Surface conditioning belts

The tip catching really is worth bringing up. These things are grabby as hell. I got a little too reckless with a kiridashi and it caught and it threw it right into my safety toe boots. Stuck clean into the leather and partially into the carbon fiber. I learned a valuable lesson that day and am much more cognizant of positioning. Any point or feature they try to run off with it, and leave artifacts and scuffs you get to deal with afterwards.
 
Use a jig to position your work, consider turning the knife upside down or running the grinder backwards.

Use a size smaller wheel than your normal wheel to scotchbrite if you hollow grind... either that or get ready to refinish your flats which should only take a minute.
 
godogs57 said:
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I take it down to 400 grit and then hit it with a Pop's very fine conditioning belt (blue). Some only take it to 220 but I've found in my case, 400 results in a better overall finish for me. The gray extra fine belt didn't work well in my case. As others have said, spraying with WD-40 improves the finished product.
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Nice work, leather and knife. I have a lil trick to help those hour glass basket stamps to line up better if you are interested.
 
godogs57 said:
Always interested in anything that’ll help me improve my game.
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Finally got this lil tutorial done over in Sheaths and Such:

Horsewright

Thread 'Basket Stamping with Horsewright, a Tutorial.'

Had several folks lately ask me about basket stamping. I thought I'd do a lil tutorial about how I go about doing the basket stamp. Specifically I was thinking of the hourglass type stamp which I do slightly different than a straight stamp. We’ll cover that after the straight stamp.

First thing to do is to slick your leather. This helps give you a more uniform job by making the leather more uniform. This step is sometimes called glassing.There are tools made for this and they are often made out of glass with a wood handle. Mine is just a block of ligume vitae wood that has been sanded...
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Cliff Carter Knives said:
I generally stick with medium and fine, but my belt satin finishes never go above 400grit. A trick I’ve found is to spray some wd40 on them before use, they’ll blend the finish more softly.

Be aware that they won’t stay so neatly within your bevels as a normal belt would, so you’ll likely get some light scratches spilling beyond the top of your bevels or at your plunges. I mostly use them for finishing flats pre bevels or for full flat ground knives.
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Horsewright said:
Finally got this lil tutorial done over in Sheaths and Such:

Horsewright

Thread 'Basket Stamping with Horsewright, a Tutorial.'

Had several folks lately ask me about basket stamping. I thought I'd do a lil tutorial about how I go about doing the basket stamp. Specifically I was thinking of the hourglass type stamp which I do slightly different than a straight stamp. We’ll cover that after the straight stamp.

First thing to do is to slick your leather. This helps give you a more uniform job by making the leather more uniform. This step is sometimes called glassing.There are tools made for this and they are often made out of glass with a wood handle. Mine is just a block of ligume vitae wood that has been sanded...
  • Like
  • Love
Click to expand...
Thanks so much! I use the same ideas you do BUT working on reaching your level of expertise. As always, thanks for your contributions. Your work is beyond good...
 
godogs57 said:
Thanks so much! I use the same ideas you do BUT working on reaching your level of expertise. As always, thanks for your contributions. Your work is beyond good...
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Thank you sir for the kind words. That trick on the opposite side of the line for the hourglass stamp will help ya out. Glad to be of help and contact me anytime if I can be of some help. You are very much on your way!
 
Horsewright said:
Thank you sir for the kind words. That trick on the opposite side of the line for the hourglass stamp will help ya out. Glad to be of help and contact me anytime if I can be of some help. You are very much on your way!
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I had a pretty renowned saddle maker in New Mexico teach me the basics one week while I was elk hunting with him. He got me going to the point where he took my training wheels off and it was up to me to improve after that.

I take my time and line everything up before striking the stamp. Slow going. Watching him was an eye opener. A lifetime of building saddles.... he'd take that mallet, line up his stamp and pop, pop, pop, pop.....like a machine gun. Eye hand coordination, decades of muscle memory....he'd finish up a huge piece and I'd still be pecking away at a small sheath!😂

Now, arthritis has come on strong in my fingers. Makes life interesting!

Thanks for your kind words and help friend.
 
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