This will be my first November Project

[BrokenolMarine]

Red Heart Hunter....

I found this blank mixed in with some other wood and got started today.... it might be a slow process as I plan to tool the spine and try and polish the scales to a glass finish. I will put in a copper spacer to accent the Red Heart wood in the scales.

01 redheart blank.jpg

Red Heart is a hard wood, with reds, yellows, pinks, and even hints of purple. Let's hope that all the colors show up.
We will see as the project goes along. As I process the wood, I don't think I'll need liners or accents for this one. It should stand alone.

[BrokenolMarine]

The first real step in the project is to measure the blank for bookmatching, or cutting it down the middle to make two scales from the one piece. Done right, it opens up like the pages of a book.

02 careful measuring.jpg

I measured with the ruler first, then used the compass to make reference marks along the side. Using the ruler I made a bold line I could see well.

03 marked to bookmatch.jpg

Moving to the bandsaw, I used the 123 block to insure the blade was square to the table, and made my cut.

04 123 true.jpg

Slow and steady, not forcing the wood thru, but it's a very hard wood and it decided to burn anyway.

05 hard wood burns.jpg

I'll clean up both flats on the sander.

[BrokenolMarine]

As thin as the blanks are, I didn't want to try and hold them in my hand. I have burned the ends of my fingers on the belt sander before and it's not an accident I want to repeat. The Cabinet Maker's Clamp works well here.

06 clamped for safety.jpg

As long as you hold the piece flat and let the SANDER do the work, not applying too much pressure this works GREAT.
* Yes, the sander is OFF for the photo... (Safety)

07 sanding smooth and clean.jpg

I sanded all four flats on the two scales, and didn't worry about the one flaw in the panel, I can orient the knife blank to work around that area. I didn't want to sand the blank too thin to try and remove it when I COULD work around it. The copper bar stock is marked for cutting later, to make the accent pieces near the guard. I'll get to that.

08 wood and copper.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

I dyed the spine so I could lay out the area for tooling. Using the compass, I laid out the 1/4" spacing. Slow and steady, a careful layout will result in a better end tooling than a rush job. I am getting better at this tooling thing, but far from perfection. Lot's to learn.

09 spine dyed for marking.jpg

One area where I have made a mistake is when the pattern I chose called for alternating cuts on the spine. This time I not only laid out the spacing, but the cuts are marked with triangles on the sides I want to file references before cutting. Look for the little triangles which will mark the initial filing. Should help me NOT to file on the wrong side of the lines.

10 marked for tooling.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

My time was up, may get back out in the shop after lunch. NOT going to rush... I want to see this turn out better than the last. That should be my motto. "Each one better than the last."

[BrokenolMarine]

I was back out after lunch and carefully cut the reference notches with the Dremel and a cutting wheel. The little reference marks definitely made things easier for me.

11 first notches.jpg

I switched over to a cone shaped carbide cutter and cut the grooves in the spine, and the beginning of the pattern began to show. I have the start. I will decide what else, if anything else, I'll add later. It looks much better than a plain spine now. Most likely I'll at least round off all the sharp corners to make it "Flow."

12 The grooves.jpg

Buff away the dye with 1,000 grit sandpaper, and a little polish just to tease....

13 dye buffed away.jpg

I push that aside and get on to the real PITA work... cutting that copper bar to make the accent strips. I cut partway thru with the angle grinder, then finish off with the hacksaw. Long and energy draining process. I get them rough cut. Then I match the factory edges and a corner on both, keep the spray bottle handy and clamp them and use the 80 grit belt on the bench grinder and match the other edge by grinding them together while clamped. Slow and sure, cooling a lot...

We get there. The afternoon's work and I'm done for now.

14 afternoons work.jpg

We are just getting started, and hopefully it's all worth it in the end.

[BrokenolMarine]

Got out in the morning to do some polishing. Started with 220 and a spritz of water and a swipe of dawn as usual. The barstock is in the pic for reference.

15 to 220 wet.jpg

Rinse well, move up to 320, and repeat.

16 to 320 wet.jpg

Each phase of the wet sanding takes about 20 minutes of hand work on these small pieces. I only sanded both sides at 220, when I moved up, I just sanded the Show Face. Now to 600... I'll stop here for now, and polish higher once we are glued up.

17 to 600 wet.jpg

I did polish the contact sides to 320 to assure a nice fit against the blade guard and the wood contact surfaces when they are polished as well. The copper accents will go here:

18 goes here.jpg

A peek at the complimentary relationship with the wood and the copper.

19 the wood.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

Went out to work on the scales and after marking the layouts I prepared to cut them out on the bandsaw and noticed an issue. Look closely, you'll see that one of them is not the same thickness as the other. Turns out that they are both NOT flat and square.

20 scale issue.jpg

I didn't "Want" to try and correct this issue on the belt sander. If the piece got away from me it could:

a) fly across the room and shatter against the wall...
b) get sucked into the discharge chute and get broken into several pieces....
c) cause your hand to contact that moving belt and ...

None of these options are in any way attractive. Especially option C.

So, I dug out my carrier board, and some two sided tape. For thin pieces of material I attach them to the carrier and have them ride thru the lunchbox planer on the board, taking very thin passes. Usually works very well. The Tape goes on the Show Face, and that goes down.

21 double sided tape.jpg

Bottoms up on the carrier board, with the thinnest side facing forward. I got her set up so that the first pass barely touches the scales. Each future pass was raised minutely and patience is a virtue. This is a hardwood and I don't want to damage the scales at this point. After a half dozen passes I was still barely making contact with the high edges and things are going well...

22 bottoms up on the carrier.jpg

Then, it wasn't. The whirling blades caught on something along one edge of one of the scales and pulled the tape loose, the scale bound up. The blade cut a divot in the bottom of the scale. I think I may have said some things.. I won't swear to it.

Work had stopped for the afternoon.


I don't rush when these things happen, I'll give her some thought and decide how to move forward. Can it be fixed and the scales salvaged? Do I change the name of the post and use different scales? We shall see, watch this space...

[BrokenolMarine]

I decided it wasn't too late and went on out to the shop. I looked at the error again.

23 oops my mistake.jpg

I had a cool option, an off cut from an cutting board I made a year or two ago. I always thought this will make a nice knife handle. Different anyway. I'll still use it, just a matter of when.

24 an option.jpg

I looked hard at the depth of the error, and the thinnest section of the scales. I marked the sides with a marking gauge. Hmmm. I think I can flatten them both to the same thickness looking at the scale pattern marked on the good side, and they will work out. Worst case, I add a liner to the back side to thicken them up a bit. Use the right color liner, and it's just an accent.

25 marked thickness.jpg

I put a new 80 grit belt on the sander, used the Cabinet Maker's Clamp to hold them. Not getting my fingers close to that belt again... and worked away. An hour later, they pretty much match... at least well enough to work. I think. Tomorrow I'll cut them out to the rough shape, and test the thickness. If need be, I'll line them, and we'll work from there. Stay tuned.

26 repaired sorta.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

One thing I won't do, is hide my mistakes. We can all learn from them. I'll even tell you when I make one big enough to start over. I know I have in the past. Yup, I know I'm still learning.

[Hatchdog]

A bit off topic but I’ll share this…

Yesterday I was at a neighbor’s place who was celebrating his 80th birthday. Another neighbor who is doing the finish work in his home was telling be about some issues he had. Told me after ruining his third piece of trim he just quit for the day and started up again the next day. I was telling him about your knife building and how you do the exact same thing, stopping when it’s time to stop either from the body saying quit or working thru a problem.

Now, back to regularly scheduled knife building…

[BrokenolMarine]

I got the bandsaw set up and cut out the scales. As always I stayed just outside the lines. I learned a long time ago, better to sand off the excess than to wish you could ADD back wood you took away by mistake.

27 cut out the scales.jpg

Once they were cut out, I chose a liner of Black G10 and glued the two scales to a liner material and put them in clamps to cure. I set them aside and moved on.

28 glued up backing.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

The next step in this project is to drill a hole in the blade blank for the bolster. Normally you won't have a bolster on a knife with a guard, so this is really just a copper accent. Okay, I need to drill a hole for the copper accent. I mark the spot for the hole and put the blade in the JIG so I can drill squarely thru. Carbide 1/8" bit.

29 prepared to drill bolster hole.jpg

I clamp the JIG on the drill press table and slowly, so as not to overheat the EXPENSIVE carbide bit and shatter it... (like the really small one I used in another project ,) ... I keep it oiled to cool it as well.... I drill the hole. Slow and sure, slow and sure, pulling the bit up and spinning it in the air to cool it, and the blade blank.

30 drilling.jpg

Then, I clamp a bolster (copper accent) under the blade blank and touch the bit to the copper to mark the location ON the accent. Then I clamp the copper to the press table and Drill thru that.

31 first bolster.jpg

I flip the blade blank in the JIG, then clamp the second accent in position and touch the bit to the accent piece then repeat the above procedure.

32 second followed.jpg

Both pieces are done. I sand away the blowout on the bottom and clean up the marks on the top by hand sanding them on 220 grit paper. We are ready to mount them. I measure and cut a length of 1/8" copper rod.

[BrokenolMarine]

After test fitting I mix up the two part epoxy, and add some metallic copper tint to the epoxy. This way the bleed thru will fill and hide any minor gaps. I glue on the one side, and drive the rod thru just a tad to help align side two. Then drive all the way thru so I have a small portion thru on both sides. Then clamp them both and let the epoxy cure.

33 mounted.jpg

A few hours later I come back out to the shop and with the various tools at hand I begin shaping the bolsters. (Accent copper. LOL.)

34 shaping.jpg

I also remove the scales from the clamps and discover one has failed to properly glue up. I clean and re-glue that scale and go back to work on the copper, polishing and shaping. Another hour of work and the copper is looking good. Check the scale, the five minute epoxy had cured, the scale has failed again. I carefully consider my options and toss both scales in the trash. You have to know when to hold and know when to fold. I have options and will choose new scales.

Miss T knocks on the shop door and tells me we are under tornado warnings and I'm done for the day....

[BrokenolMarine]

If I don't join Dorothy in OZ, I'll have plenty of time to think about new scales, Like Scarlett O'hara, I'll think about this tomorrow.

[Hatchdog]

Man, those scales are not your friend. I sure do like the tooling you are putting on the spline. As I type this I have seen the destruction in OK from the tornados, man what a year ma nature has delivered to date.

[BrokenolMarine]

We came out fine on the other side. We got a lot of rain, which we needed, but no flooding. We took the UTV out late yesterday evening and checked the creeks. Running, but not ripping. The pastures were fine, wet but not spongy. We hadn't seen rain in months. The ground was cracked with craters in it. We needed the rain, and a slow steady rain for twenty four to forty eight hours. Last night we got a steady rain that bumped up to hard now and then, even thunder storm volume here and there. High winds, lightening, Thunder that shook the house. I grinned in my sleep.

[BrokenolMarine]

Got back out to the shop for a session today, though I spent the bulk of the day inside waiting for the VA clinic to call me back after I called them this morning. They never did.

I started going thru the available scales looking for the replacement for the Red Heart. I thought seriously about using the off cut from the Cutting Board I had pictured earlier. But... my plan for that entailed cutting it dead center between the purpleheart, and inserting something to widen it so the holes for the pins fell centered ON the purpleheart. I had even found a nice piece of burled white oak that would have worked for that. I decided I use that on a later project.

37 cutting board offcut.jpg

I remembered a nice piece of Curly Cherry that I thought was buried in a cabinet and started digging for it. I came across a highly figured slice of walnut. A winner. No need to look any further. I Sanded it smooth on both sides, laid out the cuts and made them on the bandsaw, clamped each side to the blank and drilled the holes.

35 Walnut won.jpg

Next up was making the pins for the blank and I chose Nickel Silver to mate with the Stainless Blank. We will be ready to glue up in the morning AFTER we vote.

36 both sides and pins.jpg

I have high hopes this time. I'll do a last bit of prep sanding once we get back from the polls and Boom, Glue Up.
Watch this space.

[BrokenolMarine]

As predicted, we headed over to vote as the polls opened at 7, and were home by half past. After coffee, I headed out to the shop and prepared to work on the glue up. My first step was to prep the Kant Twist Clamps. I stripped off the old tape from the leather pads and applied new painter's tape and leather to the clamps so they wouldn't damage the scales. They are ready to go.

38 clamps prepped.jpg

Next, gathered the things needed to set the scales, mixing cup, stir stick, the scales, the pins and the table top is protected. Good to go. Five minute epoxy means five minutes. I also chose the tint for the epoxy, copper ... going to try something with this one since I bought the dang tint.

39 everything ready.jpg

I mixed up the epoxy, and added just a dash, a very small amount of tint. Too much and the glue won't cure. (Don't ask me how I know this.) Okay, I'll tell... luckily it was experimenting on scraps... not a real project. Got the scales and pins installed, folded over a piece of parchment paper, and clamped it all together.

40 glued up and clamped.jpg

Snuck in q-tips to pull off excess bleed out from the edges, and tossed them all away. I wanted a good glue up. I don't want to do this all again, nor do I want to toss this blade blank. We'll leave this to cure until after lunch.

[BrokenolMarine]

Out after lunch, with the five minute epoxy curing for a couple hours. I pulled the clamps and the rest off the knife and it was solid. Looks good, time to clean 'er up and start shaping.

41 out after lunch.jpg

Spent some time on both 1 x 30 belt sanders and the oscillating sander to get the inside curves, and she is starting to show herself. Up to 400 grit so far with a touch of 600 on the guard and copper accent. I took a break and will be back at it late this evening or tomorrow. We will take the walnut up to at least 800, the metals to 1500 or so. I like it so far.

42 some time shaping.jpg

I can't wait to see this with the finish on it.