Take Down Fighter Work In Progress

RMLamey said:
Just a great thread in general, a question though- I notice that it was forged to shape but the edge wasnt pulled down etc... Was this just to maintain the integrity of the pattern??
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Some of my blades get forged down more that others. Typically I am forging for the profile. After that whatever is quickest to an acuarate well made finished knife. I do forge my "using" knives like hunter and camp knives quite closely to shape because that's typically what those customers expect is being done.

Forging or drawing out a bar too much after patterning can definetly have an adverse affect on a pattern though. It can also have a great affect, just depends on the pattern. With a random pattern the more forging and distortion the better.
 
Thanks again for taking the time to photograph and describe all of the details that go into your knifemaking.

Although it DOES make me want to attend the hammerin even more, and it just is not possible...not this year anyway.

Peter
 
Thanks Josh for putting all the work into this great thread! I know how much work they are, and I've picked up a lot of good tips already. I'm jealous of your rolling mill though. :D

Would you mind sharing how much one of those costs?

Thanks,
 
thanks for the answer Josh, nice shop equipment too. I may have missed it but what make is that rolling mill and press??
 
joshsmith said:
I now Owen Wood does nothing but dry welding. I'm sure he'll talk about that more at my hammer in next week. You should come! :D

After I turned the billet on edge I drew it out and cut it into stacks of 5 twice. That would give me 25 layers in that direction. Is that clear?
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Thanks for the reply Josh. Yep, the 25 layers is clear.

You are right, I need to get to your hammer in, but some family issues and prior commitments are keeping me closer to home this year.

If I may ask again, how what is the spacing on your ladder dies - peak to peak on the teeth? I know where I can get a very heavy gear like what your dies are made of, but the teeth are 1/2" apart, and I feel that may be too wide.

Thank you again

Brian
 
Brian,

I will get you an answer to your question about the teeth. I will try and remember tomorrow.

RMLamey, I had the press and rolling mill built by Matt Whitmus of Ephrata, WA. I think he is going to run a hammer in "special" on the press and rolling mill.

Phillip, when I find out next weekend what he would charge to build them again I'll let you know. I paid around $6500 for each machine.
 
This knife will have a guard that is symmetrical in shape. When building symmetrical guards, eschutcheons, or even knives I always make a pattern of half of piece.

I do something similar for guards. I mill a slot in a piece of mild steel that has a depth of half the thickness of the blade. I grind the template to shape, put it on the guard while the guard is in place on the blade, and scribe my lines while flipping it four times for a perfect symmetrical guard. Initial set up takes time but after it is done you can fly. And the nice thing is I can reuse this pattern again someday.

If this is hard to follow the pictures should show it.

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Notice that three sides of the guard have been scribed.

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I always start with an over-sized pattern. After I first scribe it on and cut out the guard I begin to reduce the pattern and change the shape of it until I think it looks right. If your pattern is to small to start or odd shaped you may ruin your guard material and fitting time.

Here's the final template pattern that I ended up with. Notice the difference in shape compared to the first template cut out.

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Now the guard is hand rubbed to 400 grit. I will final finish it later once I'm done grooving the sides.

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I failed to show in my last post the drilling of the two holes that you see in the face of the guard. These two holes will be alignment holes for the spacers and handle frame.

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These holes are drilled in the exact center of the blade thickness. You must be very careful that these holes are not drill too far apart. If so your holes could end up wider that the handle. I have measured these with micrometers and even though it is going to be very tight they will work. There will be no room for error though. Later you will see just how close they are.
 
Now it is time to lay the handle out. Again the handle is symmetrical so I will make half of a pattern. In this pattern I will have two holes that will be in the exact center. These will be my two alignment holes throughout the process. I will also drill the other pin holes in half of the template.


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On the left side there are three holes in a row. Top and bottom are alignment and middle will be a future escutcheon plate hole. On the right are three pins that will be in the knife.

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Half of the holes have been drilled. Now the template gets flipped and I drill the holes again.

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Frame to shape with pin holes. Now I will build a stack of spacers.
 
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Here I have three pieces of 416 stainless steel and two pieces of Damascus.

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Here I have scribed the center of each piece and located the top hole in each one. I will drill the top hole in each one and then I will pin the guard to them. The bottom hole will be drilled through the guard into the spacer assuring correct alignment.

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I then pin the pieces together with the thinnest being inside. Those will try to catch and bend while drilling and milling. The thicker layers will stabilize them. You learn this from screwing up a lot.

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I use brass pins to hold them together and then I hammer the hell out of them. This insures that while milling and drilling they will not try to come apart. Later the brass pins can be driven out or drilled out easily.

I didn't get pictures of it but I drill and mill these just as I did the guard before. This time though I don't create the step. These are milled to about .005 over the blade. I want to be able to slide them on and off without a hassle.

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Once I take them apart I letter each piece for the customer and for me so I know which spacer goes where. A is the piece against the guard and E is against the handle. I put all of the letters facing out so you can see them as your putting the knife together.

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This is thin 416 ss stock that I am cutting strips out of for spacers.

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Now I begin to thin the ivory to the correct thickness from the inside. A belt will barely ever touch the other side of the ivory. That's the side I paid for, I'm not about to grind it off!

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While thinning I use a brand new 50 grit belt. You DO NOT want to create heat in the ivory. This is where warping and cracks come from.

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Again I am taking my time. This is no time to rush.



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I do the final flattening on 220 sand paper on a disc. You can not get it flat on a belt. It's not possible. Not flat like a disc.

I usually get it flat and then let it sit overnight. The next morning I will do one more small flattening to be sure I've let the material move if it wants to. I don't like to grind it, flatten it, clamp it, and glue it all at once. I like to give the ivory time to stop moving.

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Once it is flat I dill the pattern holes through the frame into the ivory. I put a pin in each hole as I go assuring that the alignment is correct.

Once this is done I can grind or cut the ivory down to the shape of the frame.

At this point I have also drilled all of the holes in my spacers as well.

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Here I am drilling my alignment holes in the front of the steel frame.

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Notice how close these are to the edge. I would never put them this close in ivory but in steel it's fine. This is closer that I would like but this pattern left me no choice. I've carefully planned this though and I know it will work.

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You can see aproximetly where the pins will be in the frame. They will not be this deep though.
 
Wow, all of that last info kind of made my head spin. I'll probably read it several more times. I've learned some things from this thread that I can't wait to try. Thank you very much. Beautiful work!
 
Real precision work Josh. :thumbup:
Really :cool: how you identify and mark each piece for trouble free
re-assembly.
 
Again, some of the most precise work I have ever seen for a 'straight knife'......:cool:
 
I'm eating this up Josh.....I had to go out and get 2 loaves of bread to soak up all the information.....great information. What type of metal bandsaw blade are you using to cut out your guard & spacer material? I have a metal bandsaw.....just not sure what blade works best?


Thanks So Much for This Tutorial Josh,

Bob,

Hershey, PA

P.S. This tutorial is not only good info for crafting a Take Down Fighter, it is also a great lesson in most aspects of any fixed blade fabrication. :D
 
Thanks for the compliments. Bob, the band-saw that I am using there is a milwaukee portaband saw. I rigged up a table for it. They are powerful and don't take much bench space. It sounds funny but the bi-metal blades at home depot work really well.

I also just a bought a horizontal band-saw from a friend. It is an Ellis. It cut really nice and is perfect for slicing thin tiles of Damascus.

Thanks,



bobbywett said:
I'm eating this up Josh.....I had to go out and get 2 loaves of bread to soak up all the information.....great information. What type of metal bandsaw blade are you using to cut out your guard & spacer material? I have a metal bandsaw.....just not sure what blade works best?


Thanks So Much for This Tutorial Josh,

Bob,

Hershey, PA

P.S. This tutorial is not only good info for crafting a Take Down Fighter, it is also a great lesson in most aspects of any fixed blade fabrication. :D
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