Thanks, Charles Vestal!

Salem Straub

Salem Straub

Joined
Oct 20, 2008
Messages
5,547
I picked up a tip on finishing guard/blade joints from Charles on a thread here. He uses a knife edge cratex wheel held in visegrips (not spinning, not powered) to gently clean/polish when finishing a solder joint on knives.

I was working on this knife today, not actually one with a guard, but epoxied scales up front. It's ticklish sometimes to get this area real tidy, I wipe hard with an acetone q tip after gluing, then clean all around the area as well. Still, sometimes you get a thin epoxy wash on the ricasso or annoying grittiness/specks of whatever right on the glue joint.

I used to clean this up with sandpaper wrapped around a knife-edge piece of phenolic, or around a razor blade. You have to be very careful and meticulous for this to work cleanly w/o any j-hooks. Buffing screws up the look, and cratex on a dremel or whatever tends to be too aggressive for this.

So I tried the cratex trick today, with an x-fine wheel just by hand. It works great, quick and easy and the grit is so fine it does not leave any marks of its own if used gently. Thanks Mr. Vestal, you've saved me some time.

I love this place, I'm a much better maker now than I would otherwise be, thanks to the generosity of great knifemakers in shoptalk.

Here's a couple pics of the knife, and glue joints.

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Glad it worked for ya.

I have never used the Cratex wheel to clean up the glue joint like that, but I sure will give it a try next time.

I agree this place is great for the sharing of trick and tips. I have learned so much more than I could ever figure out on my own.

BTW-Great looking knife.

Take care

Charles
 
Thanks, guys. The main thing about the cratex thing to me is, I just always thought of them as a rotary tool accessory. As such, they would often polish tiny ripples or grooves in things. I stopped using them. If thinking about them as a manual polishing aid, they become this great little blemish eraser/spot polisher. Like a stiff micro sanding sponge. They scrub thin epoxy right off steel. Of course they're not going to remove any scratches this way, but they shouldn't have to. Just schmutz.
 
Salem,

1. GREAT knife !

2. I've never used the cratex stuff before but recall someone mentioning using cratex to polish the plunge from verticle scratches to horizontal so I just picked up a round cratex rod from enco to experiment with.

3. I was wondering if the abrasive part of the craytex is a surface treatment or all the way through ? I was hoping I could chuck it in the drill and grind a taper on the end to get a radius from zero to 3/16 diameter.

4. I got the thing so I'll experiment but wondering if you've got any tips for shaping etc.

Thanks Buddy, Josh
 
Salem,

Great job on that one!

I have a rudimentary knowledge of knife making, forging, finishing etc, (I can read an xray just fine), but I love to read this shop talk forum and find the posts incredibly collegial and informative. That is refreshing, the idea of forwarding one's work through a collaborative effort is priceless, and I am impressed with how open and helpful you all seem to be as a group, well done.
I am very excited to see more of your work, both in pics and in person.

eds
 
Hey Ed, that's an interesting way to put it- I guess knives made by guys that use this forum a lot are sort of a "collective effort," if anything goes wrong or we need an opinion, we have an excellent resource at our fingertips.

Josh, thanks for the compliment. Cratex is impregnated through with abrasive, if you use a wheel in a rotary tool it cuts until the wheel is a little nub. I imagine you could shape it to your needs, I'm not sure how tough it is (might break if shaping with a drill) but no doubt you'll soon know the answer to that question. Sounds like it would be good for plunges, other stuff too I'm sure. I thought about getting some different shapes of it myself. Good luck, let me know if you learn anything good there?
 
Salem,

I just grabbed one to try out. It's 3/16" x maybe 4" long in fine grit I believe.

I had in mind to cut off a short piece like maybe 3/4" then chuck it in a cordless hand drill 1/2" deep and grind a 3/16" long taper on the end.

Just enough to work the plung. I'll let ya know how it works out.

-Josh
 
Salem, those glued joints look great!! I too struggle to keep those areas looking clean. Would you mind posting a pic of the Cratex wheel you used. They come in so many shapes and thicknesses, I'm not sure which you used.

Thanks!
 
jonnymac44 said:
Salem, those glued joints look great!! I too struggle to keep those areas looking clean. Would you mind posting a pic of the Cratex wheel you used. They come in so many shapes and thicknesses, I'm not sure which you used.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Please. Maybe a part# if you have it.
 
I got these Cratex wheels from Jantz supply 3 or 4 years ago, it does not look like they have the tapered ones anymore, which are good since they have a real thin edge that can get right in there. MSC has them, part #73151219 but only in 100 qty.- you'll have to look around, maybe someone else knows. Maybe Mr. Vestal has a current source. Here's a pic of the package, with one held up edgewise so you can see the profile:

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Thanks Salem,
I'll have to look around and see what I can find..........or you could sell me some of your stash!;)

Jk, they've got to be out there somewhere. I'll post up a source if I find one.
 
Sheffields had them the last time I purchased, but they are not listed in their online catalog anymore.

Might have to get a pack of 100 from MSC the next time I need some.

Charles
 
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