A New Build (Along)

[BrokenolMarine]

Going back out this morning to get some work done. Will likely get the stain on the scales and set that aside for a day and start on the Tanto. That will be a fun project. I have an inlay to do, and will get to make the bolster and perhaps add a touch of color with the liners.

[BrokenolMarine]

I got on out this morning early... wanted to make a call around noon so I wanted to get started. I looked over the knife and decided to go up at least a couple more grits and took the knife up to 600. Might have gone to 800 but I was out. I thought you might like a better view of the improvised knife vise setup I am using to do the detail sanding, so here it is:

49 view of improvised vise setup.jpg

It uses a medium cabinet makers screw clamp with a couple pieces of soft leather for grip. I then put it in the bench vise when I want to work that angle or clamp it to the bench for 90 degrees out. Works great. I spent about an hour with 600 grit working to get a glass smooth finish on the wood and the best I can on the metal.

Here is a tour around the knife... I'm good with it. I'll replace the missing 800 grit... for next time.

50 left 600 grit.jpg

51 belly 600 grit.jpg

52 right 600 grit.jpg

53 spine 600 grit.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

I glove up and am ready to apply the first coat of the watco finish. I have the acetone and qtips standing by to clean the metal surfaces. Don't want the watco drying there.

54 Watco Golden Oak.jpg

55 acetone cleaner.jpg

Careful application of the watco golden oak makes the grain really pop. I love this finish for the spalted maple. I apply a first pass and it soaks deep, and while it is still wet, I make several more passes. Some will dip it, but I have the metal to worry about. I make light passes until the oil stops being absorbed. I let it sit a bit then wipe it off and clamp the knife in the work bench vise to dry. I'll come back out and buff it and then reapply the oil. She is looking sharp. I'm happy.

56 left stained.jpg

57 belly stained.jpg

58 right stained.jpg

59 spine stained.jpg

Once the oil step is completed, it will be time to wax. Then the knife will be done.

Sheath time.

(And the Tanto... anyone want to watch that one?)

[BrokenolMarine]

BTW - I love the bookmatched grain on the belly of this knife.

[markiver54]

Looking great Jim! That Watco is good stuff. I've used it before. Yes, would love to see the Tanto process.

[BrokenolMarine]

I slipped out to my shop when I heard the rear motion alarm and saw miss T headed that way. She was upgrading one of the sewing tables... no help needed. Don't you love Southern Farm Wives....

While there, I put a second coat of Watco Oil on that Spalted Maple and rubbed 'er in good. Yup, I love that Golden Oak for that Spalted Silver Maple. I put the knife back in the Custom High Dollar Drying Rack to cure. What? You'd Like to see that?

60 custom high dollar drying rack.jpg

Gee, that didn't take too long. You hear that? The bench is calling, the Tanto is whining it's not gotten any attention lately. I taped off a 1/4" bar of brass and laid out the bolster, let's get 'er started. After drawing the bolster on the blue tape, I cut it out on the bar with a scalpel, then drew around the tape with a marker. Peeled the tape off and drew out another using the same tape. Took the brass bar to the bandsaw and cut them out.

Now to rough shape them, using the oscillating sander and the benchtop belt sander. The brass conducts heat very quickly so there was water on the bench. Sand, and dunk. Sand and dunk. I would drop one bolster in the water and switch out to the other. Drop that one and switch. I just wanted a very rough shape for now. Here we are.

61 Tanto Started.jpg

Tomorrow, I'll scribe one bolster and start working toward a more definite shape, then match the second. Then I'll cut down the scales to match the shape of the bolsters. Shaping the rough bolsters used the two pieces of equipment below plus the bandsaw.... I add the 1" belt sander tomorrow.

62 shaping that brass bolster.jpg

I've mentioned an inlay several times... Here she is.... I hope I can do it justice.

that inlay.jpg

Watch this spot, more to come.

[BrokenolMarine]

A quick trip to the shop this morning to wax the maple skinner. Started by opening the can of Briwax, a natural beeswax product I love. I love the smell of the wax, and love the sheen it gives the projects. I say this every time, and I'll keep sharing it. Ding the project finished with the oil and wax and you just lightly sand a ding, oil and wax and you are good to go.

64 briwax.jpg

I rub in a good coat of wax, insuring I rub it in good, paying attention to every inch of the wood surfaces. I don't worry about exposed metal or carbon fiber, won't hurt it. Then, I fire up the dryer... I told Miss Tina if she saw a hair dryer in her passes thru Goodwill to pick one up for the shop for my woodworking and leather. She, of course, said she had one in HER shop. I told her if she SAW on in the Goodwill at a good price, pick one UP for my shop. She dropped that one in my lap. All she said was, "$5."

65 my $5 dryer.jpg

I fire up the dryer and make several passes over the knife, making sure to watch closely, not wanting to overheat the darn thing. As soon as I see the wax liquify, I turn off the dryer and hang it over one of the pieces of equipment in the shop to cool before putting it away. I go back to the workbench and immediately apply a second coat of wax. The scales are still warm and the wax melts in.

I let the wax cool until I see the color change, it's hardening. I set it aside and let it cure a bit while I clean up and put away... things have their place and they will be there the next time I need them. Then I buff the knife with old sweatshirt material. Rough side first, then the soft side. Looks great, and is slick as glass with a soft sheen in the light...

Remove the tape from the blade, we are done.

66 wax.jpg

67 wax 2.jpg

We'll make a sheath in between steps for the Tanto, as stuff cures or I stop on the project while I decide on this direction or that. IT too is a work in progress with no set plan. I love those, there are no mistakes, only learning curves.

[markiver54]

The knife turned out awesome!

[daytime dave]

BTW - I love the bookmatched grain on the belly of this knife.

I was very impressed by that myself.

Great work on the knife and thank you tremendously for bringing us through it with you!

[CT_Shooter]

I've mentioned an inlay several times... Here she is.... I hope I can do it justice.

That's going to be a cherished knife. Can't wait to see it when you've finished.

[BrokenolMarine]

I was out of town yesterday. In Davis, where Jantz Knives is located. Stopped in and picked up another brass rod in 3/16" for this project and some knife edged felt polishing wheels for my dremel tool, to allow for better polishing of the metal in the spine and belly. I had gone down to see a gunsmith to have a Novak sight I ordered installed on a 1911. Novak recommends they do it. I have a custom pusher for Glocks, don't own one for the 1911s. I had my 1911s built for competition and they had adjustable sights. This one has fixed as it's a knock around gun for the farm.

So... I am starting on the Bolster I roughed out earlier. first step, use the blank as a template and mark it. Punch... ONE hole and drill it. These holes are key, so it's slow and easy, double check everything. PUNCH....

68 punch.jpg

I took that rough brass to the drill press and set up a 123 machinist's block and drill press clamp, and then carefully checked and rechecked the alignment, once, twice, three times.

69 setup.jpg

Then I drilled the hole I had marked. Went back to the bench and pinned the rough to the blank, carefully measured the alignment of the blade and the bolster. I want that front edge to be square. Yup, good. PUNCH.....

70 pinned and punched.jpg

I went back to the drill press, repeated the setup process and drilled the second hole, then came back and checked the fit by pinning the rough to the blank. This entailed cutting the short brass rod in half to form two rough pins, then sanding slightly to make them fit. Pinned the rough bolster and success...

[BrokenolMarine]

The next step was to sand both sides of rough bolsters. They needed to be smooth for the next phase. I sanded them by laying sandpaper on the bench and rubbing the flat sides on the paper. Done. Then I matched the long square sides and taped the edges. Then I taped around the edges to secure the roughs from movement but leaving the holes drilled clear. The drilled rough will be the template for the second bolster.

Adjusted the drill press table, set up and drilled the first hole, then inserted a pin to insure NO movement. Drilled the second hole.

71 doubled pinned and punched.jpg

Again, each step here is slow and sure, with checking and double checking. A slip and you are starting over. I don't want to do that. Been There and have DONE that. sucks.

Once the holes were drilled, I tested each hole with the pins, and one had to be opened a touch. The pins polished. ready to go. I fitted each bolster to the blank and using a sharpie, marked the excess. It leaves a slight gap, but that's fine, we want a little over... They are now marked for (rough) shaping but they will now be closer to final shape. Each is marked on the inside with it's position on the blank. This will be important later.

72 marked for shaping.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

First, I used the Oscillating Sander to shape the curves on both roughs. The brass heats up fast, so there is a cup of water on hand. Sand, cool, sand cool. turned out nice.

73 curves on oscillating sander.jpg

The straight edges would be formed on the Table top belt sander's disc attachment. Here is another use for the 123 blocks, I checked to insure the table was square, it was off five degrees or so. Adjusted that and off we went. Slow and steady. Sand, cool, Sand cool Sand away the sharpie and then stop. The final shaping will be done with the brass bolsters epoxied and pinned to the blank. I will tape them together and round the nose of the pair.

74 123 blocks are amazing.jpg

They look pretty good for this stage. They went from straight bar stock to recognizable rough bolsters. It's work, but I think it will add a lot to the knife. Worth the effort.

75 from bar stock to rough bolsters.jpg

A close up view of them now.

76 close up.jpg

More to come soon, after lunch and some rest. Old Back, old knees... Broken Ol' Marine.

[BrokenolMarine]

Time to roll the nose. First step is to pin the two rough bolsters together so I can. Size the pins "Close to length" so they aren't too much in the way.

77 making the pins fit.jpg

Once I marked the pin, I cut it with a regular hacksaw then smoothed the end on the disk sander. It fit. Then I matched and taped the bolsters and taped the pins in place to insure they stayed movement free.

78 prepped to roll.jpg

We'll be rolling the nose on the 1" belt sander. This thing saved a lot of hand sanding when shaping the knives, but there is still the final shaping done by strip buffing as I explained earlier. If you try and use the 1" belts the edges will cut into the curves and ruin the lines. Don't ask me how I know this.

79 1 inch sander.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

The sanding is done in stages, and the blue tape not only held the pieces together but that strip along the nose was my reference to roll to. I started with 80 grit to get the first rough roll, and the general shape. It was rough enough to shape, but not tear up the brass too badly.

80 80 grit.jpg

Once the shape was started, I moved up to 120, and began to refine the shape, moving closer to the edge of the tape, but with a bit slower cutting belt so I didn't run OVER the line. I also began to change the angle I held the brass on the belt from 180 to 45 to 90. I'm now working thru the grits to shape and polish.

81 120 grit.jpg

Remember, this is the nose of the bolster and it will be very hard to polish this area without tearing up the blank, I learned this the hard way.

We moved up to 240 grit, and polished and shaped a bit more.

82 240.jpg

Now we are looking good, and move up to 400, and start polishing, the shape is there. The 400 is doing a great job. I may polish with rouge before I mount the bolster.

83 400 grit.jpg

Time for a test fit. It looks pretty good there.

84 test fit.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

Before I mount the bolsters on the blank, I position the scale on the blank and check the alignment. Then I position a bolster on the scale and get a reference. I use the Bolster to cut a scribe line on the scale and match the two scales and tape, then cut the new angle on the scales so have them fit with the bolsters in place. Pinning the bolsters to the blank I check the fit with the new leading edge. A very slight angle adjustment. I fire up the disc sander and with BOTH scales matched, sand them to change the angle OH SO SLIGHTLY, recheck. Still just a tad off. Sand the change again. OH SO SLIGHTLY. sigh.... One more touch on the sander and it fits.....

85 walnut and brass.jpg

Done for now. The next step involves clamping, matching, punching, and drilling and I am not up for that. When the pucker factor is high, I want to be 100%. more to come.

[BrokenolMarine]

OH, a BTW.

Remember I said marking the sides and faces on the scales and bolsters would come into play. You see here that I had to match and tape both bolsters and scales. It was important HERE to match them with the interior faces FACING to the inside. Especially with the bolsters. If I had matched them incorrectly then rolled the edges? I would have had to live with the wrong sides out.

I checked TWICE to make sure I had taped to roll the correct edge. I'm not saying I rolled the trailing edge once... but I rolled the trailing edge once. I sanded that trailing edge flat and put a piece of bone between the edge and the scales as ACCENT. Looked great and I didn't have to remake the bolster, but... it wasn't planned. It's why I'm flexible.

With the scales, I mark Right and Left in bold on the inside face because I choose the best grain to face OUT. I want to insure that I consistently work the process to insure it STAYS facing out. When I tape the scales together the left and right touch inside. Premium grain is OUT.

[BrokenolMarine]

I tried to get back out to the shop this afternoon. I REALLY wanted to. But, I must have had a stomach bug... I couldn't leave the house for the rest of the day or evening... I hate it when that happens. I think it's passed and I'm feeling a bit better, but I can't BET on it yet. should be back at it tomorrow. So much yet to do and I want to be doing it.

[markiver54]

Hope you're feeling better today.

[BrokenolMarine]

Hope you're feeling better today.

Yes, but I'm leary of what I'll eat.

Out in the shop after coffee and toast.

I am at the point where I wanted to mount the bolster, but I took another look at the nose and decided it needed "Just a little more" polishing. I cut a couple 1-1/2 inch strips from a 600 and an 800 grit piece of sandpaper, held them between thumb and forefinger of the left hand and slowly pulled the individual bolsters across the paper, carefully rolling them at various angles to take out any minor flaws. First on the 600, then buffed them on my T-shirt. Then the 800, and buffed. Still... ? I got out the Jeweler's Rouge and a chunk of sweat pant rag, and pulled a swipe of rouge across the fuzzy side.

86 jewelers rouge.jpg

Then pushed the nose section thru that and scrubbed it back and forth and then buffed on the clean section. We are golden.

87 ooh shiny.jpg

Miss T saw the pic and said, "They don't match up." I explained that they match where they have to. The uneven edges are the two edges of the knife that will be shaped, along with the wooden scales, once we move into the shaping phase. "Oh... looks great then."