Uh, oh! Not a knife, yet.

oh ho! I got the handle roughly shaped today and I'm very excited about how this bad boy is turning out. Despite the glitch, it's coming together:thumbup:

Can't wait to show ya'll!:D
 
I removed the larger chunks with a hacksaw, and here you can see that I've started filing away at it;

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After a day of filing away at that handle, in between bike repairs, here is the result;
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Today I'm going to refine the shape of the handle and start sanding it a bit.
The crack you see at the top of the handle is definitely not a good thing. So, the forward part of the handle will be hemp wrapped and sealed. Initially I was planning on starting the wrap just behind the first three pins, but since they didn't work out, I'll be wrapping from the ferrule to just past the palm swell.
The hemp twine I'll be using has great tensile strength and isn't overly thick, so I'm hoping it will deal with abuse well enough, but time will tell...

One thing is for sure- the feel and balance of this knife is great so far!:D:thumbup:
 
I'm soaking the hemp twine in warm water. Thinking it will shrink a little after I wrap it. We'll how how that works out.

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Handle's pretty much shaped to my liking at this point, so wrapping it is going to be the next step.

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Lorien you might think about blowing those cracks out with an air hose and trying to wick some superglue in them. Might not help much, but it couldn't hurt.
 
Harry, I hadn't thought of that, and it's not too late yet to try:thumbup:

This is how it went today;

I filed a groove around the circumference of the handle so that the hemp cord would be flush with the end of the handle. I had to unwrap the handle once and redo my groove, but I'm pretty happy with the way it finally lined up.


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Here's sort of how it will look with the wrap;

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There is definitely more sanding to do. But I can only take breathing in this crap so much before it starts irritating me:thumbdn:. Not healthy sawdust to be breathing in, and my body tells me so every time I take some in.

I realized that before I seal it, I can colour it any colour I like. So I was thinking of harvesting a little alder bark which would give it a nice reddish brown tinge. Then the sealant will darken things somewhat.

Due to Harry's sage advice, I might unwrap it and then glue up the crack. Not really a big deal at this point and it sure couldn't hurt:thumbup::cool:.


It is weird, now, looking at these pictures. I took them right at the end of the day, and it was dark and rainy. I uploaded them but didn't want to post them until I had some time, and I had a meeting tonight so here I am now. Anyway, to finish my ramble, looking at these pictures right now is like seeing what I've been spending most of my day on, (off and on) for the first time. Kind of weird, anyway.
 
well, if all goes ok, I'll get the handle done today. Then it's the edge, and that will be all:)

But first, coffee, then a bike.

BANSHEE001.jpg
 
great work. i just saw this post and read the entire thing. it got me wanting to pick up some steel and make me a little edc i can be proud of. keep it up, i want to see the end product.
 
well I didn't get a chance to do any more work on Friday on the knife, but I set my bud and his son up with new bikes, which took most of the day. By the time I had a spare moment to work on the knife, it was beer o'clock!

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Definitely have er finished next week though.
 
Hey Lorien! Really like how your knife(s) are coming along!! I am working on my second knife now, I also cracked the wood on my first one. It all fit together tight, but when I added the epoxy it got really tight... and I had to tap the lanyard tube in. I heard a little click and the wood had fractured with the grain.
Keep up the good work, Looking over your thread and pictures has given me a lot of good advice and info/ideas. Thanks!!

Gabriel
 
Just a comment about drill sizes. You don't want to use the same size drill as the object you are drilling the hole for. We use an F drill for a 1/4 inch tube. It allows a little room for the glue without showing a glue line. We also rough up the pins or lanyard tubes prior to placing them in the handle. Always try to fit things together before you put glue on them. If they don't fit without the glue...... they won't fit with the glue either.

I got caught with this yesterday. I had fitted the handle scales and bolts along with the lanyard tube together dry and when I went to the glue table I grabbed the wrong bolt. I ended up with two female ends of one bolt. I couldn't get that thing to tighten up to save my life. I finally got the bolts back out of the handle material without cracking it and realized what I had done. I decided to head home and realized I didn't have a key to lock up the shop and had to make a trip back out there to lockup. Twenty miles round trip. :mad:

"Some days the sun don't shine and the sky ain't blue." Little Big Man
 
Hmathews said:
"Some days the sun don't shine and the sky ain't blue." Little Big Man
Click to expand...

Ain't that the truth!

Gabriel, thanks. It's good to know I'm not the only one:D;)

I tried something a little unusual, which turned out really cool.
The lignum vitae that I'm using for the handle is really interesting stuff. Not only is it incredibly dense and oily, but it oxidizes in air and changes color from rusty red to a slate green.

With that in mind, I kept a small amount of dust left over from sanding the handle, and stirred the dust in with the urethane sealant I'm using on the hemp wrapping. What you see in the following pictures is the color which that mixture created. I like it a lot!

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I have one more coat of clear satin urethane drying right now and will probably do one more coat, but the handle is pretty much done. I'm really excited to pull off all the tape and see how it looks as a whole. The last steps will be to apply an edge, and then make a sheath, (Dang! I'm out of leather:().
 
it sure is time consuming to apply an edge without the use of a belt grinder.

I'm using my Lansky system to get the edge right, and the picture I've included is from last night. I got a whole lot more done today and the edge is a c hair from being done. It will be worth the trouble, as I have been finding out that Nick W's heat treat of the blade is bang on!

There is no better way to find out the hardness and toughness of a blade than to sharpen it.

I'm working it toward a 20 degree bevel overall, and there is a little meat toward the edge which should add a lot of durability, but hopefully not at the expense of a good working edge.

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Tomorrow I'll bring the edge to its final polish, make a couple of minor touch ups and I'll be able to call this knife COMPLETE! Oh yeah, there's still the sheath, so maybe not completely complete, more like mostly complete:p

It's almost incomprehensible to me that I started this knife one year ago...
 
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almost there...
 
Almost a year in the making.

It's hard to believe this thread has received over 20 thousand views.

I am grateful that you people have accompanied me on this journey of discovery, and I've grown fat on the encouragement I've received.

With many years of training in Art, I feel that I have finally found my true calling- in an interest that I've had my whole life- right there in front of me.

The path that I've uncovered, is one which I hope to travel over the course of my life, and the feeling which has been instilled deep within me is profound and life changing.

With that, I humbly display the fruit of my efforts, (although the pictures could definitely be better).

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To those of you who have helped me so much along the way, please accept my sincerest gratitude for your time, expertise and encouragement.

A new love has found its way into my heart, and for that, I am greatly thankful and I consider myself a very fortunate man indeed.

:)
 
A hearty congratulations!!:thumbup::thumbup::cool:

I've been checking this everytime you have posted recently and I'm happy to finally see the completion after so many teases.:p

There's some really fine work in this, particularly that ricasso/plunge shot. Nice work.

Interesting if unusual design and it has a real Indonesian feel to me.

I'm looking forward to hearing how it performs and of the real thrill of using your own work.

Way to go Lorien... :D
 
thank you Stuart:)

I snapped just a couple of other pics this morning;

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This knife's name is Lorlok:D
 
The longest WIP thread in history!!

(edited out ribbing)

Lorien- It has been great seeing your adventure into Knifemaking. You seem like a great guy, and are embarking on a wonderful journey. Glad you shared it here..

David
 
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Man I just want to see a vid of you chopping something with that sucker. It isn’t a knife until it has cut something! That and I hope you are as hooked on knifemaking as I am. I have never found anything like it to ease a rough day. Of course it kills the collector in you, because just when you are getting ready to shell out the bucks for that new custom, you think.....You know, I could make that myself. And then you do or you come close:)
 
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