October Project - Stag Hunter

[BrokenolMarine]

For what it's worth, I like the wood inlay at the bottom better. In my eye, it has a better balance. Love the project, regardless.

Miss T agrees with you. I can't decide yet.

[RetiredSeabee]

Have you consider the antler inlay at the pommel? if you can shape it to match the diameter of the pommel.

[BrokenolMarine]

Have you consider the antler inlay at the pommel? if you can shape it to match the diameter of the pommel.

I'll switch it around tomorrow...
Option 3.

[Hatchdog]

I’ll chime in but it won’t help….. I like the balance of using the wood but I also like the “flow” of using the antler. Okay, I’ll commit, the flow of the antler is calling out to me.

[BrokenolMarine]

I like both, but option 3 was looking good to me so I went out this morning and played with the parts. I took the larger piece of wood and put it on the bottom, but it was CENTER drilled for the top. But wait, I had the jeweler's bow saw. I took one side loose, fed it thru the center hole and cut a slot. This allowed that larger wood piece to move more to the side on the guard.

28 to move to option 3.jpg

Now we are cooking with gas. I marked it and shaped it on the disk sander. Oh yeah. Looks like option three is the winner. I fit all the pieces and parts in place, used the awl to mark the G10 pieces and rough shaped them on the disc sander. After a break, I'll go back out and polish the wood piece to about 600, then glue it up. Then I can start more formal shaping, polishing, and finishing.

29 option 3 it is.jpg

Miss T said it's fine, but the WOOD portion needs to be blended down to the guard, and the G10 pieces need to be blended smoothly into the stag. Well duh... this is the rough assembly. She was sewing a quilt together... I DIDN'T say, "All those ragged edges need to be trimmed..."

There were sharp scissors and scalpels laying all over the Sew Shed. I may be old, but I'm not slow.

[BrokenolMarine]

Watch this space... eventually I'll make it pretty. Or not.

[BrokenolMarine]

So, back out to the shop as planned and started by polishing the wood insert to 600 grit. 120, 240, 325, 400, 600. Looks pretty good, and ready to glue up.

30 polished to 600.jpg

Each piece was marked with a reference line on the side and a dot on the top edge during DIS-assembly to make re-assembly easier. But, before I began to reassemble with five minute epoxy... I needed to insure that the top pieces wouldn't keep slipping out of place. About an inch from the top, the tang drops from 25/64ths, to a threaded 9/64th rod.



I had given this some thought in my downtime, and went out with a drill index card in hand. In the boathouse, where I store the wood, I have a large 8" piece of PVC on end that contains a large number of dowels, and dowel scraps. Low and behold, Tah Dah, one that neatly fits the 25/64th hole in the file card. I cut the length I need to neatly fill the gap in the end of the assembly, and secure it in the drill press vise and drill a centered 9/64th hole. Now, the remaining pieces will center on the dowel and not slide around. Let's get gluing.

31 glued up.jpg

Boom... glued up. A close look at the pic above and you can see the reference pencil marks at the junctions of the Stag and the accent pieces. One is a hair off, but not enough to cause me tears. When I start shaping and blending the components of the assembly, those marks will go away. Looks pretty good for an old guy with bad vision.

[BrokenolMarine]

I should be able to start shaping the build this afternoon or evening, as soon as the epoxy cures. The critical thing in this situation is NOT to overheat the knife while shaping, as the epoxy can be broken loose by excess heat. I'll keep a cooling bath beside the sander for the first stages of shaping. Won't be an issue in later stages when I'm polishing by hand. I'm nowhere near that fast. (Only on the draw.)

[BrokenolMarine]

Out this afternoon and began shaping. I am pretty happy with the shape, it fits the hand very nicely. I need to do some final polishing of the entire thing, the metal and the accents. It should turn out nice. I won't be tossing it in the trash... at least.

Sheath, I'll make a sheath, put it in the box with the rest of them, then put the knife in the display case.

32 began to shape the knife.jpg

[daytime dave]

It's looking great!