A New Build (Along)

[BrokenolMarine]

The scalpel case? Not going to go into a long narrative and how to, but here is the case. I hand stitched this one, using the stitching pony, I was pretty happy with the results. The bulge at the bottom is a small piece of leather to act as a stop so the blade doesn't cut thru the stitching. After all, this thing is as sharp as a surgical scalpel.

Stitching pony holds the piece while you sew, I made mine from a few different designs I saw on line, combining the best features I liked from each. One thing that "I" added was the magnets to hold the needles on each side. I was going to put them flush, then I realized that installed proud, they would make the needles easier to retrieve.

The pony:

03 sew.jpg

Back side:

04 reverse view.jpg

The finished piece. I like how the stitching turned out. I finished the sheath in Yellow and antiqued it.

05 done.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

The problem I had been trying to solve was that the dado in the mahogany trim didn't lend itself to securely attaching the hinges for the lid. I could go with strap hinges, sometimes called "Trunk" hinges, but I didn't like the look of those. I decided to use reinforcement blocks in the hinge location and notch the velvet liner and insure it was glued securely in that location. Not like there would be a lot of stress anyway.

130 trim issue.jpg

This would allow a bite for the four screws and should support the hinges, especially if I used contact cement on the hinges and the mahogany.

[BrokenolMarine]

My other concern here was the filling of the crack on the corner and some deep holes / faults in the top. I had used wood putty that is claimed to accept stain. Every time I looked at that putty it bothered me. So, I used the scalpel's sharp tip to pop the filler out of the crack and the holes I had filled and pulled one of the bottles of sawdust I save for just this purpose. They are labeled by species. I chose black walnut. I mixed it into a paste using ebony stain. Again, using the scalpel for it's fine tip, I filled the crack.

131 filled the crack.jpg

Next I filled the holes and voids using the same mixture.

132 and the holes.jpg

I pulled my Satellite City special glue made for filling gaps and cracks from the shelf, and got ready to bind and seal the repairs. All three tubes were hard as rocks. They had been on the shelf for years since the last use... Trip to home depot, not carried. Ordered on Amazon. A week...


No matter, before you use the product, you are wise to stain the surrounding area as they penetrate and THAT area won't stain. So, while WE wait together for the arrival of the special glue, I prepped and stained the top and the box. Now check out the crack....

133 now the crack.jpg

As I had been promising, I used the Golden Oak Watco Oil, and that grain has POPPED.

134 the top.jpg

That Osage Orange Box is looking pretty good as well. I did NOT stain the top edge, because glue won't hold well on watco oiled surfaces.

135 the box.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

I'll use the Medium Walnut on the Mahogany trim once the glue sets and the excess is cleaned up. The big pucker factor will be setting the hinges as I will have to cut the slots for them to rest in. Slip and it will be a big OOPS...

[BrokenolMarine]

A little work in the shop. Some minor fitting today, and checking the finish. I did some more filling of the cracks and gaps while still waiting for the special T glue to come in next week. Specifically the knots in the box sides. Somewhat stalled until then. Mixed feelings on the color difference in the osage orange and the Maple, but ... Not sure if I want to attempt to darken the osage to more closely match the top.

136 getting closer.jpg

We are in the final stages. I am going to work on a logo insert. Yup. For the inside of the top.

[BrokenolMarine]

I've got the logo insert done, and I took pics of the modification to the Mahogany Rail to allow for installation of the hinges and the foam tray that will eventually be covered in Velvet. So, first, here is a look at the foam tray that the knife will lay in when it's in the box.

137 box insert.jpg

Next up, the 1-1/8" block fillers so the hinge screws will have something to bite into other than blank space.

138 divider inserts.jpg

Lastly, here is the 5/8" diameter leather disk that will be inlaid into the underside of the box lid, in the lower right corner. It has my Maker's Mark stamped in the center. I dyed it red to accent the burgundy liner of the box. Hopefully it will all look good when it's all put together. Waiting on the special T glue.

139 makers mark.jpg

The disk still needs the edges burnished and some finish on it, but you get the idea.

[BrokenolMarine]

Today, if I have some shop time, I may try to stain a scrap of osage to better match the color of the maple... perhaps a second pass with a 2/1 or 3/1 mixture of golden oak and medium walnut. That's what scraps are saved for... testing. LOL.

[BrokenolMarine]

I used a scrap of wood to test the fit of the round leather logo. I didn't like the fit or the look of the logo against the grain. Too late in the game to screw up the box now by making THAT mistake. I had been thinking of filling that void UNDER the box where the dado leaves a gap where the bottom fits. I had cut a piece of leather to fit, and then a foam spacer, all I had to do was tool and stain the leather and put my maker's mark on THAT...

140 insert for bottom.jpg

This piece will be under the box. You can see my maker's mark in the lower right corner.
The special glue is still due on Wednesday so we are nearly there.

[BrokenolMarine]

The Special Glue came a day early, so I got to spend Tuesday in the shop, in several sessions, working on the box. I began by applying a medium thickness covering on all the cracks and voids on the top and the sides of the box. Then I went inside and watched a couple episodes of "Hill Street Blues." I'm working my way thru the box set. This special super glue needs about an hour to properly set, then you can sand it smooth and it's as clear as glass. (They have an accelerator spray, but I found that it sometimes discolors the glue, giving it a haze rather than leaving it clear.)

After sanding the first treatment, there were areas that needed a second treatment, so I reapplied the glue and left the panels to dry again. Time for lunch, and more Hill Street. The second treatment was enough for the top of the box and I resanded the box top back up thru 1,000 grit and then marked it for the hinges. I CAREFULLY cut the mortises for the hinges. THIS was a high pucker factor operation that took nearly an hour. With each cut I was afraid I would slip and ruin the top.

141 hinge mortises.jpg

Meanwhile, the third and fourth layers were applied to the deep void on the side of the front of the box. Between each application, I would sand away the buildup with 400 grit sandpaper.

[BrokenolMarine]

Once I had finally finished the stabilizing of the components, I wiped them down with mineral oil to remove the sawdust and test fitted all the parts together to see how they would look. You can see that the gaps and voids that once were visible in the top are now as smooth as glass.

142 stabilzing done.jpg

That deep corner crack that was 1/8" wide in some spots, and 1/8" deep, is now flush and smooth. That fill technique worked, it's black and matte and looks pretty good in my opinion. Looks natural. Rather than a flaw, it's become simply part of the spalting character of the wood.

143 corner crack stabilized.jpg

A view from the front let me know that I would have some "Minor" shaping to do on the mahogany trim once the box is assembled, rolling the top edge to blend the pieces. Other than that, it's a good fit.

144 front mock up.jpg

A look at the back of the box shows that the hinges won't look too bad. (No screws in place, it's a mock up.) I think they will accent the piece. I might have gone with black hinges if I had any the right size. But, the knife is trimmed in Brass so the inside view will be complimented by the brass hinges.

145 back mock up.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

The last thing I worked on yesterday was the bare bottom of the box.... So naked.

146 bare bottom.jpg

I had tooled that nice piece of leather, and dyed it. It was glued to a foam spacer. Time to test fit IT to the bottom cavity in which it will live.

147 bottom dressed.jpg

I think it looks pretty good, and provides a space for my Maker's Mark.

[BrokenolMarine]

I plan to work on the velvet installation today, then the hinges. We are almost done. If not today, then by the end of the week.
I can't wait to get this one in the can and shipped to the doc. He knows about the knife, but not the box.

[BigAl52]

What a nice gift and made by a true craftsman. Nice job Jim it looks awesome

[markiver54]

What a nice gift and made by a true craftsman. Nice job Jim it looks awesome

What Al said!

[BrokenolMarine]

I am moving into the real pucker factor areas... gluing in the velvet and the screwing in of the hinges. those are the two remaining areas where I can mess up royally. The cutting of the mortises was the first. I'll have to be very careful drilling the pilot holes for the tiny nails to hold the mahogany trim piece in place as well. But that will just mean a steady hand and using the 123 blocks and clamps and setting the depth and going slowly.

[BrokenolMarine]

Pucker Factor Time!

I went out this afternoon after lunch and using a 1/32 bit, after carefully measuring and marking the exact locations and lightly center punching the marks.... drilled the holes for the very small brass nails for the trim ring. Then I placed the ring on the box and clamped it into place, and using the holes I just drilled, drilled the matching holes in the box. I had to do this BEFORE the lining was in place to avoid covering the lining with sawdust. After the job was done the ring and the nails were removed and set aside.

148 trim ring.jpg

Once that was done, it was time to affix the lining to the insert then install them both in the box. I got one shot, so I had to go slow and insure it was done correctly. After careful consideration, I went with double sided tape for the bulk of that installation. The tape had the side facing up still covered after it was all in place.

When I was ready, I pulled the tape OFF the piece in the bottom of the void cut for the knife and carefully lowered the center of the velvet panel into the void, wrapped around the knife... and pushed down along the length to insure full contact. Then I folded the velvet over the knife to expose the strips on the far edges of the inserts, pulled the tapes and then carefully folded the edges back and smoothed them into contact with the double edge tape.

Once I was satisfied, I put the insert into the box with the folded velvet centered in the insert. One by one I exposed the tapes on the inside edges of the box and pulled the edges of the velvet up into contact. Each was smoothed and buffed into full contact with the tape. Lastly, I exposed the tapes on the top edge of the box and folded over the velvet.

Now it was time to carefully trim away the excess and trim the corners to lay flat. Then I installed the top mahogany trim after running a bead of superglue around the top with a dab at each nail hole. The nails were put into the holes and clamped tight to insure they went fully into the seats.

149 lining installed.jpg

Next up? Installing the hinges on the top and then to the box.... REAL pucker time. Tomorrow maybe...

[BrokenolMarine]

Got out in the shop this afternoon and the first thing I did was take all the clamps off and check to insure that the knife still fit in the slot in the box. It did. Looks good in there too! The clamps left a couple smudges on the mahogany, so I taped the inside and lightly sanded with 1,000 grit, and then wiped the mahogany with a light pass with medium walnut watco oil. We are good.

150 knife fits.jpg

Now we are back to pucker time. I test fitted the hinges one last time, in the mortises I precut. A thin line of superglue and held them in place for five minutes or so. Then I took my spring loaded center punch and ... center punched them.

151 center punched hinges.jpg

I found the bit that matched the brass screws for the hinges and tested it in a wood scrap. Too small, up one, tested. Worked good. marked the depth with blue tape. A good 1/4" from coming out the top of the lid. Drilled the four holes. Using one screw, I tapped the four holes and backed the screw out, then put a drop of glue in each hole and THEN screwed in the brass screws. YOU must be careful not to overtighten these, the heads will snap off.

152 hinges mounted.jpg

I repeated the process to attach the mounted hinges to the box. Once the top was mounted, I waxed the box with two coats of beeswax. We are done.

[BrokenolMarine]

There were a few small things I wasn't happy with, and I could have gone a bit farther and taken a chance to fix them. Rolled an edge there to blend, sanded an edge there to match... I had come too far to risk it and the box looks good as is. Most of the errors aren't things the average joe will notice. They'll bother me, but not many others. I decided to leave them

Done, a look from the front....

153 DONE front view.jpg

A look at the back...

154 DONE back view.jpg

The knife is home... it fits and I like the accent of the brass nails around the top of the mahogany and the brass hinges.

155 Knife is home.jpg

It's been a long build... don't know if I will post the damascus and turquoise build.... maybe just the finished project.

[CT_Shooter]

Outstanding craftsmanship, Marine. The good Doctor will no doubt be very impressed by your work and deeply grateful for your acknowledgement of the cutting edge role he plays in your life. Really cool.

Thanks for sharing it with us. I've totally enjoyed it.

[markiver54]

Excellent build Jim! looks fantastic. Thanks for taking us along on this one.
Doc is the lucky one and I know how it must make you feel to present it to him.