So here are some progress photos...I'll add comments as I'm able. In the middle of getting dinner ready right now.
The first comment is that measuring everything is critical. ONCE I went ahead and just made a knife...and it didn't even come close to fitting in the sheath. That's when I learned how to make a good scabbard from wood, etc. This is a shot of how deeply the blade fits into the sheath. All things start with that. I made a file mark on the tang to show where the top of the sheath came. The sheath will get a two-tone coat of Feibing's dye...dark brown and mahogany. So this is the start of what I'll call "Kinfe A".
The dimension other than depth that's critical is girth (and shape). Since I want the tang to go to a specific depth into the antler (that will form the end of the handle) that will require that the antler fit down into the sheath to a depth that will allow that. I know...it seems really obvious...but knowing that I needed to check and carve the anter to size as one of the first steps took me a while. The butt is the first thing I need to know the dimenstion of, as that dictates how much is left on the forend part to cut wood and spacers fo BTW: in this series of photos the pieces are set up on a sheet of black paper micarta. This is the stuff that the spacers will be cut from...first rectangles, then drilled for the center hole, then rounded to match the handle contours...taking care to allow overage as the final shape will be performed with a belt sander.
Close-up of the antler section for the handle. A nice trick I thought of while scanning through some of the 100 or so photos of knives like this I saved into a file for ideas...since the front of the antler piece has to fit the sheath exactly, and thus has to be filed to shape...I thought that doing a pattern or design instead of tapering the size up into the end would be a nice touch. Perhaps I'll enhance the design, which at this point is just a circle around the antler with a half-round shape on the side and a kind of wave on the other, with some added scrim work.
This photo shows additional work on the antler, which is rather hard to see, but accounts for maybe a quarter inch in diameter. It also approximates where the antler will fit in relation to the blade and tang...and...shows the tools needed to get there. The red handled files are Japanese, Iwasaki 'carving files' the teeth of which are chemically etched for sharpness. If used with a light hand they cut an amazing amount of stock with each and stroke and they leave the surface smooth...very smooth. The large rifflers are files, not rasps and do well with work of this size. Um...they come as a double-sided piece, but I usually cut them in two and mount each side in a handle. I sent the other sides of these two to a friend. Seems like a good use for 'em.
Rough...very rough at this point. Here's the assembled pieces that I turned out today. The heavy brass butt cap (with a tab on the bottom that might or might not stay...for a ring or lanyard), the antler section of the handle...the chunk of brass that you can see the oval on is obviously for the front of the antler...all were done this morning in a couple of hours. The blade (safely wrapped in heavy tape) is set very approximately at the depth it will be at when done. There there are some examples of the black paper micarta and red fiber spacers. I have some 1 mm and 2 mm brass sheet stock on the way, one size of which will likely find it's way into the design as spacers. Then on the far right there's the guard (or at least a preliminary version) as it may be OK...but may not. You can see the shape of the blade marked on it...Rhombus...interesting. I saw on another forum where a guy was whining about how hard it was to get the shape right...we'll see!
So now we go into a bit into 'Knife B'. In the background is a large block of Honduran Rosewood, a bit of which might make it into the handle. Then there's the unpolished piece of nickel silver cut from barstock and drilled, filed and detailed to fit the width of the tang and the curved that goes from the front to the back of the guard. Of course you can see the large taped up blade...then the star of the show. One of the new guys from Oregon mentioned that I should think about having part of one handle be an antler crown...and I put a lot of thought to that. So...know that the antler shown in 'Knife A' is one half of the crown piece that I had...and the crown here is the other half. In a fit of "Wildass Knife Abandon" I had a major 'WTF' moment and sawed the thing in two. Of course I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think BOTH pieces had the potential to be pretty amazing additions to the projects. And let me say...the crown is one heck of a piece of sculpture. (skip to next photo now)
More comments will be added on Friday...but you get the idea.
And these were added just for fun. Last week's projects. I like the contrast in materials.
The first comment is that measuring everything is critical. ONCE I went ahead and just made a knife...and it didn't even come close to fitting in the sheath. That's when I learned how to make a good scabbard from wood, etc. This is a shot of how deeply the blade fits into the sheath. All things start with that. I made a file mark on the tang to show where the top of the sheath came. The sheath will get a two-tone coat of Feibing's dye...dark brown and mahogany. So this is the start of what I'll call "Kinfe A".
The dimension other than depth that's critical is girth (and shape). Since I want the tang to go to a specific depth into the antler (that will form the end of the handle) that will require that the antler fit down into the sheath to a depth that will allow that. I know...it seems really obvious...but knowing that I needed to check and carve the anter to size as one of the first steps took me a while. The butt is the first thing I need to know the dimenstion of, as that dictates how much is left on the forend part to cut wood and spacers fo BTW: in this series of photos the pieces are set up on a sheet of black paper micarta. This is the stuff that the spacers will be cut from...first rectangles, then drilled for the center hole, then rounded to match the handle contours...taking care to allow overage as the final shape will be performed with a belt sander.
Close-up of the antler section for the handle. A nice trick I thought of while scanning through some of the 100 or so photos of knives like this I saved into a file for ideas...since the front of the antler piece has to fit the sheath exactly, and thus has to be filed to shape...I thought that doing a pattern or design instead of tapering the size up into the end would be a nice touch. Perhaps I'll enhance the design, which at this point is just a circle around the antler with a half-round shape on the side and a kind of wave on the other, with some added scrim work.
This photo shows additional work on the antler, which is rather hard to see, but accounts for maybe a quarter inch in diameter. It also approximates where the antler will fit in relation to the blade and tang...and...shows the tools needed to get there. The red handled files are Japanese, Iwasaki 'carving files' the teeth of which are chemically etched for sharpness. If used with a light hand they cut an amazing amount of stock with each and stroke and they leave the surface smooth...very smooth. The large rifflers are files, not rasps and do well with work of this size. Um...they come as a double-sided piece, but I usually cut them in two and mount each side in a handle. I sent the other sides of these two to a friend. Seems like a good use for 'em.
Rough...very rough at this point. Here's the assembled pieces that I turned out today. The heavy brass butt cap (with a tab on the bottom that might or might not stay...for a ring or lanyard), the antler section of the handle...the chunk of brass that you can see the oval on is obviously for the front of the antler...all were done this morning in a couple of hours. The blade (safely wrapped in heavy tape) is set very approximately at the depth it will be at when done. There there are some examples of the black paper micarta and red fiber spacers. I have some 1 mm and 2 mm brass sheet stock on the way, one size of which will likely find it's way into the design as spacers. Then on the far right there's the guard (or at least a preliminary version) as it may be OK...but may not. You can see the shape of the blade marked on it...Rhombus...interesting. I saw on another forum where a guy was whining about how hard it was to get the shape right...we'll see!
So now we go into a bit into 'Knife B'. In the background is a large block of Honduran Rosewood, a bit of which might make it into the handle. Then there's the unpolished piece of nickel silver cut from barstock and drilled, filed and detailed to fit the width of the tang and the curved that goes from the front to the back of the guard. Of course you can see the large taped up blade...then the star of the show. One of the new guys from Oregon mentioned that I should think about having part of one handle be an antler crown...and I put a lot of thought to that. So...know that the antler shown in 'Knife A' is one half of the crown piece that I had...and the crown here is the other half. In a fit of "Wildass Knife Abandon" I had a major 'WTF' moment and sawed the thing in two. Of course I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think BOTH pieces had the potential to be pretty amazing additions to the projects. And let me say...the crown is one heck of a piece of sculpture. (skip to next photo now)
More comments will be added on Friday...but you get the idea.
And these were added just for fun. Last week's projects. I like the contrast in materials.
