well..here goes

swede2207

swede2207

Joined
Mar 10, 2002
Messages
323
Well my lawn mower blade knife is in the toaster(tempering) oven as I write this. I have a piece of deer antler roughed out and ready to accept said blade.All that is left is the guard. Ive tried a few different things, i ve considered ordering one or some brass, but i would really like to make the whole knife with stuff i found here. Any suggestions?My next step is to silver braze the tang on, and then the guard . I hope i dont screw this up cuz i ve worked pretty hard on this thing. Im a shoe in for the ugly knife contest but if it works ill be happy.
 
I've made guards from almost everything Swede. If you can't find anything in the scrap bin, goto home depot and get some 1/8" X 1" mild steel. Slot it and shape it!
 
Well i have some mild steel here ,will 3/16 be ok? These questions must seem irritating,but i just want to mess this up, and since i cant just pick up the phone and call my neighbor the master knifemaker...I appreciate all your help guys ..thanks
 
And why can't you just call your neighbor, the master knifemaker?
My phone usually rings off the hook. :)
 
Bring over a six pack and your knife, neighbor should be happy to help you.

But yeah, 3/16" mild steel would be fine for a gaurd. Once you play around more(or even now if you happen to have what is needed), a mild steel guard can look beautiful with a nice hot salt bluing on it. Havne't done it myself, but some of other makers who post in here do.

And actually, I think the 3/16" would look better than the 1/8". I prefer at least 3/16" for a guard myself. Well, depending on the knife, so I guess I take that back. But yeah, 1/8" tends to be too small for my taste.
 
Well heres how it went...Put the blade back on the belt to remove the crap it had on it from the oil quench, used the dremel tool to help too.Fashioned a guard from 3/16 mild steel, and slotted(more trouble than i care to admit, silver brazed a tang extension,with the blade wrapped in ice and a wet rag.all is well at this point Had some trouble pushing saig tang through stag horn.but i got it through.then i soldered the guard on..;not too much trouble here since i had all theat good advice,cleaned up solder joint and went on to fit handle. Heres where it went bad. Had it perfect(reasonable) but decided to do one more adjustment..shoulda left well enough alone. Now theres a gap i dont think i can fix. I was getting frustrated so i quit for today.Going to try again tomorrow.When i finish ill post a pic but i dont know what it will look like. even though it baffled me so, i have had a great time putting this thing together. I have learned that i will never make a knife that requires so much soldering brazing and crap again. At least not for a few dozen knives lol.Anyway wish me luck.
 
Swede-
Is the gap at the crossguard/grip junction? If so just add a spacer made out of just about anything and refit the grip.

You said you had trouble pushing the tang through the stag? I assume you drilled a hole - well here's a hint make the hole slightly undersize and then heat your tang (a propane torch with a low to medium flame works good) - hot but not over hot so that it draws the temper in the blade or over scorches the stag (if you get LOTS of smoke the metal is TOO hot. Once heated slowly and carefully push it through the stag. You may/will have to pull it back out and reheat the tang but it will give you an almost perfect fit when done right. If it doesn't go fairly easily you may have to open up you pilot hole a bit more before "burning" in the tang.
 
A spacer huh? Guess thats why you guys get paid the big bucks. lol. Perhaps all is not lost afterall, I have some mesquite that would make and awesome spacer..the whole knife is pieced together so why not the handle too. Well i got another project for today thanks wild rose im going to give it a shot.
 
Swede -
You're welcome - spacers can actually make a knife look even nicer gives it more "points of interest". Mesquite should look really nice with the antler.
 
Well, i thought i would try to fit that antler one more time ,and it actually came out ok. So i opted not to use my mesquite on this particular project. The epoxy is setting up as i write this. I even tried to inset a 44 magnum case in the butt of the knife. I mustve had something wrong because when i made the hole it fit perfect. but when i put in the epoxy it wasnt as flush as i wouldve liked. Oh well all i have to do is buff it and im going to stain the handle since it was an older shed. I used only parts i had here. And even though it isnt perfect i am still happy with it. I learned a bunch on this one(from you guys mostly) so im going to try another real soon. This time though no short steel, i dont want to have to silver braze or solder more than i have to.Maybe ill try a bowie of some sort out of 01 or 5160, any suggestions ..Also anyone know of a place to get patterns or should i just draw my own? What do you guys do?
 
Swede when you added the epoxy it took up some of the space so the shell didn't fit. When inlaying/gluing something like this drill a few small "sprue" holes into the base so the glue has some where to go and then press down on the inlay until all the excess gets squeezed out. Same idea as drilling holes in the tang or grinding grooves in the edges of the tang.

To stain your old antler - leather dye works great. Afterwards you should seal it with something like Danish Oil or a THIN satin varathane type finish.

As to patterns, especially historical type pieces, I make patterns of my own based on originals or if doing a repro I take a picture of the original and blow it up or shrink it using my photo editor - print it out and there you go.
 
I tend to browse around vroius sites(here, ebay etc) if I have a rough idea of style I want but want some more tips,or if ihave no idea and want inspiration. Such as right now, have urge to try a lovveless style drop point. As usual fore me, this will probably be a three month or so project, but I got inspiration after looking all over from a knife posted here> I plan on using completely different guard/pin/handle material, but the overall outline came from a maker here(won't say who as I haven't talked to him yet. Even being one of most common designs, still want his permission as To start, profile will be almost identical to his). The other thing to remember, is that as you've already seen with the various steps in your process, at least for me, no knife ever ends up the way I had originally planned it. Your experience with the .44 brass shows this very well.
 
Thanks for all the input..I am sure my next project will be better. Im grinding a kitchen,all purpose for my wife right now. Just going to be a basic paring,deboning knife.probably use an antler handle since i have alot left over. Anyway i think im going to do a bowie out of 01 steel next. Im sure youll be hearing from me again soon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top