What's going on in your shop? Show us whats going on, and talk a bit about your work!

Daniel Rohde said:
Yep, well said.

How do you like using apple vinegar for etching? I haven't tried it but I might.
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Daniel,
Happy Thanksgiving to you and everyone else:thumbup:.

I just buy Apple Vinegar like you use on food/Salads.
The Vinegar takes longer and sometimes I leave it in over night. The temp makes a diff on how long it takes. I dump some Baking soda on the blade and then spritz with Windex to stop the reaction. Rub with Scotchbrite pads and down to 2000 grit. Not happy? Just put it back in the vinegar

I'm really happy with the results and you don't have a Caustic Chemical around the shop/ home.

I knew a maker years ago that left the lid off of his acid enchant bottle in his shop and left for a summer vacation. He came home to find a few hundred dollars of carbon steel pretty much ruined from the caustic fumes. :o Plus there is Pet's and Kids?

You can just dump it on the lawn and water it in or put it down the sink. :)
 
Nice one Josh!

I'm working on a hunter from an old Black Diamond file. It will be a through tang, treated elk antler, copper ferrule, and likely brass guard and butt cap.

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IMG_20151127_175958_zpswxwcizet.jpg
 
Not sure what wood this is. I ordered this a while ago. It's 1080 with some brutish looking file work on the back.

Tapered tang with forest green G10 liners.

But really I'm stoked with it being my first CA finish. Sanded back down to the wood and buffed lightly it really does look like glass! I've got plans for a Wa handled knife coming up so I'm going to do this same finish on it.
14jnfkk.jpg
 
Maelstrom78 said:
Not sure what wood this is. I ordered this a while ago. It's 1080 with some brutish looking file work on the back.

Tapered tang with forest green G10 liners.

But really I'm stoked with it being my first CA finish. Sanded back down to the wood and buffed lightly it really does look like glass! I've got plans for a Wa handled knife coming up so I'm going to do this same finish on it.
14jnfkk.jpg
Click to expand...

Mind sharing how you did the CA finish? I'm thinking about trying it too.
 
There are a number of tutorials around. Bruce Bump has a great one you can find with Google.

The gist of it is the finish is not a top coat but to fill in the pores of the wood. I had the handle to 2000 grit to begin with which might be good or unnecessary .I used a latex gloved finger to apply several coats of very thin CA glue ( use the thin stuff not the gap filling stuff) and then sanded back to wood with 2000 grit on my grinder. By hand I think I would have done 1200 then 2000. I repeated that a couple times then lightly buffed with white.

It was easy and it really looks like glass. Look at it with light at a raking angle an if you see any pores or anything do another coat. Easy but make sure you are not just building up layers like lacquering furniture or something.

Additional hint: as you are sanding back to wood look at the piece with raking light and see if you are leaving any streaks of CA on the handle as well. Take it down to wood but not into more open grain.
 
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Maelstrom78 said:
There are a number of tutorials around. Bruce Bump has a great one you can find with Google.

The gist of it is the finish is not a top coat but to fill in the pores of the wood. I had the handle to 2000 grit to begin with which might be good or unnecessary .I used a latex gloved finger to apply several coats of very thin CA glue ( use the thin stuff not the gap filling stuff) and then sanded back to wood with 2000 grit on my grinder. By hand I think I would have done 1200 then 2000. I repeated that a couple times then lightly buffed with white.

It was easy and it really looks like glass. Look at it with light at a raking angle an if you see any pores or anything do another coat. Easy but make sure you are not just building up layers like lacquering furniture or something.

Additional hint: as you are sanding back to wood look at the piece with raking light and see if you are leaving any streaks of CA on the handle as well. Take it down to wood but not into more open grain.
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Thanks alot for the reply! :)
 
Maelstrom78 said:
Not sure what wood this is. I ordered this a while ago. It's 1080 with some brutish looking file work on the back.

Tapered tang with forest green G10 liners.

But really I'm stoked with it being my first CA finish. Sanded back down to the wood and buffed lightly it really does look like glass! I've got plans for a Wa handled knife coming up so I'm going to do this same finish on it.
14jnfkk.jpg
Click to expand...

Let's see the spine!
 
greenjebadiah said:
Let's see the spine!
Click to expand...

Oh no! It's a hack job. I was just messing around one afternoon waiting for a petty to temper and banged the blank out to practice file work, tapering the tangs and another CA finish. Tapered the tang and HT it and it turned out well! (Other than the file work).

Oh well, full disclosure :)
14ce7eo.jpg


Maybe once the blade patina develops it will look like I planned on it being "rustic".
 
Maelstrom78 said:
Oh no! It's a hack job. I was just messing around one afternoon waiting for a petty to temper and banged the blank out to practice file work, tapering the tangs and another CA finish. Tapered the tang and HT it and it turned out well! (Other than the file work).

Oh well, full disclosure :)
14ce7eo.jpg


Maybe once the blade patina develops it will look like I planned on it being "rustic".
Click to expand...

Those liners look great against the wood. Nice work!
 
Maelstrom78, I used leftover 2 and 3 inch long pieces of steel to try file patterns and threw away the ugly ones. The others serve as a pattern for my calipers to lay out again on a blade. I have a small stack of them to help me decide how to embellish some blades. Keep doing it and look at some others photos for ideas. Larry
 
To any newer guys or Gals out there.

I used my end cut scraps of bar stock as a poor man;s File Guide before I purchased two of them from Bruce Bump MS. True up two sides on a 6 x 48" or disk sander and clamp where you want the plunge lines to start with one of those tiny 2" C-Clamps.
 
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