sure, why not? You're not asking them to be choppers or prybars, may as well make the blades as sleek as you can. Your profiled blades are looking good :thumbup:
 
Thanks Fellas,

I've been in the Sierra National Forrest all week, so not much progress lately. But, before I left I ground the bevels on two of them, one with a distal taper and one without. So far, it seems that the distal taper makes it a little harder to match the bevels on each side of the knife. Maybe I lost a bit of symmetry, although I did get them flat on the disc grinder.
 
Here are the primary bevels on three of them. On the left, no distal taper. The middle, some distal taper, The right, lots of distal taper. The one on the right got the most taper because for some reason it did not want to be like the others. It also wanted to be smaller.

IMG_9744.jpg


IMG_9748.jpg


IMG_9747.jpg
 
I think they're looking great Erik! Your grind lines get cleaner all the time, very good stuff. The one on the right with the heaviest distal taper looks like it's going to be a sweet slicer. Love following this stuff!
 
Thanks Jon! That thing will slice if nothing else - it's pretty much at a zero edge as I had to erase a lot of steel.:)

I may change up a bit on one or two of the next ones, we'll see...

EA
 
A couple more are starting to look like knives. I ground the bevels on the third from the left today, after drilling the middle holes on all of them. I wasn't sure if I should center the middle holes top to bottom, or follow the curve of the spine. I followed the curve and I think it looks good on most of them, on one or two that middle hole may be a tad high, though.

IMG_9752.jpg
 
Nice! the deep bellied ones look like little chef knives :D I'm still loving the small full flat ground number.
 
That small FFG does look pretty cool in person. It reminds me of an over-sized steak knife. That one may get more formal dress than the others.
 
I got these closer to HT this weekend. As you can see they are all slightly different. Some intentionally so, some because they would not cooperate. Yesterday I spent all day tapering a tang, ruining it at 90% done, and then re-working the blade (2nd from the left).

IMG_9819.jpg


The new grind lines are not as crisp before, but it's quite a bit lighter. Today I started by drilling out the tangs on 5 others because I wasn't sure if I was going to try and taper with this batch again. I figured either way they would be lighter. After I got them drilled, I decided to go for the tapers so I would not have any regrets. I approached them a little differently, and this time they worked out. They are not very aggressive tapers, but with the drilling they should be fine.

IMG_9822.jpg


I hollowed them out on my 8" wheel. I may have to try hollow grinding some blades - I got a little feel for what people are talking about when they describe hollow grinding and I liked it.

This one is the cleanest so far. Hopefully, I'm able to tighten up the others a bit.

IMG_9829.jpg


Here's how they looked when I closed the garage.

IMG_9832.jpg


EA
 
I cleaned them up a bit more and got the last one ready (it's the one with no plunge lines). They still have some areas of concern, but I'm leaving the rest for post HT. I found their cut-offs and had fun profiling some easy shop tools and two little knives. A few more shop hours and this stuff is out the door. I hope they come back soon, a quick turn around would be nice right now.

IMG_0063.jpg

photo-6.jpg
 
Sweet, Erik!
Feels good to get that batch finalized for HT, doesn't it?
They're looking good so far and I think they'll all make nice skinners.

How fare away is that trip? Might be crunch time getting the finishing and handle work done when they get back:eek:

Glad you've found some time to get in the shop, I know it's tough with work, kids going back to school, etc.

Talk to you soon bud!
 
Very nice shapes for hunting as Rick choose and the grinding looks super !!! Stay with it and more pictures please !!! Frank
 
Thanks, David.
I'm looking forward to seeing you on Oct 1. My understanding is that you will be at the California Custom Knife Show. I really want to learn more about your machine finishes and a few other things if you have the time.

Jon,
The trip is 6 weeks away. Maybe 7. I am definitely pushing it and am against the wall, so wish me luck. I'm going to shove it all out the door this week and ask Brad to do his best. We will see....
 
Last edited:
Frank Niro said:
Very nice shapes for hunting as Rick choose and the grinding looks super !!! Stay with it and more pictures please !!! Frank
Click to expand...

Thanks you Frank. I will post more pictures - if anyone gets tired of my postings, please let me know.

I'm a big fan of Rick M. He does amazing work and was kind enough to help me in this endeavor. Not to mention the trailer bearing thread. I have varied these knives quite a bit, for several reasons, but I like to show Rick's drawing as my inspiration, before I dropped the points and went way off the path, lol.
 
Ok, 6 or 7 weeks? I have faith in you and Brad both. You can get these ready in time, no worries:D Seriously, they'll turn out great bud!

alb1k said:
Thanks, David.
I'm looking forward to seeing you on Oct 1. My understanding is that you will be at the California Custom Knife Show. I really want to learn more about your machine finishes and a few other things if you have the time.

Jon,
The trip is 6 weeks away. Maybe 7. I am definitely pushing it and am against the wall, so wish me luck. I'm going to shove it all out the door this week and ask Brad to do his best. We will see....
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top