WIP-Fikes Jungle Honey - Finished pictures added!

[Phillip Patton]

Thanks for all the comments, folks!

I didn't work on it over the weekend, because I got bit by the shop cleaning bug, and that's rare enough that I know not to resist it. ;-)

But today I did regrind it. The hamon looks interesting, and the blade is still straight.

Just like the first grind, I pre-bevel the edges:



Then I grind down to the edge, checking frequently with a ruler to make sure the grinds are the same on both sides.



The balance point is right at my mark:



Next, I rounded off the butt end of the tang, using a washer as a template:



and I also drilled a 3/8" hole:

 

[TK Steingass]

Looking good Phillip - congrats on keeping it straight!

 

[Phillip Patton]

Thanks man! It's always a challenge with long pieces, even more so with shallow hardening steels.

These next two pics have nothing to do with the current project, but I don't have anything else to post right now, and someone might find it interesting.

Over the weekend I made a new rack to hold blades in my heat treat oven. It's made of 304 stainless steel:



Here's the one it's replacing:



They're both made from the same piece of stainless angle iron, but the bottom one has been in use for 13 or 14 years, and has lost most of it's mass to scale. I like to use heavy racks like these because they help even out the temperature fluctuations in the oven. They're also really durable.

 

[PDQ knives]

Great job man! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Dusty One]

Thanks for taking the time to show your work !

 

[Phillip Patton]

So, the next step is going back over the blade with 240 grit:



In this one, you can see a bit of the hamon:



Now it's time to hand sand. I start at 400 grit, making straight strokes. Here's it is clamped in my large sanding jig:

 

[Phillip Patton]

Before I move on to the next grit, I want to do a couple things to prep for the handle assembly. One is to grind some shallow divots under where the Turks head knot will be, the purpose of which will become apparent eventually:



and the other is to cut out the rayskin. I'm using burgundy rayskin, and the skin I have is huge:

 

[Mongo]

OMG! This just keeps getting better!

 

[braillediver]

I really appreciate you taking the time to share your work.

 

[Dawkind]

THAT is, I believe, the largest ‘rayskin I’ve ever seen....

 

[BillKilgore]

That is gorgeous! Thank you for sharing your expert craftsmanship.

 

[Phillip Patton]

You're welcome! Thanks for following along, and your comments!

Next step, sanding the blade again, this time with 600 grit paper. I sand diagonally, so I can see when all the 400 grit scratches are gone:








Now lengthwise again with 800 grit paper:





Then, after de-greasing thoroughly, I dip the blade in ferric chloride for a few seconds, then neutralize it:

 

[Phillip Patton]

After wiping it dry with a clean, grit free rag, I use Flitz and some fine steel wool to remove the oxides from the etch:

 

[Phillip Patton]

The the blade is de-greased again, since Flitz leaves a residue, and etched again for 20 seconds or so then Flitzed again:



and again:




I think that does it. Now the blade is wrapped in plastic and contact cement applied to the tang and rayskin. The rayskin absorbed a lot of cement, and took 4 coats. The steel of course, doesn't absorb any, so one coat will do:

 

[jdm61]

So the asterisk hamon worked. What are the dimensions of the handle?

 

[Phillip Patton]

So the asterisk hamon worked. What are the dimensions of the handle?

Yep, it worked perfectly, since all I really wanted was no warpage. The handle is 13" long, about 1-1/2" tall at the plunge, and 1" tall at the butt.

When the cement is dry enough, the skin is pressed onto the tang:



Then the leather is trimmed flush with the tang, and the butt hole (that sounds wrong) drilled out:



I then use a 240 grit belt on the grinder to bevel the edges of the rayskin a little:



and then I like to go over the edge with a black Sharpie in case it shows through the wrap anywhere:




Then all that is repeated for the other side.

 

[Phillip Patton]

Now it's time to make use of those little grooves I made. Here's the setup:



It's some polyester thread that gets wound around the tang like so:



This gives the Turks head knot a little more body, but more importantly acts as a foundation to keep it from moving around. Once the thread is built up enough, I pull the end through using a length of cord, like this:







The ends are trimmed, and then melted with a lighter.

 

[Phillip Patton]

Now I cut 4' of black 550 paracord, and insert one end into a needle. I didn't get any pics of the process, but if you want to learn, I'm sure there are good tutorials out there.





After carefully trimming the extra off, I then use a black Sharpie to color the white innards of the paracord so it disappears better. Then I cut 16' of wrap material. I had several feet left over, so 12' would have been enough, but better too much than too little.



Again, I didn't get any step by step photos. Sorry, my hands were full.

 

[Phillip Patton]

Now the handle is soaked with epoxy resin. I'm using West Systems epoxy. It's nice because it takes a loooong time to set up, so there's ever a reason to rush.



It's mixed up in a cup, and thinned with alcohol. You can also thin it with acetone, but I've noticed that acetone seems to delay curing. Not necessary here, so I used alcohol.



Don't worry, it won't look orange on the handle.





And that's about it, folks. Tomorrow, if the epoxy is hard enough, I'll have finished pics.

 

[Bigfattyt]

Love this WIP so much. I really "need" a jungle honey.

I also need to learn to do a Turks head knot. I have a knife that somewhat resembles a jungle honey fighter (much scaled down) that I want to put a Turks head knot on.