The Making of a Heavenly Knife.

[bldsmith]

Marking the top and bottom of the slot.

Determining the width of the slot.

Milling the slot. First I drill a series of holes at least .020" smaller than the actual slot. Most drills will cut a slightly over sized hole so I make sure it will be small enough to actually mill the slot and remove all the drilled holes.

Holes drilled now I need to mill the slot to size. I like a press fit so I mill them to fit snugly.

 

[Ratdog68]

Now you have my curiosity piqued with this all-thread/nut affair.

That parkerization to the steel gives a very pleasing contrast in the two types of steel.

 

[bldsmith]

Adjustments are made to ensure a proper fit-up. This is what it should look like

No gaps or lines visible on either the flats or under the shoulders.

Here is the stack before adding the bronze and stainless spacers.

That is all for today. Will get after it again tomorrow.

 

[bldsmith]

Long day today. Took 39 pictures so this will be a pretty extensive series of posts. This portion is the most intensive of anything I have posted yet. The primary material on the guards has been fitted. Now I need to cut and fit the spacers. His helps to break up the guard and makes it more appealing.

First I use the smaller guard plate to scribe onto the Phosphor Bronze.

Now the stainless.

I use a high speed cutting wheel to cut these pieces to size. I am not worried about precision here. You will see why later.

Next they need to be center punched.

Then drilled

I use a jewelers saw to cut the center out of the plate.

 

[bldsmith]

Center cut. Here also I am not too concerned about super precise cuts.

All cut. I will file each one to fit snug but still not too worried about perfection.

Stacked ready for the next step.

Now they need to be clamped together to drill 2 1/16" holes

 

[bldsmith]

Working with 303 stainless is easier than working with 304 but still can be gummy. Sure enough I broke off the drill bit in the guard. It does not really make a difference here as it will be fully covered. So I re-drilled the hole in a different position. This is actually good but not required. I had to change the drill to a carbide to prevent further problems. The hole goes through the first 4 layers but only 3/4 through the last one.

The pins allow for perfect alignment of the guard pieces. They can be removed from the blade and will return to the exact position each time.

Re-installed on the blade.

And my high end handle material...[)]

This handle is used only while I shape the guard. It allows me to hold it all together while I work on all the pieces together.

And guards shaped on the belt and disc grinders.

 

[bldsmith]

And finished fit up.

Now onto the REAL handles. I cut this handle material more to shape than usual as it had enough on the block for 3 or 4 knives. I then outline the tang on the side and mark the top and bottom on the front of the blade.

 

[Ratdog68]

Love those two steel patterns. So? The pommel is the nut for the all-thread to compress the scales/bolster in place?

 

[bldsmith]

These 2 tangs are under 3/16" thick so I use a 3/16 endmill in my milling machine. I line up the lines on the side of the block and set depth.

I mill out the slot to accept the tang but the endmill will not go all the way through. I rotate the block making sure the face remains forward. This keeps the hole perfectly aligned forward to back. I line up the endmill with the tracing and drill the hole that meets up with the previous hole I drilled.

Now a very important step. Making sure the DRO is zeroed!!!!

I do not remove or move the block until the next step is complete. I insert a 5/16 endmill to drill the final hole. This is actually a counterbore with a flat bottom the is centered around the 3/16 hole.

This is why I needed to set the DRO. Now I can set it up and move back to the same point.

Then drill the hole

 

[bldsmith]

All done with this step. Now do the next one.

So what about the pins?? I put the block on and press the impression into the face.

I then drill holes corresponding to the pins. These also do not need to be perfect. Again you will see why later.

I make a tapped rod that will act as a large nut to hold this all together. This pushes against the bottom of the 5/16 hole creating tension.

Both finished.

 

[bldsmith]

Time to put things together but I still want to be able to take them apart. This is acraglas resist from Brownelles. Paint it on the tang and let dry. The tang needs to taper from front to back so it can be withdrawn and not bind.

Mix up the Acraglas 4 parts A and 1 part B. This is with brown dye for the walnut.

Glued and cleaned for initial set up.

I decided to try and salvage the remaining Acraglas. I just added a little black dye and it worked great.

I added just enough Acraglas, hopefully, to create a repeatable bedding. It takes 24 hours to set up and I set them against the wall tip down. This helps to keep the Acraglas where it needs to be.

If all goes well we will see a completion tomorrow.

Thanks for hanging in with me.

 

[bldsmith]

Love those two steel patterns. So? The pommel is the nut for the all-thread to compress the scales/bolster in place?

Precisely..

 

[Chopperdrvr]

It's easy to see from watching this thread why a custom knife is so far above my price point.

 

[Ratdog68]

Precisely..

I wondered if that's where you were going as soon as you mentioned the all-thread. I like the ability to dismantle/service... nice feature.

 

[rrv333]

Agree with chopperdrvr 100%

 

[bldsmith]

It's easy to see from watching this thread why a custom knife is so far above my price point.

That is why I got into making knives. Now I can change out my personal knife when it suits me. I usually can't keep one for more than a season though.

Ratdog, as you will see later, the takedown is normally only for shaping handle and final finish. I do epoxy it all together. That is unless the customer really wants a takedown. Then we will have a conversation regarding maintenance etc.. Plus the price will increase because I do a lot more finishing and fixtureing inside the handle.

 

[bldsmith]

Well we have come to the end. This next few posts will be the finale. I was able to finish up all the blades I was working on. So lets get started. Yesterday I glued up the knives for a temporary hold.

I need to take them apart again before I begin shaping the handle.

The black handle did not give me a perfect glue up but it will work fine.

The walnut handle glued up great.

Re-assembled and now I will set up to grind the handles. First I want to talk a little about the biggest problem with using natural handle material. IT MOVES. I will swell or shrink with changes in humidity. I hate walking up and picking up a nice looking knife and feeling the sharp edges on the guard caused by shrinking handle material. Though I came up with this next procedure myself, I did not invent it. After I started doing it I found that many had already been doing it for years and I just had not noticed. At least I had not noticed consciously.

We solve the problem of shrinking handle material by creating what is called an Heirloom fit. This is where the handle material is slightly proud of the guard material. First I use pinstripe tape to set the height of the handle material.

Pinstripe tape is very precise on its thickness. It is about .005". I start with 3 wraps around the guard making sure I stop at the same point I started at.

 

[bldsmith]

Just a little insight as to what goes into the building as far as cost goes.

I will get 2 handles out of this block but it still stings a little laying that kind of $$ out speculating it will sell.

Now off to the grinder. One nice thing about the way I put it together is it holds even without the pommel nut. I can take it out and grind things close and still be able to put it back in and hold things together.

And rough ground handles.

From here I go with hand finishing.

You can see here I can scuff the pinstripe tape bringing the handle material to a predetermined and even height.

Once I get things to where I like them and the handle fit and it sanded to 800 grit or higher I begin the final glue-up. I fill the handle with Acraglas and make sure it gets between all the layers.

 

[Chopperdrvr]

WAIT!!!! I don't want it to end yet. This is one of the best threads we've had on here.

 

[bldsmith]

I like seeing the Acraglas oozing from all the joints. That means the handle is full and there will be no moisture intrusion.

I do a god cleaning of the Acraglas but I need to keep an eye on it as it keeps oozing. Now I need to let things start to set up. On to the walnut handled knife. After glue up.

Last thing I do before final sharpening is my makers mark.

In the Panto Graph

And my mark