I am going to make a knife for a Gift...

[BrokenolMarine]

Can't wait to see the final products. That cocobolo is going to knock your eyeballs out when it's shaped and shined.

I sure hope so.

[JEBar]

enjoying following your build .... being able to make something like this is way above my ability

[BrokenolMarine]

Sorry I didn't work in the shop today. My toothache turned out to be something much worse. I am pretty sure I have a bad sinus infection on the left side. There is swelling below my left eye behind my cheek, and it's very painful to the touch. It is visible if you look at both sides comparatively. The swelling runs across to the nose and down toward the chin. My left upper teeth and jaw hurt, and at times, when the pain was at it's worst, the eye would twitch. I took a steamy shower, applied hot and cold compresses, and took decongestants. If it isn't subsiding by tomorrow, I'll schedule an appointment with my doc at the VA Clinic.

Yeah, with that pain, I didn't want to try and work with power equipment and perhaps have to start over with new blanks... ruining $200 worth of investment.

Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

[Ozarkwoodswalker]

Sorry you feel bad! Hopefully you will be better soon!

[BrokenolMarine]

I was feeling well enough this morning to get out and work on shaping the knife. I started by roughing in the general shape of the knife which would allow me to decide what would fill the holes. After an hour or so and working up thru 240 grit, I had the rough shape done. Miss T gave 'er a thumbs up.

31 roughed in.jpg

I measured the thickness at the holes and the Corby Rivets would work. They are stepped rivets that screw together in the middle. I chose brass when I bought them, to match the bolsters. You set them, then trim then flush, and sand them in the final steps to "Lose" the common screwdriver slot. Note the stepped bit in the picture that matches the rivets I chose.

32 Corby Rivets.jpg

Now we are talking a high pucker factor. We have come this far, and misalignment of the piece under the drill press, or movement during the cut, and we are faced with a couple options. You can Plug the Hole with a plug from like material hoping the grain will match, redrill and then install the rivets. You can toss the rivets back in the drawer, plug the hole temporarily for bite for the bit, and drill an oversized hole and go with a brass rod to fill in... or start over. Best thing is to be very careful in set up, use good clamps and make sure you hold your tongue right.

33 pucker factor.jpg

I managed to drill all four holes correctly, set the rivets, and then trim them off with the bandsaw and sand them flush.

34 Riveted.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

From that point on, it was a matter of patience and working up thru the grits to 800. I took my time and used the 1" x 36" belt sander, and the Oscillating sander for the tight curves. Slow and steady gets it done. I had to shape some small tight spaces with strips of sandpaper, but it's looking good after the 800 grit.

35 800 grit.jpg

I applied a very light coat of Golden Oak Watco Oil to make the grain pop, and we'll wax and buff about three coats tomorrow.

Left Side:

36 Golden Oak left.jpg

Right Side:

37 golden oak right.jpg

After that, I'll move to the sheath and working on the damascus. Both projects will have glue up and drying times. Then I can box them up and ship them, Heavily Insured, To Richmond.

[MuddyWaters62]

As always, some very fine craftmanship!! I admire your dexterity and fortitude. Looking swell.

Muddy Waters69

[Ozarkwoodswalker]

Fablous job. Great craftsmanship!!! Thanks for sharing the build. Always impressive to see someone with talent and skill use it! Well done!

[BrokenolMarine]

While working on the sheath, which has been a frustrating process indeed, trying to get it just right... I also worked on the Damascus knife. I played with the birdseye scales then set them aside for later. Something will come up where I'll use them. I grabbed the horn that Tina picked out and ....

It ended up in the Clamps.

damascus scales in clamps.jpg

I took it out this morning, and shaped the bone. Glad I was wearing a respirator and had the vacuum going. Didn't care for the smell.
I did like the outcome. So did Miss T. That blade is SCAREY sharp. I'm going to pick up one for myself, and a stainless Shawnee blade for miss Tina and let her pick out bone for herself. She really liked the outcome:

D2.jpg

D1.jpg

I'll post the sheath when it's done. I haven't let my friend know about the Damascus knife, it will be a surprise. I think he will be pleased.
No sheath for that one. Maybe a display stand.

[BrokenolMarine]

I made FIVE versions before I got the sheath to the point I was happy. The first looked okay, until I dyed it. The dark brown turned black with the second coat and looked awful.

sheath 1.jpg

I thought sheath number two was looking okay, but I sent it to my friend and he asked if the maker's mark would be seen from the front. I explained that MOST put them on the back so they weren't seen from the front. He said that was okay, but he would have liked to have it seen from the front so people would ask about it, and he could explain where the knife and sheath came from.

sheath 2.jpg

So, I put so much time in on the knife, I told him I would redo the sheath and keep #2 for myself. I have the same blank I'm going to do for myself or Miss T. So... I started again, and incorporated the things we discussed. He wanted the smaller Basketweave of another design I had used rather than the box design of the #2 sheath. No problem.

Number 3 just plain didn't work out. The pattern got lost going around the Maker's mark... my issue. Lost concentration, focus, whatever. Sheesh.

sheath 3.jpg

Number four was a winner. I went with a looped back rather than a belt loop design, coordinated the pattern better and STAYED focused.

sheath 4.jpg

I took my time and planned things out, didn't risk sewing on the machine with my marginal skill levels on the new machine yet. All hand stitched.
Slow and steady, I worked my way up to the sizes on the chicago screws and made sure it all fit.
All that is left is to wax the sheath in the morning.... then we are done.

sheath finished.jpg