Great chance to finally make that knife

[zambezi]

Circling back to the hard wax treatment I applied to the slabs of a cheapo folder: It has worked every bit as well as I had hoped. The grip is dry and hard to the touch after 2.5 days and water beads off it indicating a good seal. Will whittle a bit and see if finish is as durable as on flooring. Verdigris on pins would be a marker.

 

[kimh]

Not 100% I follow you. Any chance of sketching the idea?

Like a Boar Knife?



drill the tang, and the blade grind will take some weight off too, but it needs to lose a bit more heft than those two exercises might deliver.
Don't drill the tang until you have done your grind and chosen your handle as you can then balance the knife?

View attachment 153449
The pink lines show areas I intend to trim.
I purposely made the forefinger swell too big so that once in hand I could adjust rearward to comfort. It needs to come back perhaps 4mm. ish.
I am also toying with removing some material from the top edge and reducing the thumb ramp commensurately. Step too far?
All personal things, but once you have a design, copy it? as you can't remove what you have next committed too?

The black and blue lines bracket a rough range over which the end of the bolsters might lie.
The lime green line is the grind line.

But it shows that the grind starts well forward of a safe forefinger position.
The forefinger won't move if the thumb has the correct position

Don't go too far? but how far is too far

 

[kimh]

hard wax finish - not a route I personally would have taken as it's not that penetrable like oil with dryers, did you raise the grain first or burnish it?

 

[zambezi]

Like a Boar Knife?

Got it. I will do forefinger accommodation first, and make that stylistic choice last.

Don't drill the tang until you have done your grind and chosen your handle as you can then balance the knife?

how far is too far

hard wax finish - not a route I personally would have taken as it's not that penetrable like oil with dryers, did you raise the grain first or burnish it?

Do you have a guide to which oils and how heat best applied to give a lasting seal?

 

[zambezi]

No turning back now... ...top edge de-larding has begun in earnest.

Completed weight reduction and re-profiling of forefinger accommodation, including including a mild version of kimh's droppoint feature Happy so far.




Have now marked extent of scandi grind bevels. In the absence of a decent 72" belt sander+jig, I am probably going to do these bevels by hand. I am aware that my bastard files bite into [unhardened] 1095 easily, so I have taped off the areas over which I do not want a careless file stroke to gouge the flats.

 

[John Gryphon]

Zambezi around 25 years or more ago I ran into a bloke ( Ron Cameron) at the SCI Convention Melbourne,he had a stand there as a knifemaker/cutler and after a bit of a description of what i wanted he drew up the design for me which i had requested as being for a sambar caping knife. I explained that I wanted a short neat blade but a bloke sized handle length for doing a cape around the eyes and ears etc.
It was $150 at the time and the mate with me said "how about you do two" I then ordered another for my son in law and Ron the cutler said well that will be the end of them as its your custom design.
SIL and mine are antlered handled and mate had a piece of Osage Orange for which he supplied and that was used for his own.
Mine is showing the wear and tear of time and being in a wet leather pouch for too long at times.
Some of your drawings have similarities.

I took the quick pic on my desk a min ago.

 

[reloader54]

Zambezi around 25 years or more ago I ran into a bloke ( Ron Cameron) at the SCI Convention Melbourne,he had a stand there as a knifemaker/cutler and after a bit of a description of what i wanted he drew up the design for me which i had requested as being for a sambar caping knife. I explained that I wanted a short neat blade but a bloke sized handle length for doing a cape around the eyes and ears etc.
It was $150 at the time and the mate with me said "how about you do two" I then ordered another for my son in law and Ron the cutler said well that will be the end of them as its your custom design.
SIL and mine are antlered handled and mate had a piece of Osage Orange for which he supplied and that was used for his own.
Mine is showing the wear and tear of time and being in a wet leather pouch for too long at times.
Some of your drawings have similarities.

I took the quick pic on my desk a min ago.

View attachment 153492

everything about that knife I like, I have quite large hands and as such like to keep them out the way when cutting, those finger reliefs are a positive to position thumb and forefinger in use.
perfick

 

[zambezi]

Exhausted. Part physical [hand filing a knife is work] but mostly fatigue from concentration and stooping over the bench/anvil/work space. Encouraged and chastened in equal measure...

First up: taping off part of the blade to protect it during filing was a fail. Once the file skimmed the edge of the tape, it lifted and grooves of file became fouled with plastic and adhesive.


And the bastard file lifts metal quickly which is good, but any slip or foul stroke leaves divots in areas that should not have been touched . Remember too: the linisher giveth and taketh away.



Hand filing a scandi is probably a bad selection for a first project.





But the overall look is good . And if the heat treat works, I should have a very serviceable stalking knife. [interesting how similar the geometry is to johngryphon's custom. Clearly stalking minds think alike]




There will be more polishing tomorrow to try and eliminate a few more scratches, but this looks close to its heat treat cycles:

 

[John Gryphon]

those finger reliefs are a positive to position thumb and forefinger in use

Yes and that is why I asked for them,the top one for either thumb or at times a forefinger. The bottom one is for a positive grip in the slippery circumstances.

[interesting how similar the geometry is to johngryphon's custom. Clearly stalking minds think alike]

yep! 25 years apart!

 

[kimh]

JP has nailed it, fab knife that has served the time?
My father always told me to use antler out of respect
Yes I can help with the wood finishing (via a PM)
Your blade shape is currently a 'skinner'? not a criticism but an identity? Jonny's is a knife?
it's looking good though and you should be pleased, great work

 

[malmick]

Echo the above. Kudos

 

[kimh]

View attachment 153492
JP's above


My Ole dog, tis worn a tad now but "kin sharp" the fine tip allows me to 'Choke down' for detail work.
When on a pig tiz a bit short and over time I have palmed the handle deep into a beast steering the point
I would not sell this knife, I can't remember when I made it but it must be 35-40 years now and I'm fed up of making sheaths for it now!

 

[kimh]

P.S. that's the third handle (I also don't like brass)...

 

[reloader54]

P.S. that's the third handle (I also don't like brass)...

very much like the schrade "sharpfinger" Sharpfinger - Wikipedia

 

[kimh]

very much like the schrade "sharpfinger" Sharpfinger - Wikipedia

Bloody el, My uncle Denis introduced me to this shape as he/we breasted a lot of geese in the 70's, these are made from blacksmiths rasps/dreadnaughts and the handle is leather soaked in oil and dried

 

[reloader54]

Bloody el, My uncle Denis introduced me to this shape as he/we breasted a lot of geese in the 70's, these are made from blacksmiths rasps/dreadnaughts and the handle is leather soaked in oil and dried

It's a classic shape for sure, with many custom builds following the lines closely, Uncle Dennis clearly had an eye for a good looking and purposeful shape.

 

[zambezi]

First up today, I polished out as many of the linisher abrasive marks as I could using a 4000 grit waterstone. A couple of tiny slips with file and high speed belts remain .




Ho hum.

This whole project has been done with hand tools or hand held tools. That has proven to be a big challenge and learning curve. For example, it is amazingly difficult to make 100% laminar cuts in wood using a jigsaw So the slabs took a lot of free-hand sanding to lie flat against the tang.


But I am making progress




Drill and heat treat tomorrow?

 

[reloader54]

This is turning out really well, looking forward to more updates.
great to see something positive in these problematic times.

 

[zambezi]

This is turning out really well

I thought so too, and then started looking at some master knife maker vids on YouTube to get the best take on heat treating. Perhaps three clicks in I chanced on Alex explaining why 1095 steel [which I am using] is a bad choice because it is such a pig to heat treat without specialist ovens. urghhhh.

 

[snake_2586]

I am enjoying watching this, but I fear you may have wasted your time polishing the blade today, as mine always come out the forge black after the hardening heat treatment, and then I polish them.

also don't forget to do any jimping before heat treat! (I have forgot this before and then it doesn't get done)