Wood handle knife

Went with a plain old wood handle for a change of pace from stabilized hybrids, sometimes you need a change of pace.

Blade is 1084 steel with purple heart and Blood wood handle styled very loosely on a Puma White hunter from the 60's

Home made Knives

My very first knife I purchased from a knife maker
in Fort McMurray Alberta back in 1979/80 is on the bottom. Blade is recycled leaf spring from an old truck with a hidden tang birds eye Maple handle, handle was stained with transmission fluid at one point during an roadside repair of an very old Ford power steering pump.
Since then about every five years i give it a fresh coat of Tru-oil and buff it up. Blade gets a coat of oil after use typically a vegetable oil or mineral oil and is stored in the sheath for over last 37 years.

 

 

Top knife as far as I can find was from a gentleman out of Winnipeg Manitoba and made back in the late 80's forged of a torsion bar. Mirror polish has held up very well and the butt ugly sheath was not original.

Pretty sure 99% that a friend of mine made the sheath out of scrap in the early 90's from something he bought at second hand store. Still have not found out who it was (forget his name) but we served together in the Military at CFB Comox up until 1994.

Fillet Knife

Fillet knife
Blade: AEB-L stainless steel, single bevel of 12 degrees for a left hand user.
Handle: Banksia seed pod from Australia stabilized and filled with green Alumilite resin.
Sheath: Hand tooled leather, going for a mix of fishing lure animal skin theme.

Chefs knife

Made this one with 0.07" AEB-L and an assortment of small wood pieces that needed a home

Was originally planning on selling it but it cuts so nice it may just stay with me.

Pinless Knife Handle

Trying Pinless knife handle construction since I think that pins would not help this nice piece of wood look any better.

Much longer process than straight one piece scales on a knife. Bolster and pommel fitted and shaped so they capture the scales on either end. Plenty of holes for the glue to create a solid bond and the remaining steel gets a 80 grit finish before gluing.

Initial fit up is lots of test fitting, you want a nice snug fit but not to tight or the wood will crack when it expands in the summer heat.

It feels like the front and rear of the wood next to the stainless steel needs some color so it stands out a little more. Almost seems bland right now.

 

 

Still a dozen test fits left to do then on to the left side of the handle.

Took the other pieces out of the tank and cooked, the Single dyed Purple is rather interesting

The dyed block is going to get cast in Alumilite resin and very good chance will become a hidden tang handle

A couple of progress shots since nothing shows up problems as much as a picture in sunlight.

Knife in the Hat 2017

My entry into the Knife In the Hat draw for 2017 on the Canadian Knifemaker forum
canadianknifemaker.ca

Template is from Dan Comeau linked on my page but not yet available also inspiration from another maker Joe Mcneely

Plan is to use CPM 154 stainless steel for the knife blade, 1/8" 304 stainless steel for the bolster and pommels and a hybrid wood Alumilite material for the handle.
Still no decision on which of a multitude of materials I have on hand will be used or the color, this usually comes along near the end.


Template version 2 with thumb rise and as of yet modified bolster. Going to try something I have never seen done before so that little surprise is going to wait until near completion.

 



 

If anyone ever wondered if the knives were inspected well here you go. Pre heat treating inspection being carried out by Dual Optical Gauge or DOG for short.

 

 

 

Posing in the furnace, actually does not go in until the first preheat step is reached at 1400F any sooner and the Condursal will burn off rendering it ineffective.

 



 

Heat treating finished and time for the bevels

Really need to get caught up on my Fillet Knives

Knife beveled and getting hand sanded. Still have to decide it I want to keep the color from heat treating along the back or sand it down

 

A little behind but some progress is being made slow but sure

Middle of May now and bolster and pommel are in place and ready for polishing.

First step of fitting the wood slabs is creating a template from masking tape
Second step is put the tape on the wood blocks then cut close to the correct shape

 

Realized after getting first knife done I was too large, got carried away free handing the tip shape. So made a second knife with matching handle material and the bolsters need lots of fine sanding to get flattened after a grinder slip up.

So on to the third knife which will have a Ebony handle with red fiberglass liners. Tapered from top to bottom for a nice fit in the hand.

 



Dual locking Kydex Sheath

Had an idea for making a secondary locking feature on a Kydex sheath and this is the start, a little rough but going with it since it may more than likely get wrecked.

Other features will be fast drain sheath and removable secondary color panels.
Also belt clips are removable so easily replaced or swapped out for a different type if and when the owner wants
Only half way through got impatient for picture time.

 

 

The G10 insert along the cutting edge is to stop any inadvertent wear or premature dulling of the knife. May be over thinking that problem but it is there now and actually provides a solid foundation for the secondary locking features pivot point.

 

Little progress shot.