what should i do with this boring guard?

andrewh2011

andrewh2011

Joined
Jan 6, 2014
Messages
161
so i recently decided to finish up a knife i had sitting for a couple of months now. so i cut a small piece of 316 i had drilled a couple of holes and connected them (which took forever because i still havent went and bought any 4 inch files yet) played with my needles files for a few hours finished up my hand sanding (which ill have to redo since my last press fitting and whatever i do to jazz it up) when i realized how boring it is
anyways here are a few pics
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It would be cool if i filed in a fuller but im not sure i want to risk the hard work the other option i was thinking on was just putting a small 45 degree bevel on both of the outside edges. I dont know what ill do yet what do you guys think i should do??

figured i might as well show you thie knife too
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oh yeah and this is my first hidden tang knife so any tips for handle attachment, glue up ect would be greatly appreciated
 
Ball peen hammer the front and back and polish and then rub to a satin finish.

Then take a dremel cut off disc chuck it up in drilll press, make a little table and fence and cut some grooves on the edge.
 
i just might do the ball peen texturing that is a good idea im curious though what do you mean by table and fence?
 
What are you doing for a handle? It may not need anything at all. Then the focus will be on the texture of the blade and possibly handle material, too much might be too much
 
andrewh2011 said:
i just might do the ball peen texturing that is a good idea im curious though what do you mean by table and fence?
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I take a piece of aluminum angle and clamp it in the vise on my mill

I Have the dremel cut off wheel mounted and figure out the height of cut I want on the guard and then set the cut off wheel to that height to the table. I then slowly advance the cut off wheel to cut through the fence side of the aluminum angle to the depth of cut I want on the side of the guard.

I then lay the guard flat on the table and gently move the guard against the cut off wheel to cut the groove. Get to the depth you want and then flip the guard over and do the other side for 2 grooves.

you can rig up a dremel tool or your drill press to do this as well.
 
AVigil said:
I take a piece of aluminum angle and clamp it in the vise on my mill

I Have the dremel cut off wheel mounted and figure out the height of cut I want on the guard and then set the cut off wheel to that height to the table. I then slowly advance the cut off wheel to cut through the fence side of the aluminum angle to the depth of cut I want on the side of the guard.

I then lay the guard flat on the table and gently move the guard against the cut off wheel to cut the groove. Get to the depth you want and then flip the guard over and do the other side for 2 grooves.

you can rig up a dremel tool or your drill press to do this as well.
Click to expand...

ooooh i think i get it so the cut off wheel protrudes through the aluminum just far enough to get the depth you want on your guard so you cant cut to deep?
 
grizzled gizzard said:
Why not give it some simple file work to match your file blade?
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i considered that but i dont like most filework to my eyes it seems kind of tacky on alot of knives (just my opinion)there are alot of makers that pull it off really well though, im kindof afraid ill end up in the first group lol. that said i do kind of like the idea of filework on a file blade maybe ill research some hill pearce knives for insperation and practice on some mild steel
 
MarkJeffrey said:
What are you doing for a handle? It may not need anything at all. Then the focus will be on the texture of the blade and possibly handle material, too much might be too much
Click to expand...

thats good advice. I still havnt decided on handle materiel yet but if i end up getting some really fancy wood i might just leave it with 600 grit straight lines and grooves or a fuller on the sides
 
file the fuller (flute)
If you have a good and tight fit I wouldn't texture the front.
When I see a textured/hammered guard front my first thought always is: The maker used a ball peen hammer to make the slot fit the blade and didn't clean up afterwards

You can mirror polish the inside of a flute with sandpaper around the shaft of a drill bit. Then satin finish the rest
 
andrewh2011 said:
ooooh i think i get it so the cut off wheel protrudes through the aluminum just far enough to get the depth you want on your guard so you cant cut to deep?
Click to expand...

That's it!
 
Hengelo_77 said:
file the fuller (flute)
If you have a good and tight fit I wouldn't texture the front.
When I see a textured/hammered guard front my first thought always is: The maker used a ball peen hammer to make the slot fit the blade and didn't clean up afterwards

You can mirror polish the inside of a flute with sandpaper around the shaft of a drill bit. Then satin finish the rest
Click to expand...

Yeah I think im going to leave the 600 grit lines on top and bottom and go for the flute ill just have to be careful
 
Awesome idea! Thanks, I've been wanting to accomplish the same thing and had always wondered how to pull if off so that it was the same depth all the way around!
 
Always relieve the edges of a guard. A sharp 90 degree angle is, well, sharp, and not user friendly. A microscopic 45 degree bevel around the edges, or simply rounding them off, will take care of that.
 
thought i would show you guys what i ended up doing
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finishing the knife will have to wait unfortunately until my bank account looks a bit better and i can justify spending some of our extra money on handle material to my fiance i start a new job next week and it will be a few of weeks until i get a good check hopefully i can get it finished up then i got my eyes on the stabilized wenge at dream burls
 
I like it a lot!
How about blackwood. It's beautiful takes a good finish and not to expensive
 
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Hengelo_77 said:
I like it a lot!
How about blackwood. It's beautiful takes a good finish and not to expensive
Click to expand...

that blackwood would look good with the blade and then a nice contrasting nickle silver pin and stainless guard
i think im going to do that i just need to start doing research on making a hidden tang handle and try to make a broach lol
 
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