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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
WIP - Loveless Style Hunter by Erik Boese
- Thread starter TekSec
- Start date
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- Sep 16, 2002
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Yup, that clears it up...thanks! Now I gotta actually figure out how to do it myself. My Craftsman runs at mach speed (I think like your Grizzly), but I'll probably give it a try on it anyway.
PS Mine's a stick tang so the handle shape is obviously not yet formed. Is it better to still do the guard shaping off the blade like you've done, and then match it up with the handle after assembly? I'm kind of scratching my head on what order to do everything...need to locate a stick tang/guard tutorial I guess.
PS Mine's a stick tang so the handle shape is obviously not yet formed. Is it better to still do the guard shaping off the blade like you've done, and then match it up with the handle after assembly? I'm kind of scratching my head on what order to do everything...need to locate a stick tang/guard tutorial I guess.
TekSec
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Okay, here we are again. All ready to epoxy the guard to the blade (after some minor solder clean up). Here's the first tool I prepare. Some of you may call this a toothpick, I call it an epoxy application and removal tool 
I grind the tip off of one to flat then bevel a 45 on either side.
I use standard JB Weld, it's only in place to seal the guard up anyhow...
Mix the two parts to a uniform gray. I have a box of tongue depressors in my shop and go through them like candy. Yet the box of 1000 has lasted me for over two years now.
I spread the epoxy on the tang fairly heavily. I like having a little excess to ensure all parts are sealed well.
I also work it into the guard using another toothpick (something else I go through a lot of).
Here is the guard slid on. I packed excess epoxy in after it was in place to seal every possible gap around the tang.
I wipe the excess off as well as possible before setting the blade in the vise.
I press the guard against the jaws of the vise and as I slowly tighten the vise, softly tap it with a board to seat the guard tight to the blade. Notice the wood chips as the blade tears my scrap apart
I grind the tip off of one to flat then bevel a 45 on either side.
I use standard JB Weld, it's only in place to seal the guard up anyhow...
Mix the two parts to a uniform gray. I have a box of tongue depressors in my shop and go through them like candy. Yet the box of 1000 has lasted me for over two years now.
I spread the epoxy on the tang fairly heavily. I like having a little excess to ensure all parts are sealed well.
I also work it into the guard using another toothpick (something else I go through a lot of).
Here is the guard slid on. I packed excess epoxy in after it was in place to seal every possible gap around the tang.
I wipe the excess off as well as possible before setting the blade in the vise.
I press the guard against the jaws of the vise and as I slowly tighten the vise, softly tap it with a board to seat the guard tight to the blade. Notice the wood chips as the blade tears my scrap apart
TekSec
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I use a rag with some acetone on it to clean the excess off. I like to keep my fingernails a little long on my index finger to get in tight to the blade...although the grinder sometimes makes that difficult.
I then take that first toothpick and carefully remove the rest. I give it a final wipe down and that parts done!
Here we are all nice and clean. I have a slight gap on one side (well, epoxy filled but...). It's only about .003" and shouldn't really show when all is said and done.
I just picked up a piece of Cocobolo at the local Woodcrafter's store and decided to use it for the handle. I drew out the profile of the frame to rough cut the pieces.
How do you think this will look?
I then take that first toothpick and carefully remove the rest. I give it a final wipe down and that parts done!
Here we are all nice and clean. I have a slight gap on one side (well, epoxy filled but...). It's only about .003" and shouldn't really show when all is said and done.
I just picked up a piece of Cocobolo at the local Woodcrafter's store and decided to use it for the handle. I drew out the profile of the frame to rough cut the pieces.
How do you think this will look?
TekSec
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I use a few drops of InstaCure CA to affix the slabs to the frame to pre-drill holes. I got this from HobbyTown but Pop's Knife Supply is where I usually get it.
I put 3 drops on the tang and press on the rough cut slab. Only takes a few seconds to set firm.
I then place the assembly with only one slab on into my mill vise to drill out the holes for the frame pin and the thong hole tubing.
3 more drops for the other side then I flip to the drilled side and use those to guide me.
Since the guard has setup well, I remove it from the vise temporarily to pre-drill the pin hole for the tang.
After pre-drilling the one side, I put the other slab back on and temporarily pin it in place to drill the other slab.
I put 3 drops on the tang and press on the rough cut slab. Only takes a few seconds to set firm.
I then place the assembly with only one slab on into my mill vise to drill out the holes for the frame pin and the thong hole tubing.
3 more drops for the other side then I flip to the drilled side and use those to guide me.
Since the guard has setup well, I remove it from the vise temporarily to pre-drill the pin hole for the tang.
After pre-drilling the one side, I put the other slab back on and temporarily pin it in place to drill the other slab.
TekSec
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Okay, last section for the day. I cleaned up the frame, since it now has some CA splotches on it and also after a few swipes it showed a slight difference in flatness probably due to the HTing.
Here it is pretty clean.
I go ahead and prep the pins. I just chuck each one into my mill and run 800 grit around it for a few seconds. For this one, I'm using 1/8" stainless steel and my holes in the slabs are drilled at 1/8". We all know they never fit perfect so this just cleans them up to slide in easily (hopefully
)
I also have decided to use some black liner for the joints. Here is the piece cut out. I chucked a milling bit in the press and slotted it then press fit it onto the tang. I then pulled it down a little and spread CA on the top where it meets the guard then pressed it back into place, sprayed it with some Instant Bond (invest in some Un-Bond if you use this, just a tip) and moved on.
I used some thinner liner material for the handle slabs, rough cut and then cleaned both the slabs and liner with acetone.
Give it a good coat with the extra thin CA and press into place. Another tip, don't use too much...if you do, get the un-bond ready.
Here they are all glued up. I then cleaned up the ends very lightly on the grinder until they are just flush. Remember, I've already fitted the slabs so I can't grind any more off. It was an after thought to use the liners, otherwise I would have done this process a little differently.
Here it is pretty clean.
I go ahead and prep the pins. I just chuck each one into my mill and run 800 grit around it for a few seconds. For this one, I'm using 1/8" stainless steel and my holes in the slabs are drilled at 1/8". We all know they never fit perfect so this just cleans them up to slide in easily (hopefully
)
I also have decided to use some black liner for the joints. Here is the piece cut out. I chucked a milling bit in the press and slotted it then press fit it onto the tang. I then pulled it down a little and spread CA on the top where it meets the guard then pressed it back into place, sprayed it with some Instant Bond (invest in some Un-Bond if you use this, just a tip) and moved on.
I used some thinner liner material for the handle slabs, rough cut and then cleaned both the slabs and liner with acetone.
Give it a good coat with the extra thin CA and press into place. Another tip, don't use too much...if you do, get the un-bond ready.
Here they are all glued up. I then cleaned up the ends very lightly on the grinder until they are just flush. Remember, I've already fitted the slabs so I can't grind any more off. It was an after thought to use the liners, otherwise I would have done this process a little differently.
Last edited:
TekSec
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Thanks, guys. I'm really enjoying it although I must say it's a lot more time intensive than you'd think. It's funny but I look at Post #1 through the end almost every day and think "Wow, that really looked like crap but it's looking better now" 
It really makes me conscious of each step I take and how I can really do it to the best of my abilities...as limited as they are Hell, I've only been messing with this stuff for a couple of years
It really makes me conscious of each step I take and how I can really do it to the best of my abilities...as limited as they are Hell, I've only been messing with this stuff for a couple of years 
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2007
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Man, I don't know how I missed this thread (kinda glad though cause I got to see all this progress in one sitting).
Nevermind the great work on the knife, taking all the pictures and labeling and posting them would have driven me nuts already. Thanks a ton for taking the time to show us all your work. This is awesome!!
Nathan
. Nevermind the great work on the knife, taking all the pictures and labeling and posting them would have driven me nuts already. Thanks a ton for taking the time to show us all your work. This is awesome!!
Nathan
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- Dec 3, 1999
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- 9,437
GREAT work Erik!!! I think you should post this in shop-talk!
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- Jul 28, 2006
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Wellll keep on going sheesh.... 
I've picked up a few tips from you..... ya know as long as I've made knives it's never occured to me to put the pins the drill press to sand them. I was like, I'm the stupidest person on the planet!
I've picked up a few tips from you..... ya know as long as I've made knives it's never occured to me to put the pins the drill press to sand them. I was like, I'm the stupidest person on the planet!
TekSec
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Thank you all so much for the support and kind words. It really means a lot to me and I appreciate you all following my little project
Nick,
I actually posted a link over in Shop Talk when I first started but felt the Gallery was more appropriate. If I do another one, I'll post it over there
Okay, didn't have a whole lot of time today, had to go bowl on my league (yea, I'm one of those people) so I worked in 20 or 30 min after work to get the guard up to snuff.
Here's how it started out. Not terrible but not pretty either.
I ran it on the grinder with a 60 grit making sure not to heat it too much. Too much heat and the epoxy will break down and the last thing I want to do is to have to redo that! Holding the tang and blade horizontal to slack part of the belt, I used rolling motions on each side, blade up on both sides so I can watch that I don't take too much off the tip of the front quillion. I checked the symmetry constantly taking off only 2 or 3 passes at a time. Here's how It ended up.
I'll get off the grinder at 60 grit, the stainless is easy enough to polish by hand and it's heck of a lot harder to screw up that way than on the grinder. Here's a view from the tip and tang. It's a hair off on the top side, but that will be corrected by hand during the finish sanding.
No on to the fun part. Being that I only roughed out the curve on the front quillion with the grinder, I move to the Dremel to clean it up. I chuck in a sanding drum, tape up the blade (a lot!) and firmly (but not too much) lock it into the vise jaws.
Using rolling motions from the base to the tip of the quillion, I grind in a nice curve and clean up all the belt grinder grooves. After it's pretty well smoothed out, I roll the drum from the inside curve over onto the side of the guard getting rid of the sharp transition edges and giving it a nice rounded feel.
Nick,
I actually posted a link over in Shop Talk when I first started but felt the Gallery was more appropriate. If I do another one, I'll post it over there
Okay, didn't have a whole lot of time today, had to go bowl on my league (yea, I'm one of those people) so I worked in 20 or 30 min after work to get the guard up to snuff.
Here's how it started out. Not terrible but not pretty either.
I ran it on the grinder with a 60 grit making sure not to heat it too much. Too much heat and the epoxy will break down and the last thing I want to do is to have to redo that! Holding the tang and blade horizontal to slack part of the belt, I used rolling motions on each side, blade up on both sides so I can watch that I don't take too much off the tip of the front quillion. I checked the symmetry constantly taking off only 2 or 3 passes at a time. Here's how It ended up.
I'll get off the grinder at 60 grit, the stainless is easy enough to polish by hand and it's heck of a lot harder to screw up that way than on the grinder. Here's a view from the tip and tang. It's a hair off on the top side, but that will be corrected by hand during the finish sanding.
No on to the fun part. Being that I only roughed out the curve on the front quillion with the grinder, I move to the Dremel to clean it up. I chuck in a sanding drum, tape up the blade (a lot!) and firmly (but not too much) lock it into the vise jaws.
Using rolling motions from the base to the tip of the quillion, I grind in a nice curve and clean up all the belt grinder grooves. After it's pretty well smoothed out, I roll the drum from the inside curve over onto the side of the guard getting rid of the sharp transition edges and giving it a nice rounded feel.
TekSec
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Now to hand finish it a little. One of the mistakes a lot of newer makers (myself included of course) is handling a knife before getting all the metal parts to a 95% finish first. You have to remember that wood / phenolics / etc. take next to nothing to sand compared to metal. If you try to finish them both at the same time, you will inevitably end up with more metal than handle and be able to feel the transition points. Work the soft down to the hard, not vice versa I tore a strip of 220 grit off a sheet and folded / rolled it to match the curve fairly close.
Working my way into the curve and around the sides, I polish down any rough places and remove all the 60 grit marks. 220 grit is what I consider 95% as far as the finish for this blade. 400 / 600 is the highest I will end up before hitting it for the final buff. Here is the guard at 220 grit. Much prettier than we started out with
I tore a strip of 220 grit off a sheet and folded / rolled it to match the curve fairly close.
Working my way into the curve and around the sides, I polish down any rough places and remove all the 60 grit marks. 220 grit is what I consider 95% as far as the finish for this blade. 400 / 600 is the highest I will end up before hitting it for the final buff. Here is the guard at 220 grit. Much prettier than we started out with
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AWESOME. I will have to drag my dremel out again.
It is coming along great Erik!
It is coming along great Erik!
TekSec
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Had an hour or so after work today so I decided to start fitting the the handle frame and slabs. Here's how it started out temporarily pinned together. By the way, it's a nice tight fit so I am very please with it!
It has just a little bit of excess which is perfect. Less material waste is always good!
The next few shots are just to demonstrate the different angles I will grind at. I'll remove just enough material close to flush then I'll polish up the frame by itself and hand sand the slabs flush with it.
This is how I add the palm swell. I use the lower drive wheel on the grinder to concave the front of the slabs by the guard and then another section near the butt end. Gives it a nice curve and usually feels great in the hand.
I use a drum wheel on the mill / drill press to get into the curves. The 1" is just perfect for the finger choil / quillion. Now, all the hard work I did on the guard yesterday has to be done over because I didn't get the depth to the frame quite right. I had to remove about another 1/16" to get it flush. Sometimes you have to go backwards to get it just right. The magic comes from not screwing it up when you do...or knowing how to fix it if / when it happens
Here we are rough shaped and ready to clean up, epoxy and finish / polish! Probably be done on Sunday...it would be tomorrow but because of the set time for the epoxy it will have to wait one more day.
It has just a little bit of excess which is perfect. Less material waste is always good!
The next few shots are just to demonstrate the different angles I will grind at. I'll remove just enough material close to flush then I'll polish up the frame by itself and hand sand the slabs flush with it.
This is how I add the palm swell. I use the lower drive wheel on the grinder to concave the front of the slabs by the guard and then another section near the butt end. Gives it a nice curve and usually feels great in the hand.
I use a drum wheel on the mill / drill press to get into the curves. The 1" is just perfect for the finger choil / quillion. Now, all the hard work I did on the guard yesterday has to be done over because I didn't get the depth to the frame quite right. I had to remove about another 1/16" to get it flush. Sometimes you have to go backwards to get it just right. The magic comes from not screwing it up when you do...or knowing how to fix it if / when it happens
Here we are rough shaped and ready to clean up, epoxy and finish / polish! Probably be done on Sunday...it would be tomorrow but because of the set time for the epoxy it will have to wait one more day.
TekSec
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Just a quick update unless anyone cares, I will be posting the final steps and pics tomorrow as a whole to keep the suspense up I have the knife entirely assembled, epoxied and ready for finish work. It's really going to be a gorgeous piece...at least in my eyes 
I have the knife entirely assembled, epoxied and ready for finish work. It's really going to be a gorgeous piece...at least in my eyes 
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- Oct 30, 2002
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That's a great looking knife in anyone's eyes. I look forward to seeing the final installment.
--nathan
--nathan