A Special Build

[BrokenolMarine]

The daughter had been looking to find something special for me for Christmas. She settled on knife blanks. She looked for something I wouldn't easily find. At first she thought Fossilized Poo. But, she found a site selling blanks made from reclaimed wood from the restoration of the decking on the U.S.S. Constitution. Cool... They might not make the most highly figured scales, but they would be special.

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[BrokenolMarine]

I spent a couple months with the blanks laying in the box with those certificates, trying to decide how I was going to use the scales. Bowie? Nope, the blanks weren't wide enough. Length? I could fake, bone above and below, some stag maybe... but width would be an issue. A dagger? Nope, the shapes would waste a LOT of the wood. I didn't know what the blanks cost, but the wife hinted they were expensive. I played with various ideas and finally fell back on an old favorite. A Damascus Hunter. I drew the layout on the pad and played with the design for a couple weeks. It had to be right before I cut. I had some bone, some turquoise, and the blanks... but once they were cut, you can't take it back.

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The turquoise had to be cut on the wet tile saw.

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I finally made the cuts on the last BIG piece of flat turquoise I had, and it worked out fine. The bone I had to cut on the bandsaw.

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I cut matching pieces, and they would be the guard and the endcap with the scales between them.

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To glue them up, I mixed two part epoxy, but to insure the epoxy doesn't detract from the design, I added a powdered tint to the mix, in this case, deep black. If seen, it will accent rather than detract. It will fill any small gaps in the build.

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[BrokenolMarine]

Once the turquoise and bone were cut, I glued the individual pieces into pairs, careful to insure the lengths were matched in ways that would allow them to cover the areas and angles that were needed.

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In each step of the assembly, one piece would be glued and clamped to a side, and left to cure for several hours, sometimes overnight. This would NOT be a rapid build. I started with the front of the knife and carefully aligned the front bone/turquoise pair with the front edge and glued and clamped. The next day, I glued up the next pairing. Late that afternoon I removed the clamps and shaped the front pair. Beautiful.

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Next I cut the blank to match the space I had laid out for the scales, and tested the fit with the endcap pair.

[BrokenolMarine]

When that worked out, I carefully glued up the first scale and clamped 'er in place.

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After it dried, I came back out late in the afternoon, and carefully using the holes in the knife blank as a guide, with a wood block backing to prevent tearout, drilled thru the scale glued on the blank.

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Now I could carefully align and glue the second scale into place.

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[BrokenolMarine]

Once the scales were glued on, I drilled thru the second scale using the existing scales and blade blank as a guide, then placed the knife vertically in the vise and glued the endcap into place. I used a thin carbon fiber spacer on the endcap to insure the fit. (Hair Short)

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After curing overnight, I took the knife out of the vise and began sanding and shaping on the various tools in the shop, and by hand. I got to this point, and had to take a break, it was starting to look good, at 400 grit.

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I took another session, took her to 800 grit, then applied golden oak to the wood, filled some small gaps in the turquoise with the tinted epoxy, then when it dried, applied a thin coat of spar varnish. Looking good so far.

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I'm thinking three to four thin coats of spar varnish, then wax.... I have nickel silver pins for the holes... don't worry. I made them from rod stock.

[BrokenolMarine]

We still have a ways to go......

[Mags]

We still have a ways to go......

Regardless, looking good, very nice.

[BrokenolMarine]

Thanks my friend. I don't think I'll be using this knife. Display only for obvious reasons. Though, the build IS solid, it could be a working knife... It could be used, but would get dinged and scarred like any other. The construction would hold up.

[Sir Henry]

Wow I’m impressed. I could never do anything like that.

[CT_Shooter]

What a great project to honor those who serve(d) on that historic ship. As always, thanks for sharing the process with us. It's beautiful and a "fitting" tribute to Old Ironsides; your knife literally invites all "hands on deck" once again. Glad she wasn't inspired to get you the petrified poo.