- Joined
- Mar 1, 2011
- Messages
- 78
Finished the Swamp Warden handle last night; managed to bounce my bk14 off the workbench, off some shelves, off the floor, and into the top of my foot, lacerating/severing my extensor (sp?) tendon on my left big toe, so as I'm laid up waiting for surgery I thought I'd post up my first two handles. The first is a bk14 I bought for the purpose of handling it, I put some tigerstripe resinwood scales onto it, using brass pins and jb-weld, which was the only decent epoxy I had in the shed. The patina was built up with mustard, then left in a potato overnight, which gave it a very pretty finish, I think. It's sitting on top of a truly rude pocket sheath I made out of scraps of leather left over from making a strop last week. I tried to copy the KSF 'city' sheath; it came out ugly but functional.
And here's the Swamp Warden, with mesquite scales rubbed with mineral oil to finish. I made the handle pretty thick, and I may end up thinning it a bit towards the blade end of the handle. It feels great in the hand, I'll probably use the leftover mesquite to put some thin scales onto my Izula when I get around to that project (probably this weekend, since I'm not mobile enough to get up to my usual pursuits.) I put a vinegar patina onto it, then after I took pictures and stabbed myself in the foot, lightly sanded with some worn 320 grit to lighten it to a pale gray finish.
For my first two tries at handling a knife, I feel pretty pleased with the results. The BK14 is a little rougher than the Warden, as resinwood is a serious bear to work and I don't have a bench sander yet, so was working with sandpaper on glass to flatten, and I sort of gave up after hours of sanding. There's a bit of visible jbweld at the pommel filling the gap, but the eskabar is meant to be my daily carry beat-around knife anyway. The eskabar is nicely convexed, while I haven't spent enough time on the Warden to do much other than knock the shoulders off the secondary bevel. I would love to hear some pointers or advice for somebody starting out knifeworking; I'd like to get a belt grinder/sander and try stock removal blade making next.
And here's the Swamp Warden, with mesquite scales rubbed with mineral oil to finish. I made the handle pretty thick, and I may end up thinning it a bit towards the blade end of the handle. It feels great in the hand, I'll probably use the leftover mesquite to put some thin scales onto my Izula when I get around to that project (probably this weekend, since I'm not mobile enough to get up to my usual pursuits.) I put a vinegar patina onto it, then after I took pictures and stabbed myself in the foot, lightly sanded with some worn 320 grit to lighten it to a pale gray finish.
For my first two tries at handling a knife, I feel pretty pleased with the results. The BK14 is a little rougher than the Warden, as resinwood is a serious bear to work and I don't have a bench sander yet, so was working with sandpaper on glass to flatten, and I sort of gave up after hours of sanding. There's a bit of visible jbweld at the pommel filling the gap, but the eskabar is meant to be my daily carry beat-around knife anyway. The eskabar is nicely convexed, while I haven't spent enough time on the Warden to do much other than knock the shoulders off the secondary bevel. I would love to hear some pointers or advice for somebody starting out knifeworking; I'd like to get a belt grinder/sander and try stock removal blade making next.
