Wheeler's Steel * Stuck in the metal with you

Nick go for it! all the photos and such ate up your time-profit so wat's to lose but some more time? I hope the price of the knife covered materials, which I think it did a few times over
 
Bruce Bump said:
I feel for ya Nick. Been there before. I know what I did. I think I know what you will do to.

Do you guys really think he will leave it? Knowing Nick I dont think so. Did you hear his first reaction?

Makers of his caliber dont leave visible voids in a beautiful wood handle no matter what the customer wants. This kind of maker is only satified with a knife as nearly perfect as he can possibly make it. I think he will grind on the void and see how deep it goes. If it grinds out with the handle still within tolerance he will continue but if it gets bigger he'll cut that hunk of firewood off and start with another one. Just saying.
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Very well said Bruce! My thoughts exactly! :)

/Magnus
 
Bruce Bump said:
I think he will grind on the void and see how deep it goes. If it grinds out with the handle still within tolerance he will continue but if it gets bigger he'll cut that hunk of firewood off and start with another one. Just saying.
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It certainly makes sense to give that a try before deciding to scrap the entire handle. Grinding a bit further may show the void is deeper and larger - which makes for an obvious call. Or it may show otherwise.

Roger
 
I've learned more about knife collecting and knife making and all the stuff in between, (and how my own views and attitude are reflected within these things) through this thread, than in any other single place.

Thank you so much, Nick. This has all been a real pleasure and a great honour so far, and a big part of me wants it to never end.

I will not presume to tell you how I think you should do your job, ever again:cool: You are the man:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:.
 
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NickWheeler said:
Edited to add: Larry, that is so extremely generous, THANK YOU for such an amazing offer!!!! But that is way above and beyond and I wouldn't even think of asking you to do that. I already have a stunning piece of wood that can go on this knife. Oh, and the mystery wood here was indeed Australian Ringed Gidgee (damn Australians!!! ;) LOL, just josh'n!!! :) ).
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Nick, its not a huge deal, just wanted to help out if I could, so you're not waiting on material or whatever. I figured it was either Gidgee or Koa....:D I'm sure it will be awesome when you get done. :thumbup:

Larry
 
As it has been said in some form or another, "you can make 100 things right but you will be remembered for the 1 thing done wrong", or some such sentiment.

This knife left with the "blemish" will always be associated with Nick. I think Mr. Bump put it perfectly.
 
Wow, what a great looking knife so far. I am certainly not a perfectionist, but I think it adds a lot of character.
 
I just want to apologize for offending anyone in my last post. I used the 'f' word and that was totally inappropriate, especially considering how many people are checking out this thread.
I usually edit my posts pretty carefully, as I have a bit of a potty mouth, but this one slipped through.
Sorry:o
 
That void is a really tough break! I've been there before myself and will be there again one day. You just do what you have to do and move on.
 
Whewe... we're back! Angi surprised me and rather than going to something crappy.... :foot: ;) we went back down to the beach and stayed the night at an AMAZING old hotel. We were EXTREMELY fortunate and had beautiful weather yesterday and today. It was absolutely AMAZING!!! I am so ridiculously lucky to have her in my life.

Friday night, she actually told me to stay home and work on the knife rather than leaving with her (still keeping it a secret what she REALLY had planned!) But I am glad that I didn't because spending two days with her like that was absolutely fantastic. I took a zillion pictures, and may send a few to Lorien just because it truly recharged my batteries. I did make a concerted effort to not bring up the knife at all though!!! :D We TRIED to do this last week (in a day trip) but even though we were expecting a lot of rain, we didn't expect the 50+mph winds that made the drive and the time on the beach more work than relaxation.

So my new plan is to pull the handle, fit up a new one, and start on the ABS auction knife while Lorien's epoxy is curing. It will go much faster if I'm not taking pictures of the whole process (no point in taking the same pictures all over again).

I think I'd be doing a huge disservice to myself and a whole bunch of the people looking at this thread if I capped it off with a "less than my best" finish.

Just for the record, did you guys really think I would make the decision to destroy this handle without trying to see if I could grind the flaw out first?!?! :eek: I may only be slightly smarter than I look ;) But I didn't think I looked that dumb. :foot: :p ;) :)

One of the driving forces here, is for about the last 5 years or so, whenever I'm working on a knife, I ask myself, "Would you be willing to turn this in to the judges as a Ms test knife?" If the answer is no, then I try to make it better--- there's never perfect, but there's often room for better. This one leaves a whole lot of "room for better" with that void.

Thanks again for the comments and support guys, it truly is appreciated :)
 
BTW- This is not the first time this has happened to me, and the timing has been worse. The EXACT same thing happened with one of my Js test knives and it was about a week before the Blade show. :eek: :grumpy: :eek:

And Stuart hit the nail on the head again. They had a saying at my old workplace amongst the BIG crane operators, "Build a thousand bridges but then suck one lolly-pop... do they remember you as a great bridge builder???? NO!!!! They remember you as a dirty lolly-pop sucker!!!&!%!!$!@!*&!!!" :eek: :mad: :eek: :mad: :eek: :mad:



;)

***censored for family viewing**** ;)
 
SBranson said:
As it has been said in some form or another, "you can make 100 things right but you will be remembered for the 1 thing done wrong", or some such sentiment.
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That's it :cool:

NickWheeler said:
They had a saying at my old workplace amongst the BIG crane operators, "Build a thousand bridges but then suck one lolly-pop... do they remember you as a great bridge builder???? NO!!!! They remember you as a dirty lolly-pop sucker! ..
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You are on the right track from the very beginning, Nick :thumbup:

Your decision to replace the handle is just correct! That's it!

IMVHO you may leave the void there if it is known to be there and it is in the plan and the plan is agreed from the very beginning by the customer. Maybe some maker and some customer planned to have a sort of handle that looks aesthetically has few voids here and there such as in the neo-tribal works. It is just like the forge marks on the blade. The forge marks is okay on the neo-tribal sort of blade whereby it is planned by the maker and it is agreed by the customer as well. Anyhow a tiny forge mark on a suppose to be clean hand rubbed finish blade is just not okay at all.

That's the main reason why I'm in agreement with Nick's decision to replace the handle from the very beginning :cool:

mohd
 
So Nick, how are you going to get the handle off? I figure that you will grind it away but have you ever tried steaming or boiling it off? The heat will loosen the glue and since there is no tang pin it should come off in one piece.
 
if the guard was soldered on then hell i woudl jsut boil off the handle and reoil the blade till its re prreped for the new block
i JB weld most guards so i cna still boil off if the neeed comes up (still no fun way to fix this crappy situation )
 
I don't know if this would mess up the heat treat.
In the past when trying to make handles I have needed to remove a messed up handle that had been epoxied in place. I put the knife in an oven at 250F for about 15 minutes and was able to remove the wood by hand.
 
Usually when I have to take a handle off, I use my power hammer.

Great thread by the way! Too bad about the handle. I know how you feel.
 
That's too bad about the blemish.

A silver lining in it would be if Nick were to show us how he'd take the handle off. That would add to the education.
 
Ha! Phillip, you are right. If it's a good fit secured with Acraglass, and it needs to come off - straight to the hydraulic press!

I've taken knives secured with Acraglass up to up to tempering temperature (400 degrees F. so as not to hurt the blade) for an hour or more and it doesn't come loose.

I wouldn't put it past Nick to have some jig made expressly for pulling handles!

Cheers,

TV


Terry Vandeventer
ABS MS
 
Great thread, thanks guys.

This is the next best thing to closely looking over the shoulder of a smith in his actual shop.

The difference here is him not having to turn around and repeatedly tell you about your breath... :D
 
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