A Trio of New Knives

[Ozarkwoodswalker]

Beautiful!

[BrokenolMarine]

Got out in the shop for an afternoon session.  Had to wait.  Our guy came to spray for the spring bugs this morning and whew wee, the Oh Dear had to dissipate.  :no: :rolleyes: :uhoh:

Anywho.... the first step was to cut the lacewood block in half.  I did that after carefully measuring the thickness, marking down the center and then bookmatching that puppy on the bandsaw.  Pucker factor was high.  :yes:  Then I cut the rounded nose off the scales, holding them tightly together, going slowly and letting the saw do the work so pushing didn't cause them to move apart.

They came out very nice.  The number one pair is cut, and I used one scale from that pair to mark the cocobolo for the second pair for cutting.

** Yup, I know the cut edges aren't perfect and smooth and the lines don't exactly flow, they are cut oversized, I will shape and sand them to fit.... no need to try for perfection on the bandsaw.  I SHOOT for oversize.

04 one cut.jpg

I took my time on the first cut, then used the blank from the first cut to mark the second scale.  I scratched my head a lot, figuring out exactly how to make the grain (flame) face the right direction and get the sides facing UP correctly.  I couldn't get it wrong.  I have MORE wood but THIS is the piece the kid chose.  You don't want to disappoint the kids.  I think they came out fine, and keep in mind I am looking MOSTLY at the pattern of the grains, as I cut them oversized to allow for shaping.  The GRAIN's the thing here.

05 two cut.jpg

Now comes the good part.  I am cutting the darker cocobolo for the Tanto I plan to keep.  This is supposed to match my grips on my .45.  Or not.  Anywho, I found the darker wood and got lucky with some great grain here.  Again, layout was key.  Hopefully when I start shaping, the grain stays good all the way thru.

06 three cut.jpg

After the individual pics, I told them to line it up for a group shots.  They all thought THEY were the ONE but I told them to shut it, and line up.
They did.  Here is the group shot.  The wife likes the Lacewood the best, right now.  I like it as well, but I think the Tanto is going to Kill it at the end.
Do y'all have a favorite so far. Yeah, yeah, I know it's early, but you may as well get involved.

07 group shot.jpg

Tomorrow's first task will be to tape all the blanks back together and round the front edges prior to starting the assembly by epoxying the one panel in place so I can drill through using the blank as a reference.  As I said during the last build... this is where the multi build pays off.  I set up the sander with the various grits and sand all three before changing.  I mix epoxy for three rather than just one.  Win/Win.

[MuddyWaters62]

Love the cocobolo on the tanto, buuutt, I'm a sucker for the lacewood. Their all will be killers in their own unique way.

Muddy Waters 67

[BrokenolMarine]

Getting old sux.  The worst part is that I find I forget things that I knew, things like shortcuts or little tricks in the shop that makes things work better, or projects come out nicer.  I forget things that need to be done in a certain order.... so, like we did in the Corps for working on Aircraft, or running the Range, or just about any dang thing... CHECKLISTS.  I have one for certain jobs, or certain processes, why not my knifemaking.  I'll likely make up one for certain sheaths.

Here is the knifemaking checklist.  It's on the computer so I can add to or modify as needed.

08 checklist.jpg

I find I am on step four, where I tape the scales together and round the end that will be on top of the knife blank.  You can't easily shape that once the scales are in place.  I learned that lesson the hard way the first knife I made.  I DO remember that one.  :yes:  So I taped these three up.

09 taped.jpg

I was using a bench top sander, but a few months ago, I caught one of these puppies on sale on Amazon and ordered it.  It's a 1x30 vertical belt sander, and I have used it for all kinds of things.  The first thing I did was remove the plate that is normally behind the belt, and the platform.  For my use, they were IN THE WAY.  I'm sure others would find them useful.  

10 1x30 sander.jpg

When I ordered the sander, I ordered two packages of belts.  They are much cheaper ordering them in bulk, but I read all the reviews.  Several of the bulk packs looked like great deals until I read the reviews... then they weren't a good buy at all.  :no:  I have belts ranging from 60 to 1000 grit.  That should do 'er.

11 belts.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

Rounding off the ends is not that hard, or that time consuming, it's a matter of feel.  I round them until I feel they are where I want them.  The rest of the shaping will take place farther down the checklist.  I took them to 400 grit and stopped.  That should do 'er for now.

The first one is the lacewood drop point scales, and they are  looking good.

12 one 400.jpg

Next up were the Dark Cocobolo for my Tanto, that is the hardest of the wood and I took my time and they are also looking pretty sharp.

13 two 400.jpg

Last are the medium cocobolo scales for the other drop point for the daughter.  They look like glass.

14 three 400.jpg

The hardest part of the entire evolution was changing the belts.  They are easy to take off and reinstall.  The worst bit is taking off the blade shield.  This requires taking out three screws after unplugging the vacuum hose and setting that aside.  Once you are re-belted with the next grit, you have to realign the flimsy shield and tighten the screws.  This gives you protection should the belt let go, and more importantly... creates the VACUUM to keep the dust down.  :laugh: :raised:

Tomorrow, glue ups and drilling.

[BigAl52]

All three of those knives are just outstanding. But my fav is the one you are keeping.

[BrokenolMarine]

If you scroll up and look.at the 1x30 sander pic...

Look at the slashes of yellow.
Yup, old geezer. Note they make it faster for me to find the cover screws.
(Which... I painted red. )
There is a third on the side, behind the vacuum port.

Hey... "A man's gotta know his limitations."

[BrokenolMarine]

Just so y'all will know, I broke down and done it. I ordered something special from AZ for the next knife builds. It'll be a surprize.

[BrokenolMarine]

Finally got back out into the shop this morning. I was tied up most of the day yesterday. Errands. The job today was to peel off the tape holding the scales together, position and mark the front edge of the scales on the blanks, and take 220 sandpaper and rough the metal of the blanks so that we will get excellent adhesion from the epoxy. First up was the Lacewood drop point, knife number one.

15 scuff one.jpg

Knocked 'er out and she will be ready for glue up. Did the same for knife number two, the cocobolo Tanto. The key here is NOT to rough up anything not to be covered by the scales. Knocked this one out. Doesn't take much, just knock the shine off.

16 scuff two.jpg

Last, but not least, the cocobolo drop point that will be my daughters. Got it marked and scuffed. They will all be pretty knives. Sorry, They will all be ATTRACTIVE knives, but I won't be able to decide which I like best until we are done. The grain can change as we shape and finish.

17 scuff three.jpg

Oh, yeah, the package from AZ arrived yesterday. Thanks to Alexis from Kingman turquoise for all her help. My next group of knives will have at least ONE with an inlay. Wanna guess What? I was going to order the mini wet saw to cut the inlays, but my daughter bought the exact saw I was going to order, to cut two tiles for her bathroom that got chipped. She could buy the saw and the continuous diamond blade from HF cheaper than renting one. We are picking it up in the next few days.

18 turquoise.jpg

This is real turquoise, not fake stuff. Straight from the mine. I can attest to the fact that it's not cheap. That is .48 pounds, but I should be able to do several knives and a few other things with it.

Next up for the trio, gluing on the first scales, one side for each blank.

[BrokenolMarine]

Out in the shop early, after a failed attempt to get to the post office to mail a package to Canada. For some reason they didn't open this morning as they were supposed to. Maybe our post office gal was sick or something. I'll stick the package in the mail on Monday. The puppy enjoyed the ride out and back.

First thing was to get everything I would need set up. The epoxy is a five minute deal so once you mix it, you can't go, "Oh, I forgot to get so and so." :no:
Got it all laid out, and ... On your mark... get set....

19 set up prep.jpg

I mixed just enough for each of the three blanks, and set up the one scale on each. Verified the placement and tightened the clamps, rechecked the placement and set them aside to cure. Moved to the next. Repeated the process. Three times, Three blanks.

20 three done.jpg

Then, I moved to the leather work table and practiced on the sheath carving for a while. I have plenty of time but I won't improve if I don't get the carving practice in.

cowgirl comp.jpg

This is the basic design I want for my Son-in-law's sheath. He is married to a real cowgirl. My daughter runs the farm, trains and cares for horses, shows them, used to jump and barrel race them... and isn't afraid to get dirty. Needs work on the artwork... the transfer, but the idea itself is solid.