Very new and have a couple ???

I

Iowa newbie

Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
11
Hey Guys,
Good to find a forum on knife building looks like there is some great knowledge here. I have only built one knife and it turned out o.k. for my first. I put no guard on it and the one I am building now I need to put one on it and need to know where to find brass and how thick? My other question is what to use to cut the slot in the brass? I have been experimenting with other metal just trying to cut a slot and it seems to always be too big and there ends up being a gap??? Any help would be awesome and I do only have basic tools nothing special. Thanks for any help and advice.
Rich
 
Texas Knifemaker's Supply, Jantz, Pop's Knife Supply, all have brass bar stock. Most some in 3/4" wide x 1/4" thick which is more than sufficient for most mid to small blades. Now for the fitting part. It's a pain. Take your time, don't take off too much at a shot, no matter how much you want to. I use a mini-mill, however, I'm guessing you don't have one. Soooooo, you can use a drill press (hand drill will work, just not as precise). Scribe a center line and then lines at the top and bottom of the tang height. Whatever the thickness of your metal is, go 1/64" to 1/32" undersize with your drill bit (i.e. 1/8" steel, use a 3/32" or a 7/64" bit). Drill on your center line (center punch a mark for each hole) and make 3 or 4 holes, however many fit comfortable within your end marks. Now comes the fun part. You have clear out the material between each hole to make a continuous slot. I use a small diameter chainsaw file (round, the same size or smaller than your drilled holes). File straight down your line of holes. You now have a rough slot. Using a flat file, file the "nubs" off if you have and and test fit. The beauty of brass is that it is very soft. Get it just close enough to your tang size so that it is just barely not fitting. Grind the tip of your tang thickness slight on the end to give it just a bit of taper. Using a vise, set the brass piece on top of the jaws and have them closed to just a hair wider than the tang thickness. Take the hardened blade (yes, it needs to be HT'd first) and hammer the tang down through the guard with a block of wood or wooden mallet. Whack with medium blows on the tip of the knife until the tang stops moving into the guard. If you need to, file a little more and try again. This is called a press fit. It will give you a tight perfectly fitted guard. Check out my thread here and it shows pics of the process on one of the pages.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6318792&posted=1#post6318792
 
Thanks a lot for the great explanation, I will give this a try!
Again, Thanks for helping out "The New Guy"
 
Yeah, welcome to BF Rich, nice to hear from another Iowa maker. :thumbup:

I have little to add to Erik's description of filing a guard, other than I use a jeweler's saw with a #8 blade to cut out the web in the slot. I ground some "safe" sides on a selection of needle files for working in the slot. Oh - one other idea I got off this forum is to use a chisel to set the line for your drilling - that will keep the holes perfectly aligned. I have several chisels of varying widths for different slot lengths.

Welcome, Good Luck and enjoy your craft! Please share pics of your work as you feel comfortable. You'll never find a more helpful and knowledgeable bunch of folks than you have here.
 
Hi Dave

John and I have exchanged emails, but we have never met. Things have been pretty crazy around here. My Dad has been in and out of the hospital and things with day to day life have been difficult to keep up with. I am hoping things can settle down soon, lately about the only time I can find shop time is after 9pm.

Some day we may have to have an Iowa get together.

Brian
 
BrianThie said:
Hi Dave

John and I have exchanged emails, but we have never met. Things have been pretty crazy around here. My Dad has been in and out of the hospital and things with day to day life have been difficult to keep up with. I am hoping things can settle down soon, lately about the only time I can find shop time is after 9pm.

Some day we may have to have an Iowa get together.

Brian
Click to expand...

That would be really cool Brian. I know John will be up for it too. :thumbup: I hope your Dad's health stabilizes soon, and that you get a break. About the only shop time I get is weekend mornings, before everyone else gets up, so I know what that's like.
 
Hey Guys,
Thanks for the warm welcomes. Ordered some brass the other night and I am anxious for it to arrive, I like the chisel idea, I will try anything as I am about as new to knife building as they come!! I live in Chariton Iowa, a little south of Des Moines. The idea of a "get together" would be awesome, I can use all the pointers I can get. I will try and post a picture (if I can figure out how) of my first knife and maybe you guys can "nicely" tell me how bad it is and give me some more ideas, I do like taking a crappy old chunk of metal and turn it in to something useful!
Thanks Again,
Rich
 
RWatson_photos
 
Trying to post a pic so you all can school me a little. Hate to say it but now I need help downloading a picture.
Thanks Again
 
Hi Rich; unless you're a paying member, you'll have to serve your pictures from a remote source and use the image tags to display it. I'll be happy to do that if you care to email your pics to me (dave.larsen AT mac DOT com), or you can use one of the free picture hosting services (though bandwidth limits sometimes get in the way).

My shop time normally is early weekend mornings, and you're welcome to come up any time you like. I'm an early riser and I quit the shop by 11:00 or so most days, but I'd be happy to make an exception. :D
 
Rich, that's a nice looking knife! I hope you keep this up; I'm glad to hear you're getting the addiction. :thumbup: :D But it's kind of unavoidable once you get bitten.

Here are your pics - keep sending them and keep working. I'm looking forward to seeing your next knife. Let me know if you want to come up some weekend and we'll work it out. I can show you what little I know about leather work, but you'll find a treasure of help here. I believe there's a leather forum on BF too, if I get a chance I'll go looking for it.

Rich.jpg


Rich2.jpg


Great work, keep it up and keep asking questions.
 
Thanks Dave,
O.K. Guys let me know what to do different next time any pointers would be appreciated.
Thanks
 
I would thin the handle slabs out a touch more and round the top and bottoms of the grip to make it more comfortable in the hand. On the sheath, sand down the edges to 400 grit and then burnish with a smooth piece of plastic to seal them. Other than that, great first blade and sheath!
 
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