Damascus Hunter/Camper

The next knife is a V2 Hunter/Camper with Fiddle-back Maple scales. I had been working for quite a while to find the right color stain to bring out the grain pattern. Three trips to Home Depot later, I found a Golden Oak from Minwax.

New Knives/An Update

With my new policy of "If you don't have the right tools, do it anyway!" Here are my next two knives that I have finished.

The first is a Capstick American with a Walnut handle. As my 4x36 grinder wasn't able to fit into the curves on the handle, I used my Blind Horse, Small Work Horse to hand carve the scales. I was at the show in Chantilly where, between sales and sharpening, I used the small blade to shape the handle. I finished the scales with first 220 grit then Scotchbrite pads. The color of the scales is the natural color with Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil gunstock finish.

The update is that I still have not had to do more to the Work Horse other than a Lansky pocket sharpener. It is still that sharp!

I sold a knife!!!

There is no greater thrill than when you sell your first knife that you made yourself. It happened at the Nation's Gun Show in Chantilly Virginia. The knife was the Damascus USA bladed Whitetail with Bird's Eye Maple. Following my mantra of "if you don't have the right tools, do it anyway!" The knife was finished at one of my shows, by hand with sandpaper that wouldn't fit my sander and a bit of hand sanding with a Scotchbrite pad.

Number 2 V2

Here is the next knife with steel from Damascus USA. This one uses Desert Ironwood for the scales. I am still trying to get a sheath made for it.

IF at first.....

When I started to make knives, I used ATS-34 and a 1/4 horsepower grinder. To say the least, it didn't work well at all.

When I restarted, I began with the blades from my collection, after the fire that is. This took a lot of time to get the blades cleaned up far enough to be able to use.

Now, I am purchasing steel from Rob Charlton at Damascus USA. The models that I am working with already have the guard installed. This is both a blessing and a curse as I have to be very careful while I grind the handles. This is where I learned about going down to different grades of belts as I get closer to the guard.

I finished this Whitetail at a show using 220 grit disks and Scotchbrite pads that I picked up at the local grocery store.

Belt grinders

Here is a suggestion for those using belt grinders that include 4x36 machines like my Hitachi. Jantz has many different grits for the 4 inch wide machines for about 1/2 of the price of my local hardware store.

Check them out at:

http://www.jantzsupply.com/

Project three update

Since the last photo and entry, I have finished the Mar Gunstock and taken the knife into the field (read kitchen) to see if the knife would still perform.

Here I am using the finished knife to skin and bone some chicken after I sharpened the knife on a Lansky sharpener. All in all, it performed as though it had never gone through the fire and still wore the original scales.

Next, I will start on several Damascus blanks that I got from Rob Charlton of Damascus USA.

Projects 2 & 3 Reddiex/Mar Gunstock

Here is the second knife that I have re-handled. It is a hunter by New Zealand maker Bill Reddiex. I have gotten the scales profiled, but still have some finishing to do before I can start to polish the wood. I made a small mistake on the wood just behind the left bolster. It appears that either the wood moved when I was drilling or when I was checking the holes in the pair of scales. This time, I am not sure what the wood is, perhaps Walnut.

The bottom knife is an Al Mar Gunstock, again from the fire. This time, I got the wood straight. I did have a little problem with the cheap drills that I was using. Just ahead of the pins on the reverse side, the wood splintered as the drill came through. It pays to get some good bits!

I still have some shaping on the Mar, and finishing on the Reddiex, but with the power sander, it is a lot easier than when I started the Mar Tanto.

Stay Sharp!

When you don't have the right tools...

After getting the handle of the Mar Tanto close to where I wanted it, I called LT Wright to ask about why the wood was so dull. He said that all that I needed to do was get a buffer and start to polish the wood. I didn't (and still don't) have a buffer, I did have Flitz and a lot of time at the last show. So, I started to hand polish the handle to see what I could get.

I still have a few scratches that I need to work on, but I it doesn't look too bad for a first attempt.

Stay Sharp!

Hitachi Grinder

Here it is, the first two jobs for the new beast was to do the initial sharpening on 12 pieces of 1/4 in. Damascus. While I might have worn out the factory supplied belt, the SB10Y is much quieter than my old 1 inch Delta. It should also have enough power to grind steel as long as I don't start with S30V.

Let there be Power!

After conversing with several British knifemakers, I started the great grinder hunt. I first tried to find a machine locally through Sears, Home Depot, Lowes and several others. About this time, I got a large shipment of new knives from Rob Charlton at Damascus USA that I needed to sharpen. Rob's steel being tough, I wanted something stronger than my little Sears wet stone. (Yes, I said wet.)

I finally found a nice belt sander that is quiet enough to work inside my rental apartment. Built by Hitachi, it even has a dust collector. The thing is making short work of thinning the Ironwood that I put on the Al Mar Tanto. I will be taking pictures tomorrow and will add them to the Blog as I go.

Stay Sharp!

Post York Pa Show update

I just finished the York Pa show where I was able to talk to LT Wright about what I needed to do to handle the Desert Ironwood that I put on the Al Mar knife. To quote Tim Allen "We need more power!".


On the lighter side, LT gave me tips on what to do to handle a knife with a tapered tang. I have a Reddiex Hunter that had Ironwood (of course, what else would it have) scales. LT suggested that I drill each side of the grip by its self and then redrill the pair to match the sides up.

More to come!

If in Doubt Ask

After doing a show with my knife business, I took some time to ask knife makers for tips. These were all based on the fact that I can't run a big grinder in our apartment. Lynn Dawson told me to consider Maple in place of the Ironwood that I had started with. Johnny Z said that I should call Jantz supply to get a copy of their catalog. I am also looking into other woods that might be available through the wonderous Ebay.

Let's get started

A friend of mine that is a professional knife maker says that you should have a variable speed grinder that runs a two inch wide by seventy-two inch long belt. While this is nice, it really isn't necessary. I am starting my knife making (finally) using my old knife collection that had the misfortune of being in a house fire.

My first attempt is using an Al Mar knife that seems to be still in a good condition. Here is where I have made my first mistake. Over the last few months, I have been finding wood on Ebay. But, all of it is Ironwood! While it is pretty, this wood has gotten its name honestly. It is as hard as the metal that it is named after.

By the way, the picture is before I started to clean my blades up.