Birthday Build

[BrokenolMarine]

I've still got time, Miss T's Birthday is still a few days away.

[rickhem]

The CA glue finish sounds interesting.
I built some saltwater fishing plugs some years ago, and those finished up with a two part epoxy called EnviroTex. It's supposedly not rock-hard like some other epoxies, and helps keep the plugs sealed even after a few fish chew on them. The people that helped me do these said that the EnviroTex stayed flexible, and was a better finish than other epoxies.
The CA finish sounds neat, your work time is short and the coating is thinner, but it's rock hard when cured. I've used the CA and baking soda trick to fill gaps and voids, and that works amazingly well, just never thought of the CA itself as a finish.
Your threads just keep on giving!

[BrokenolMarine]

I have used all three CA glues in my woodworking to fill gaps and cracks, then sanded them smooth. I use fine sawdust from the same area on the wood, pre-stain it with the stain I plan to use there, or stain it very dark, then fill the hole and add the CA. The glue soaks in. I let it cure, repeat until the fill is proud, then sand off flush. I can usually find the repair, but others rarely comment on them. If you like, I'll post a pic when I get back to my desktop.

[Hatchdog]

The contrast between the pins and the scales is outstanding!

[BrokenolMarine]

The contrast between the pins and the scales is outstanding!

I like the fact that the scales appear to have gold swirls in them.

[BigAl52]

Looks really good BOM. Im sure Miss T will love it

[BrokenolMarine]

I had gone out this morning and applied the first coat of CA finish to this project. As I said earlier, I had never done it before, and like all the rest of the knifemaking, I "Watched YouTube videos" and was ready to give 'er a go. Ah... it wasn't nearly as smooth as I had hoped. I laid out all the supplies, made a last pass at the sanding with 1500 grit, and wiped 'er down with a moist cloth to insure there was no dust or grit.

I donned my gloves, got my lint free cloth and made the first swipe across the scales with the thin CA glue. The grain and scale lit up beautifully. This was going to work grea... what? The little bleed thru from the rag ate thru the rubber glove like the creatures blood thru the floors and everything else in the movie "Alien!" It also burned the tip of my finger INSIDE The glove.

Not a good start.

Doubled, then tripled the rag, and stripped off the gloves. Sheesh. I added more CA glue and made another swipe. LOOKS great. Turned the knife and made another pass, turned and pass, turned and pass, turned and pass, and an overlap. Ugggh. A bit of a lump. Well, they said you might get some bumps, but you do sand between coats to get that sheen.

Put the knife in the clamp to hold it vertical to cure. Went in for breakfast and coffee. I came back out and it looked pretty good as I walked up to the bench, but... up close there were a lot of rough areas. Began wet sanding for the between coat work.

29 wet sanding CA finish.jpg

I started at 600 grit and worked my way all the way around the scales. Rinsed and was disappointed to learn that there was still sanding to do. Got a new piece, spritzed the sandpaper and got to work. With the paper wrapped around the pink eraser and music in the background, I got to it. Rinsed and ... still had areas that looked like... um... didn't look good. Got new paper and settled in. Put 'er in the vise and went to work.

30 up to 1500 grit.jpg

An hour later, working up thru 1000 and 1500 grit, we were looking good. ALL the CA was gone and she was looking good again.

31 thats nice.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

What to do now? I fell back on a tried and true remedy. All that sanding had proven one thing. The synthetic scale was HARD as a rock. So, I'd use my old faithful....

32 old faithful.jpg

I applied the first coat, and as it dried I started to clean up. I came back and buffed out coat one, and applied a second. They get easier as you go along. More cleaning and quicker drying time. Buff and apply, then come back. She looks good.

33 three coats.jpg

Started on the design and layout of the sheath, should be finished in time for the boss's birthday.

34 started on the sheath.jpg

I'm not ruling out the CA finish, I'll give it a try on some scrap wood when I'm in the shop and bored and see if I can figure it out. Or not. It may not make it to my quiver... I can't master every technique. Some folks are masters, some are satisfied to hack at it.

[BigAl52]

Never seen any hacking in the BOM shop. Looks great

[BrokenolMarine]

Got back to work in the shop on the sheath, and after fiddling with the actual leather, test folding and checking to see if the knife would actually fit, I transferred the pattern to the leather.

35 transferred the sheath.jpg

Playing around with the knife on the leather, I figured out where the welt needed to go, and how it needed to be laid out, and sketched it into the leather of the sheath. I needed to transfer that to a pattern that I could put on the raw leather so I could cut out a welt. I had come up with a trick to use that has worked well in the past. Take clear tape, and join the sticky faces together to form a clear stiff (ish) piece to lay over the area to be traced.

36 A neat trick.jpg

Get the piece lined up and ready, and use a fine tip marker and trace your pattern.

37 overlay the welt.jpg

Go over the lines several times after the initial trace once you are done so they are bold.

38 welt traced.jpg

Now you can cut out the pattern and transfer it to the raw leather, and cut out the welt to be used on your sheath.

[BrokenolMarine]

Next item for the last session of the day was to make the loop that will secure the knife in it's sheath. I cut a 1" wide strip from the raw leather, using an old belt piece saved from a gun belt, I fancied up the end a bit, and rounded off the opposite end. I then tooled the strap, and burnished the edges. Done.

39 tie down cut and tooled.jpg

Of course, when I decide on the dye I'll use for the finished sheath, this piece will get dyed before assembly. Before stopping for the evening I started tooling the leather for the main sheath body. A basketweave pattern. I haven't finished the tooling yet, so no pics. Ran out of time and my hands started to ache. Arthur told me I was done for the night. Some of you know him. Arthur Itis.

More to come, watch this spot.

[rickhem]

Metal, Wood, Leather, you do it all!
And for your CA application, maybe a small paintbrush of some sort? I'd use those acid brushes for the epoxy coat on the lures, and they're great for that, but that has a much longer work time than the CA, so not sure that'll work there.
Anyway, the knife looks fantastic, and the sheath is just as nice!

[BrokenolMarine]

Thanks Rick. When I try the CA on scrap wood, I will give the acid brushes a try.

[Hatchdog]

Never seen any hacking in the BOM shop. Looks great

Me neither. Looking great BOM, especially the scales and the color’s popping out.

[BrokenolMarine]

Back at it this morning. I had forgotten to post a pic of the welt after I cut out the template, transferred the design and cut it out. So, I'll correct that sad failure first. If you look closely at the welt I cut out, you'll see that after testing, I opened the top of the welt to allow the knife to slide in and out of the sheath. It was binding badly on the notch and I could live without it.

40 the welt.jpg

Last night I had started on the tooling of the main sheath body, a basket weave pattern. I got partially done and had to go inside to take Princess Fiona on her nightly ride... so here is where I left off. It was looking pretty good.

41 basketweave started.jpg

My first task this morning was to finish the tooling of the main sheath body, which included filling in the open areas as much as possible, which is always a risk. You have to tilt the stamp and lightly stamp, the risk is TOO much stamp, and going outside the defined area. You can't take it back. After you are satisfied you have done as much as you can, you bevel your border. Then, your final task is to use the border stamp of your choice to go around the inside of the pattern. This, hopefully, fills in the pattern and gives you a complete look.

42 sheath body tooling done.jpg

I also added my maker's mark to the back of the sheath body. An Eagle, Globe, and Anchor with BrokenolMarine above it.

[BrokenolMarine]

The next task on the morning agenda was to cut and form a belt loop for the back of the sheath. I traced the area I wanted, cut it out and then using an old belt scrap defined the areas that needed sewn down. Then using a spacing wheel, I marked the stitch holes and drilled them on the table top press, ONLY in the loop portion for now. I'll use that as a guide to drill thru the sheath after they are glued together.

43 belt loop holes marked.jpg

I marked the area where contact cement will be applied on BOTH halves, and roughed them slightly to insure a good hold, then applied the cement to allow it to reach tacky stage.

44 roughed for contact and cement applied.jpg

Once that happens, you have ONE shot at matching the halves. Once they touch, they are glued. You MIGHT get a shot at adjustment but in most cases, it's not happening. I nailed it. I applied my clamps and left it to cure. Note my clamps have leather hoods to avoid imprints. During my "LEARNING" phase I applied clamps along a beautiful piece of leather I had spent hours carving oak leaves and acorns and then folding and gluing in prep for sewing. When I removed the clamps, the sheath had "Teeth Marks" from those plastic spring clamps everywhere they had been applied. Ruined all that work. Now the leather clamps all wear leather hoods.

[BrokenolMarine]

or... maybe you could call them leather Muzzles.

[BrokenolMarine]

Got the welt glued in this morning, and dyed the inside of the sheath. Some leave it natural, I think it looks better dyed a dark color, it also protects it some. You don't dye the area where you'll put glue. I roughed up the areas for the gluing of the welt and off side.

46 inside dyed.jpg

While I waited for the dye to dry, I started on the Bead Line that I am going to add to the finished sheath in the last phase. It's something have have always intended to try, and since this is for Miss Tina, It thought it was a perfect time to give it a shot. I picked up a bunch of mixed stuff at Hobby Lobby and am pre-stringing them to set up the order but they will be sewn individually.

48 bead chain.jpg

The dye dried and I coated both halves with contact cement and did some cleanup and putting away of tools while I waited. Then, time to clamp the sheath. It's starting to look like a sheath at this point. Took a while.

49 Glued up.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

After lunch I was back out, and the sheath was out of the clamps. I laid out the patch for the bead chain and measured the grouping, and spaced the holes appropriately after marking and cutting a groove for the beads to follow and seat in.

50 grooved and marked for bead chain.jpg

Took the sheath to the drill press and drilled the bead line and the belt loop retention lines which I had marked prior and drilled before the belt loop was glued on. I drilled those using the first piece as a template.

51 drilled.jpg

A view of the back. Beginners in leather often have very neat lines on the front of things, but the back lines wander and sometimes break out the sides. You learn to avoid this by putting uneven or odd shaped pieces on a raised board and pressing them flat so the drill bit is drilling straight through.

52 back.jpg

You can sew, then dye, but the thread will be dyed with the leather. Fine if you don't mind that. At times, the contrasting thread is an accent you want. In my case, I don't want the bead work dyed, so I dye now, and will antique and wax prior to sewing. I'll burnish the edges after sewing has pulled them tight.

53 first dye pass on sheath.jpg

Looks good so far, but antiquing will really make the tooling pop.

[Hatchdog]

Can’t wait to see what you are going to do with that bead line. I’m thinking that it will be a nice compliment to the scales. We’ll see soon….