Wheeler's Steel * Stuck in the metal with you

[daskman]

thanks for all the time do you take to do this, is like to had a handbook

 

[RogerP]

Lorien - I hope you will continue what is easily one of the best BF threads I have read. It is informative, interesting and both your enthusiasm and Nick's shine through. :thumbup:

Roger

 

[NickWheeler]

He will Roger, I just sent him 25 more photos!!! :foot:

 

[Rupestris]

He better Roger, I just sent him 25 more photos!!! :foot:

Back to the edge of my seat .

 

[LorenzoL]

Deleted at Lorien's request. Gentlemen like him are hard to come by these days.

 

[Lorien]

let's not bring any of that ugliness to this thread please.
I'd appreciate it if anyone who mentioned that other stuff delete it.

I said I would see through the commitments I made to Nick and others and I will honor those commitments....
in about three hours (once I'm done downloading and cutnpasting)

 

[RogerP]

Good stuff. :thumbup:

Roger

 

[butcher_block]

Have you tried HSS tooling with a sharp edge? Most carbide tooling I've seen has a small radius on the tip and is designed to cut with tool pressure. Sharp HSS tooling shouldn't build up much tool pressure and may prevent the tearing.

This thread is great, btw. Thanks for doing this!

i was going to ask abut the millin g the blocks as thats what i do too

but i still need to go back and clean up a bit

other then the light clean up i love having everything milled flat for fit up of the handle

 

[silver_pilate]

I had a dream about this WIP last night....

Nick was describing the use of some weird, really old, spoon-shaped "feathering tool" which is used with a light abrasive. The interesting part about the tool is that it is used underwater. Nick was decked out in scuba gear, and you apparently use your legs to move your body forward and back while holding the tool against the blade to create some obscure effect mimicing ancient blade finishes.

I kid you not.... I really need to stop eating right before bed time.

--nathan

 

[Snody]

Nick your attention to detail is sublime


I am just glad I have A Nick Wheeler knife thanks bud

Wheeler is a madman....

His work is peerless...

Five Stars...Great Thread..

Respect..

 

[jasonprom]

Thanks again for this thread.
I'm a rather enthusiastic rookie in the knife making world and own about 4 knife making books, but I think I've learned more on this thread than through most of those books. I've picked up a ton of useful information via the pictures you've posted.
Keep them coming...

 

[silver_pilate]

Jason, I assure you that the information you've seen in this thread is more detailed than just about any book you will find out there. Save all of this thread with pics to a Word document, print it, and stick it on your reference shelf. Going beyond the basic steps, the tips and tricks found here are priceless and come from years of experience and experiment.

The kind of instruction found in this thread is typically only found in one-on-one apprentice situations or at local hammer-ins. Another three cheers to Nick and Lorien for putting this all together!!!

--nathan

 

[Lorien]

you like tips and tricks? Just one more hour...

 

[butcher_block]

you like tips and tricks? Just one more hour...

yep, but im not a fan of a tease

 

[Patrice Lemée]

I had a dream about this WIP last night....Nick was describing...

You know why he is called "The Dreamy One" now.

 

[Lorien]

Sorry about the teasing, but I get up at 6am or sooner, check my inbox for the anticipated emails from Mr. Wheeler, download and save them, then upload them all to photobucket. The amount of time, (overall) that consumes is about an hour including my computer's and Photobucket's capability to get the job done. Then I have to get myself and the rest of my family ready for school and work, do the laundry and dishes, feed myself and ride to work. This morning I had to visit the post office who just hired a new clerk. Long story short, it takes me about 3 hours all told between receiving the pics and posting them up. Just in case you were wondering



********


Now, some words from our sponsor, (after I asked Nick if it was ok to swing it around for a bit) which I take as good advice:thumbup: Time will tell whether I follow it or not;

"Oh sure... I make 'ya a $1250 knife and you're going to go scratch it all up! LOL Nah, it will be yours to do with as you please... I just had figured I'd step it up with the degree of knife after you said you were going to pack Jason's knife for trails. It's obviously been made to have the heart and soul of a combat worthy knife... but with the face of a cover model "

Okay... I've got a lot of pics to send
I forgot to send these. I took some pics of a spacer sanding block. I make various versions of this as I need them, they are super simple to make, but are SOOO helpful when sanding spacers. Essentially, you're just using the lip machined into the block to catch on the spacer when you pull sand it. It also makes it MUCH easier to put even pressure on the spacer;

This is a shot of the spacers all sanded smooth and even;

Back to the next shots, getting the handle fit up. When it's hitting somewhere, but I'm just not sure where, I'll color the tang with a marker;

Then clamp the blade down, shove the handle block on, remove it, and see where the ink has been rubbed off the tang and consequently deposited in the tang hole of the block;

Back to the broaches. John's broaches definitely deserve another photo here! ;

Whewe... it fits.

Put it in one of my glue-up fixtures so I can check the fit;

Same thing, closer shot;

 

[Lorien]

The knife in the fixture---back-lit so I can make sure there are absolutely NO gaps;

Next step I do, is make a guard template. Here are some from the last handful of knives I've made, along with a piece of 1/8" thick micarta that will be the guard template for this knife;

This is the process for making the template. It may seem like a lot of extra work, but I can make a template very fast, and it REALLY makes it easier, for me, to make sure the guard is symmetrical;

Machining the micarta blank FLAT on one edge;

Next step...

Milling the notch (1/2 the blade thickness);

Here's how the template goes in place, before shaping the outside profile;

Marking the template length;

Cutting the paper template out;

Here's the paper template... I ended up taking just a little more off of it after this;

 

[Lorien]

The paper template has been transferred to the micarta template (with paper tape added to make it easier to see the line;

Grinding the micarta template to shape;

Scribing the template onto the guard. It's a mirror image, so you simply scribe one side, flip it to the other side, and scribe again;

Guard with the pattern scribed on;

Here's the guard by itself, with the pattern scribed onto it. It is definitely symmetrical doing it this way, and the blade is exactly in the center of the guard;

Rough cutting the guard on the bandsaw;

Here I'm setting up the tool rest on the KMG to 87 degrees. I dont' want to grind the guard down at a perfect 90 degrees to the top and bottom. It will make it easier for the handle shaping process to have this little bit of angle set in now;

Taking the guard down to the scribe line on the KMG belt grinder;

I've placed the guard against a square, so it shows how the guard will flare out just a little TOWARD the handle once it's all put together;

 

[Lorien]

I sketch a line on the guard, for a rough idea of how it will be shaped;

Since the guard isn't a square chunk of steel anymore, I can't just throw it on the bandsaw and cut it. I have this simple little fixture that I can use to hold the blade and guard, then go to the bandsaw;

Rough sawing a chunk of the guard off. I like to get some of the bulk of the guard off BEFORE glue-up, because cutting/milling/grinding a large amount of bulk off afterward will cause a lot of heat build-up that I don't want;

Here's a large piece of that bulk, sawn off;

Making progress, ready for the next step ;

 

[Bruce Bump]

Cool tricks Nick. I particularly like the micarta half gaurd as a template to scribe the steel guard. Your engineer schooling is showing.