October Project - Stag Hunter

[BrokenolMarine]

Build along for this if anyone might be interested. I figured it was time after I finished that Display Case project and cleaned up the shop.

01 cleanup from knife case.jpg

I bought the blank and the guard and pommel from Jantz. I plan to use a piece of Antler I got from my daughter and some interesting inlay left over from another project, and maybe some G10 accents. We'll see. If people tell me they want to follow, I'll take the pics and narrate the build. Who am I kidding, I'm taking the pics for MY records anyway. This is the tentative plan.

03 layout for stag and inlays.jpg

Let me know y'all. I have dental in the morning and have to drive to Sulphur. Davis is next door and I need to stop in Jantz and pick up a file or two. Need to shape the junction of the guard and blade, and open up the guard a bit.

Might work tomorrow, might not. Wednesday for sure.... Watch this space, enough Followers, something might appear other than the final pic.

[CT_Shooter]

I'm looking forward to it, Marine.

[Hatchdog]

Bring it on BOM…

Oh by the way, if idle hands are the tool of the devil ole’ Beelzebub doesn’t even know you exist.

Shop looks great now go in there and mess it up!

[BigAl52]

You dont even need to ask. It has an entertainment value all of its own

[BrokenolMarine]

I stopped by Jantz on the way to the dentist and picked up a carbide cutter for the Dremel to help with opening the hole in the guard. I told the nice lady behind the counter it was too bad they didn't make mini mills. She laughed and said they do. "We used to sell them a few years back."

[BrokenolMarine]

"Uh Oh."

Something else to research.

[BrokenolMarine]

BTW, I found a use for that leftover magnet from the display case project... I attached it to the back of the leather shelves, facing the knife desk. It holds a number of tools for this side of the room. Allen wrenches that fit various things, and now the diamond files. They aren't in THIS pic, but I'll show it later with all that stuff.

02 used the extra magnet.jpg

The Blade Blank needed some fine tuning, so I used the filing JIG from Jantz and started working. I squared the blade up in the JIG and used leather strips due to the ridge running down the side of the blade. I made sure the blade was square in the JIG then placed it in the big vise. Worked, and worked. Got it close.

04 file blade for guard.jpg

Next I worked on the Guard, they come with the hole slightly undersize and you fit them. I don't have a mill, so I bought a carbide cutter for the Dremel, and got 'er close, then it's file work. It was close, but no cigar....

05 still a gap.jpg

After another half hour of work with the diamond files... she was good.

06 much better.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

I started polishing the Guard with the same method I always use. 120 grit, water, and dawn. Elbow Grease. Music in the background helps. Today it's the soundtrack from American Graffiti. I sound great on some songs, Suck on others, but none of you can hear me... so I sing along, and sing out loud and proud. Tina sometimes sticks her head in and asks if someone is killing a cat?

07 begin polishing.jpg

I took the polishing up thru 240, 325, 400... then stopped and marked the guard with a circle template and put it on the disc grinder. Grind, cool in the water bath. Grind (a little) and cool in the water bath. I got 'er shaped.

08 shaped the guard.jpg

A little comparison with the pommel which I haven't begun polishing. It's nickel silver as well... they both came looking like that. The pommel and the guard will be taken up to around 2,000 grit then rouged. But for now, I'll work on removing scratches and worry about shaping and rolling the edges on the guard. Once it's installed there will be areas I can't polish.

09 guard and pommel.jpg

I'll be back at it tomorrow.

[BigAl52]

Is the mini mill on order yet?

[BrokenolMarine]

Is the mini mill on order yet?

Ah, I wish. I saw one at Harbor Freight on line, About $800. No Reviews. Then you start adding in all the bits and cutters.


They go UP dramatically from there. $2,000. plus the bits, cutters and the rest. I can make do with the carbide cutters for the Dremel for the things I need to do... Cheaper to buy another blade if I blow it... than pay for all that.

I'm just a hobbyist here. The one thing I have plenty of?

Time.

[BrokenolMarine]

As promised, a picture of the magnet bar, loaded up. Helps get some oft used items out of the drawers and off the other benches. The allen wrenches go to the various jigs or the sanders for adjustments. Now all in one location.

10 bar loaded.jpg

This first pic is the Knife Guard Polished to 400 grit, starting to look better.

11 to 400 grit.jpg

I still needed to round the edges, and I did that one the new 1 x 30 sander, very cautious not to touch the moving belt. THAT move hurts every time. I have the scars to prove it. Rounded the edges, and polished the pommel a tad, the guard in the pic is at 600 grit.

12 shaped and to 600 grit.jpg

I have these parts marked to be rough cut on the bandsaw. I also cut some of the G10 carbon fiber parts I'll need, so they can all go to the drill press for the centering hole.

13 marked for bandsaw.jpg

I'm sure many of you have a drill press, but how many have given a thought to the safety of it's use. Cutting smaller items, or metal, you should always clamp them and not try and hold them by hand. If they snag and get spun, you can get a very bad cut. Don't ask me how I know this, but I have the scars to prove I learned THAT lesson the hard way as well. There are videos showing some of this. Also, DON'T wear gloves, a thread can get caught in the spinning bit and pull your hand into that shaft and break your fingers, your wrist or worse. NO, didn't need to learn that one.

14 safety first.jpg

I drilled the large center hole thru the antler in three steps. Pilot hole, then opened it up a bit, then the final size. Much easier than taking a chance on cracking the antler and having to start anew. The very small pieces I used a small drill press vise made for them. But, a through hole would hit the anvil. Adapt and overcome.

With all the pieces ready, I test fitted the pieces then quit for now. I'll preshape some of them, then glue them up and prepare to start shaping the handle.

15 test layout.jpg

I love that part... that's when, like the A-Team, the plan comes together.

[MuddyWaters62]

Luv your work! I could sit here and watch all day. LOL I have a coupleof blanks I need to start. Here on the Red River, most of September and October, the day time temps were in the mid-nineties. I have AC in my insulated shop, but the shop sits in the sun most of the day. It sure keeps heat real well but it sucks at keeping the cool. I may one day attach some 2 inch Formular insulation.

Muddy Waters

[BrokenolMarine]

Luv your work! I could sit here and watch all day. LOL I have a coupleof blanks I need to start. Here on the Red River, most of September and October, the day time temps were in the mid-nineties. I have AC in my insulated shop, but the shop sits in the sun most of the day. It sure keeps heat real well but it sucks at keeping the cool. I may one day attach some 2 inch Formular insulation.

Muddy Waters

My daughter is right there with you. She lives on the Oklahoma side, and her husband works on the Texas Side at Shepherd AFB. They cross back and forth over the river on 44 into Texas to Wichita Falls all the time.

[MuddyWaters62]

Come on downstream to I-35 and turn rt into Gainesville. My best friend has a medium ranch on the west sideof I-35 near Davis,OK. He grew up in Henniepen,OK. He has a nice hobby farm. He invites me to come up and shoot and fish with him. We have been co-workers for about 25 yrs. We have hunted Archery and gun down in Big Bend area and also Auodad sheep. We have also hunted mule deer and we also went to Palo Dura canyon for Auodad. In summertime we would ease over to the Lake south of Davis with our wives. Good Times! Sure do like the A&W ROOT BEER store at I-35 west of Davis.

Muddy Waters

[rickhem]

More good stuff! I love that you spread out to a pretty wide variety of styles with your projects.

I have a couple of the Harbour Freight tool-holder magnets, one in my garage, and one down in my reloading area. A while back you could get them as a freebie with a coupon, but I haven't seen them free for a few years. When you put them in the right place, they end up getting filled with tools pretty quickly, which is a testament to both their utility, and the location.

[BrokenolMarine]

I had to run out to a med appointment this morning, just for labs. But of course, they made the appointment for 10, so the early morning was shot. After I got home and got a bite to eat... I got to work. First up, I decided to shape the wood trim piece that would go against the blade guard. I put it on the shaft of the blade blank and marked a profile, then cut off the excess with the bandsaw, leaving plenty to shape on the oscillating sander.

Working carefully, I sanded to what I thought would be a great looking profile. I was wrong.

16 oops.jpg

Oops was right... I had taken off way too much, and the darn thing was WAY too small for the transition.

17 too small.jpg

This was one of those Adapt and Overcome moments.

[BrokenolMarine]

I didn't have another piece big enough to make another transition, but I did have a couple nice scraps laying on the bench. Hmmm? If I cut a couple dadoes in the pieces and matched them...?

18 scraps to the rescue.jpg

Cutting the dadoes and then matching them up would give me the basic width I needed.

19 cut dados.jpg

After test fitting I decided this just might work. I glued the pieces together and tried the fit. Looked pretty good.

20 just might work.jpg

I slid the stag on the blank and sure enough, it's big enough.

21 big enough.jpg

I sanded the pieces flat and got to work. It's got some nice color...

22 sanded.jpg

Marking the piece against the guard, I shaped it on the sander then sanded a bit more on the flat sandpaper on the bench. It's roughly shaped for now.

23 roughed out.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

While I was in the shop, I went ahead and paired up the G10 and Carbon Fiber pieces, put a drop or three of glue between the three pieces, wax paper between the three piece sets, then clamped them. Glued up they will be easier to glue to either end of the stag. This will make the assembly easier down the road. My time for this session was drawing to a close. I dropped the roughed out spacer in a med cup of walnut stain for a couple minutes then pulled it out and set it aside to dry. Time to close down the shop and take that required break.

[BrokenolMarine]

Went back out for an afternoon session. First job, pull the clamped G10 out of the clamp. I had used the end bench clamp. You can put a lot of pressure on things with those clamps and they are very secure.

24 g10 clamped.jpg

I pulled them out and separated the two assemblies. They looked good. The odd edges aren't a problem as they are going to be shaped on the sander. If there were supposed to be final shaped before glueup, I would have insured matched edges.

25 G10 outed.jpg

I had given this project plenty of thought during the set up period this afternoon, and had another option in mind. This would use a slice of the cut off from the antler in the bottom of the assembly rather than the wood. No way to know how it would look without trying. I have an excess of time, SO... I cut a slice. Then I squared the ends and drilled the hole thru the center. This gave me an option one and option two. Input? Which do y'all like?

Option one uses the wood inlay at the bottom...

26 option 1.jpg

Option two will use the antler inlay in place of the wood inlay.

27 option 2.jpg

I'll give it some thought, and your input will help.
Still a lot to do, including shaping the G10 accent sections and the handle scales (Antler)

[CT_Shooter]

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.