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

Contender Machine said:
Depends on what kind of critter you’re going to be skinning with it.
Click to expand...
Very true. Years ago I had one tool kit for working deer and hogs. That bag got too crowded and became two. I did a few squirrels for my son and that required completely different tools. I admit squirrels were new for me and therefore my experience is low, pliers seem to skin em well.
 
IMG_4991.jpg
I had gotten a complaint out of one of the skinners I had made. The guy said the skinner was too fat bellied to cut around the anus of a deer. I took a blank of this design and cut it down to match his specs. The thumb groove is perfect for controlling the blade as you are skinning and caping a deer. Never really had any issues with stress risers. The blades always come out of the temper around 60-65HRC and the spine is plenty thick. The blade itself is rather small.
I was going to do a distal taper to the tip and make it like a scalpel, for those intricate cuts.
 
Last edited:
GRapp said:
Very true. Years ago I had one tool kit for working deer and hogs. That bag got too crowded and became two. I did a few squirrels for my son and that required completely different tools. I admit squirrels were new for me and therefore my experience is low, pliers seem to skin em well.
Click to expand...
I agree. If you want to be fast you need multiple knives of different designs for skinning. And the less you use the knife the faster and cleaner you can do the job.
 
Been out in the shop trying to work on some inventory for the Harrisonburg show. After cutting out about 20 hunters and skinners, I decided to start some big knives These have been sitting in the "Project Box" for a while. The mokume-mai santoku has been hardened and ground and needs the handle fitted before final sanding.
The big boys need the tang welded on. They are a feather pattern Musso Bowie, A straight-line pattern bowie, and an Arkansas Toothpick,
The shoto-wakizashi is done except final sanding.
More on the next post.billet.jpgBillet 2.jpgBillet 3.jpgBillet 4.jpgBillet 5.jpgBillet 6.jpgBillet 7.jpg
 
Last edited:
Here is the fun project - a kiritsuki gyuto from a massive billet of 420/1070 san-mai. It is heavily forged to give the edge a flame pattern.
The Kiritsuki-gyuto was a project I have set aside for a while. I had a dozen of the big billets made in Brazil a while back, and have only made two blades from them so far. I put a shot of the roughed out blank from the billet. Grinding a 1/4" thick billet of 420 and 1070 core down to a thin kitchen knife takes time and careful attention to the core position to make both sides even. Think I nailed this one. This one is now ready for HT and final grinding.kiritsuki.jpgkiritsuli 7.jpgkiritsuli 6.jpgkiritsuli 5.jpgkiritsuli 4.jpgkiritsuli 3.jpgkiritsuli 2.jpgkiritsuli 1.jpgBillet 9.jpgBillet 10.jpg
 
Last edited:
A koa handle for the next knife. This is a good representation of the $80 blocks I have in the exchange. I hope to figure out how to take a video clearly. lol
 
I’ve never made a knife with a guard before therefore I’ve never fitted a guard before. I decided it was time to try it. I have a blade that I really like the profile of but the end of the handle exploded during one of my brine quenching experiments. I decided to use it to make my first hidden tang knife. It’s only 0.068 thick so I don’t think I could have made it any harder on myself. I had to make the tools to finish the slot after I drilled it with 1/16” bits. To cap it off I had my 9 year old help with some of the fitting just to make it even more interesting. Turns out he has a pretty critical eye… Anyway I’m fairly happy with the fit. I think it’s about 95% of the way there. There’s one spot I plan to address and call it good.

IMG_1309.jpeg
 
ScarFoot said:
I’ve never made a knife with a guard before therefore I’ve never fitted a guard before. I decided it was time to try it. I have a blade that I really like the profile of but the end of the handle exploded during one of my brine quenching experiments. I decided to use it to make my first hidden tang knife. It’s only 0.068 thick so I don’t think I could have made it any harder on myself. I had to make the tools to finish the slot after I drilled it with 1/16” bits. To cap it off I had my 9 year old help with some of the fitting just to make it even more interesting. Turns out he has a pretty critical eye… Anyway I’m fairly happy with the fit. I think it’s about 95% of the way there. There’s one spot I plan to address and call it good.

View attachment 3098400
Click to expand...
You going to pin or solder it or both? Can you wip the guard on this thread or another? I’d appreciate it. I’m two years into this and still learning.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top