Ugly Duckling Knife Salvage

N

Nic.

Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
814
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I found a very ugly thing in the garage I had thrown together before I knew anything about knife making. It was a rough blade with Osage scales epoxyed on to the blade with holes through it all and nails holding it all together...pretty bad. The scales were blocks that wernt even bear the same size as the other. I knew it was going to be ugly, but I was going to try to make it as pretty as I could! So here it is, the ugly duckling. I used mustard, yes mustard it works great, to age the blade to hide the nicks I couldn't sand out since it was attached to the scales already. Sorry for the bad pictures
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I have several of those laying around, one is a 7 inch skinner I made with some leftover oak for a handle and some old chevy spring steel, and after skinning 7 deer with it, its now my favorite knife
 
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That's pretty neat! I guess some stuff doesn't have to be pretty! As long as something works, I'm happy, but a nice knife is always nice to have...
 
There's a picture of the old girl when she was brand new, pins to big, handle to short, uneven hollow grind, but I sure was proud ;0)

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Haha, that's pretty darn cool, thanks for sharing! Those pins are pretty substantial:). I like the bevel though, did you just grind it free hand or file it or what?
 
Free hand hollow grind on my shop built 2x72 8" wheel... after I discovered layout bluing and a set of calipers my grinds improved a lot
 
One thing new makers seem afraid to do is go back on a finished knife and do it right. Dull the edge and bust off the handle with a hammer and chisel, then finish the blade properly. Once the blade is right, put a new handle on it. No need to chuck an ugly duckling when you can take it down past the ugly part as well as put new feathers on it.
 
John Katt said:
Free hand hollow grind on my shop built 2x72 8" wheel... after I discovered layout bluing and a set of calipers my grinds improved a lot
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That's a lot better than I can do free hand!!! How do you grind them now, that sounds interesting
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
One thing new makers seem afraid to do is go back on a finished knife and do it right. Dull the edge and bust off the handle with a hammer and chisel, then finish the blade properly. Once the blade is right, put a new handle on it. No need to chuck an ugly duckling when you can take it down past the ugly part as well as put new feathers on it.
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That makes total sense to me! Thank you. I guess with my next ugly duckling I'll try to strip it down and make it a pretty duckling. I guess I just never thought of doing that, the epoxy was super cementing everything so that never crossed my mind!
 
Warm the knife in a pot of boiling water or a 250F oven and the epoxy will come apart easily.
 
Ok, thanks Stacy! I'll work on that when I get home today and try to revive the ugly duckling the best I can! I really appreciate the advice, thank you
 
I use a radius top post style tool rest, which gives me freedom of movement to the left and to the right, but I find myself lifting off that when I get to the higher grits and finishing up free hand
 
John Katt said:
I use a radius top post style tool rest, which gives me freedom of movement to the left and to the right, but I find myself lifting off that when I get to the higher grits and finishing up free hand
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Do you have a picture of it?
 
Do I have a picture ;0) if I looked long enough I could probably find a picture of my mail box lol

The bottom picture has the flat top version of tool rest connected, and I also have a 45 degree version for setting the primary edge, surprisingly enough I don't have a picture of that one

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Ok, neat, thanks!! Since I'm full of questions, how do your form your plunge lines with that?
 
Two ways, I wrap a piece of tape around the blade were I want the plunge to start as a guide, or I clamp my file guide the blade, the tool rest is 2 inches wide, I prefer the tape method

The plunge and the hollow grind develop at the same time
 
Wow, that's simple and smart. How to yiu keep your angle consistent? And I want to put a gray finish on my blades, do you have a method for this? I've blued them, but I'm looking for a different rout
 
Ok. Alright, thank you very much for all your advice! I'm going to strip down that knife tonight and try to make it not an ugly duckling!
 
Well the ugly duckling turned into the dead duckling so I'm sad. I shouldn't have ripped it apart, but oh well, it was a learning experience!
 
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