Stewart J Light Knives

Spyderco M4 Mule MT02P - Part 1

2012-02-01T22:20:00.001Z

Another commission started - a custom handle for a Spyderco M4 Mule (MT02P).

More details of the Mule project can be found here: M4 Mule

So jumped right in with a couple of bits of maroon micarta and some brass rod...

A quick update.

2012-01-24T22:38:00.000Z

I'm out of the mind set of putting any posts up on what I've been doing lately. I've been distracted by decorating, having to keep tidying the workshop as things come in and out, not being able to find the charger for the camera, etc.

So today....

A little bit of shaping on the fixed blade styled on the Enlan EL-01..

Getting the cocobolo handle ready for the vinegar etched leuku blade...

but completely messing that up!

(holes are supposed to be round not ovals! - what a frustrating waste of wood!!)

Customising a Lofty Wiseman survival tool....

Sharpening some chef knives - I wear a kevlar glove now, just in case!!

a handle ready to glue on a kitchen knife in Turkish Walnut.

and a little bit more on the Spyderco Pride I'm customising. (finally found a replacement bolt!

Bushcraft knife for sale

2012-01-15T21:05:00.000Z

Available for sale.

Overall length - 220mm
Blade length - 89mm from tip to the start of the ricasso
Blade thickness - 4mm
Steel - N20
Handle material - Stabilised Amboyna Burr secured with Mosaic Pins

The blade was made by Steen Nielson and the handle was made by myself.

Priced at £90 without a sheath.
A sheath can be made at an extra cost of £30.

A new batch of Vinegaroon started

2011-12-19T20:53:00.000Z

I've finally done something knife related again.

When I moved out of the old house, I threw away the vinegaroon I had made up.
What is vinegaroon, you ask? It's simply a dye for leather that turns it black.

The difference between this and commercial dyes is that it actually causes a chemical reaction in the leather to change the colour, plus I can make it myself.

It's really easy to make, but takes a while to do, which is why I started the batch off now so I have some ready as and when I need it.

This is what you need - some wire wool and some vinegar (whatever's cheap)

then get a good sized container (this is the one I used for the last batch)

and pour in the vinegar...

followed by the wire wool...

(you can do those last two steps in the other order, if you prefer...)

That's it done, for now.

Leave it on a shelf then every couple of days open it up to give it a stir. The wire wool will slowly dissolve. Gases are released as well so make sure that the container you use isn't too air tight. Opening it up for stirring will help take the pressure of the gas away.

New Beginnings.

2011-11-29T21:50:00.000Z

A big change in my life that's been taking up a lot of my time.

Moved from my maisonette in Hertfordshire to a house in Aylesbury.

glad it's finally done, although lots of work to do.

I finally get a workshop of my own.....soon!

Two stick tang knives glued up...

2011-11-05T09:19:00.000Z

Two quite different knives glued up yesterday.

The one on the left is a blade made of Takefu Suminagashi, a Japanese multi-layered steel. The handle I've attached is African Blackwood at the front then two blocks of Kingwood from Brazil with some leather spacers between them all.

The right hand knife has a blade by Nic Westerman. It's a little whittler for me and is sharp, sharp, sharp!
The handle on this one is made from home cut Boxwood at the front and the main section of Tambooti, an African wood. there are four thin wood veneers between them - two darker and two lighter to hopefully mirror the Boxwood and Tambooti.

Quite a bit of shaping to do! Think I'll leave the Kingwood one until I have a new bandsaw blade!!

Enzo Necker Part II (Trapper Conversion)

2011-10-31T09:58:00.000Z

Part I here: Playing with Stainless Enzo Trapper

The blade shape was changed a while back. Now to putting the scales on.
I've settled on Thuya Burl and Carbon fibre pins.

A bit of drilling and using pins to make sure everything lines up.

One done ...

Two done...

All of one side done - breakout of grain on the other side. Should have used something to support underneath but shouldn't be a problem.

Starting the next side...

all done, all lined up...

Next thing is to shape the front of the scales. My bandsaw would be handy here but the blade is blunt and I haven't got a new one yet so it's a glorified storage unit!

By hand instead....

Ready to glue....

More doodling

2011-10-17T20:05:00.000+01:00

This one is an idea that i've had for a while but was reminded of again recently.

It's a fixed design based on the Spyderco Balance that was designed by Ed Schempp.

Video on the Balance

The balance has a more downturned blade but is restricted to how it sits by being a folder. I'm thinking this could make a handy little kydex sheathed neck knife.

I'm undecided on the handle cut-outs at the minute and am playing with some more ideas. I like it looking a bit like bones and the angles make me think of a dinosaur!

Hoodlum Hell Hound

2011-10-12T21:44:00.000+01:00

Recently saw this and I'm tempted to make my own copy:
http://www.tactical-life.com/online/tactical-knives/hoodlum-hell-hound/

It's on the long list!

General utility

2011-10-12T21:22:00.000+01:00

Got a part finished blade from Rob J Evans in - the middle one here:

He described it as like a Rat Izula knife and I didn't look at the measurements so was a bit surprised when it turned up. The Rat Izula is a lot more petite than this one!

This is a 5mm thick piece of steel and a good handful.

The bevels on it as it arrived were a high flat grind with a thick edge on it still. I couldn't resist convexing the bevels - I didn't get round to taking a picture before I started, unfortunately!

5mm thick, nice wide blade and a convex edge will be a beautiful slicer but strong as anything!

Handle plan is black micarta with stainless steel fittings. Maybe some red liners too.

A doodle...

2011-10-09T08:22:00.000+01:00

The blade shape isn't right yet. I struggle to get the clip of the spine and curve of the edge right on bowie / fighter type knives.

Tetrarch Neckers - Part 1

2011-09-29T19:49:00.001+01:00

Named after the Tetrarch light tank, these are going to be small but strong little neckers.

The plan is for a chisel grind, vinegar etch (or depending on where I'm at with it, something more interesting), jimping on the spine, large hole at the rear for lanyard. No scales.

So the starting point is three 18" lengths of O1 steel, 1" wide and 7/32" thick - for those not great at converting Imperial to metric that's 5.6mm thick!!

I decided to chop each length into three...

And here's a first thought on design with one of my favourite tools - my trusty Sharpie marker!!

Handle shape on one done. I wanted to get the holes drilled next so I could profile them all together, using teh first as a guide. I.m still undecided about the blade shpae but that can come later.

Drilling a stack of steel!

First hole done - 11mm.

Drilling a hole that wide and that deep (50mm ish) is not a quick job!

Leaving the 11mm bit in place to hold them all together, 7mm hole started...

An update, long overdue!

2011-09-27T21:31:00.000+01:00

I've been going through a bit of a dark phase recently. While I've still managed to keep chipping away at my knives, I haven't felt too motivated.

I had lost my fire.

I'm ready to relight it so as a start, here's some of what I've been working on since I last posted.

A thick bladed Nessmuk with a Macassar Ebony handle.

A possible design for a 'mythical' knife. A bit of fun on a forum.

Started a new scale for the Spyderco Pride I was working on after messing up the previous one!

A PSK blade - plenty of work to do.

Slotting some Mammoth for a James Wood whittler blade:

Basketworking some leather for a billhook sheath:

A general bushcraft knife - thinking a two part handle with reindeer antler and an undecided wood! (same style as Bison Bushcraft knives with the long bolster?)

A little slip to correct! oops!

A stacked handle. African blackwood & kingwood with leather inbetween.

A handle in Macassar Ebony & Cocobolo on a Dorset Woodland knives XL Nessmuk blade by FGYT

Guycep Necker - Carbon Fibre and Desert Ironwood

2011-09-08T21:20:00.000+01:00

I started another rehandle of a Guy Stainthorp necker a while back.
This was the previous one: Guycep Necker with Orange G10 & African Blackwood

I fancied doing something similar but different and eventually settled on Carbon Fibre and Desert Ironwood!

However, I seem to have been having a bit of bad luck lately and making some silly mistakes.

On glueing the handle on, for some reason things didn't go right.

Gaps and cracks!

Argh!!

The worst thing is that it's a waste of a gorgeous bit of wood!

So back to the start again....

Soak in boiling water:

Prise it apart:

And ready for another go:

Big sigh!!

Playing with a stainless Enzo Trapper

2011-08-27T12:12:00.000+01:00

A few years ago, I got an Enzo Trapper kit.
Dennis at Brisa has done a great job of getting these produced. You can buy just the blade but he also sells kits with pre-drilled handles that need only a small amount of work to fit properly.

This was one of those kits. (A little tutorial that shows the amount of work involved)

So, me being me, I went a bit unconventional and after it was glued up, rather than sanding the handle to shape, I decided to whittle the handle down a bit first. I snagged a bit of the grain and pulled a chunk out of the handle.

I cursed a little but but rather than letting it go to waste, I decided to do a little experiment - hot wax dipping the handle!

Now, hot wax dipping sheaths is quite a common thing that I've done a few times. The leather is dipped in molten beeswax repeatedly and it makes the sheath really solid and waterproof. as beeswax is used in wood polish, I thought it could be a different way to get the wax deep into the wood.

The process I went through was a series of quick dips and rubbing the excess off between dips. It went well apart from not taking into account the knife blade holding the heat and the epoxy holding the handle on softening. Part of the handle lifted a fraction so I stopped there.

That was a few years back and the knife has been used as a bit of a knockabout on odd occasions.

I came across it a few days ago and pondered over it a while.
Two thoughts were in my head:

- first off wondering how much wax was in the wood/how well it was waterproofed

- second could I change the knife shape to something more compact. While I like the Enzo range, I do think the handle on this is a fraction too small. It's an early model and I think the handle has been changed in the newer ones.

So first off a weigh in

then a soak in a glass of water for a few hours.

followed by a second weigh in.

A small difference - 1 gram.

Next I gave it a boiling so I could remove the handle ready for a new one.

As soon as I put the handle in the hot water, wax started bubbling out.

After a short while, I did another weigh in.

A much bigger difference so the wax must have helped hold water out!

Lots of evidence of swelling as well.

The handle was easy to remove by prising it off with another knife.

and a bit of scribbling with a Sharpie on which bits of metal to remove to make this into a compact little knife with a more universal fit of the handle.

Hunter - Part 3

2011-07-29T09:31:00.000+01:00

Part 1:
Two New Blades Started
Part 2:
Hunter - Part 2

The first bit of brass is epoxied on and this is what's to follow - carbon fibre and more brass. Not a normal combination but I didn't want to use vulcanised fibre but wanted a good contrast. Hopefully it should work!!

And all glued up - the main part of the handle is Wenge.

The photo below is rubbish but you can see the block in the pictures above being used as the background.

I need to get a new blade for my bandsaw so instead of rough cutting the profile with the saw, I went at it with a fresh 80 grit belt this morning. Very aggressive and got a lot smaller very quickly!

I hadn't taken the KITH knife down with me so didn't have it to hand to compare. This one is basically a bigger version of it.

The main thing that needs changing on the shape is the section where the first few fingers sit.

Hunter - Part 2

2011-07-26T10:47:00.000+01:00

A blade previously started here:

Two New Blades Started

I have been doing more work on the EN9 blade but have been forgetting to record it.

So I had originally planned a wrought iron bolster. That was taking far too long so I decided to change to brass - much easier to work!!

So this morning I was at this point:

The bolster roughly fits but before I do any more filling, I wanted to cut it down to size.

Hacksaw rough cut:

then grinder to shape. Angled to start with to get the top outline quickly before I rubbed the marker pen away!

and then parallel sides.

The top lines will change at the end. It'll become clear later.

The slow job of getting that fit nice and snug now...

Is this a dagger I see before me?

2011-07-17T10:10:00.000+01:00

After the last KITH (Knife In The Hat) that I made a knife for, someone suggested that we did a dagger KITH!
I was extremely keen to take part. I've not made a dagger before - the challenge of making a double edged, symmetrical blade will be interesting!

The only stipulation on the design is that the blade is symmetrical. The rest is open for interpretation.

The deadline is set for September. So far I have done no actual grinding and have no firm design.

Around the same time as the challenge was set, I attended Owen Bush's Hammer-In. While there, I sat through a talk by the amazingly talented Jake Powning. Look at his site and you'll see the sort of work he produces. Breathtaking!

It inspired me to want to attempt some handle carving and the dagger seems like a logical piece to do it on. When I got home, I pulled out George Bain's book on Celtic Art that my parents had bought me many many years ago on a holiday. I saw someone with this book at Owen's so figured it must be ok!

So, I have spent quite a lot of time trying to work out what to do. I want the design of the dagger to be the correct sort of shape and style to be appropriate to have some carving on. Viking design, celtic design. I want it to be at least vaguely authentic. Researching that remit has been tricky, especially as it needs to look good to my eyes.

Here's some of the very varied pictures i have saved for inspiration:

Bike Chain for Mr Bates

2011-07-03T07:39:00.000+01:00

This has just been delivered to it's new owner.

The blade is made from bike chain, forge welded into a solid bar. The bike chain pattern is really cool!

The handle is Macassar Ebony wood and the bolster is carbon fibre and tufnol.

I left the sheath undyed.....

...but thought it was a bit too harsh of a contrast so treated it with Ko Cho Line leather grease which will both keep it in good condition and also darken the leather slightly.

Spyderco Pride rescale - Part 3

2011-06-29T11:10:00.003+01:00

I've moved on a little bit since the last post and starting this one. The Titanium has been ground down to shape and I've also reduced the height of the spring, almost to where I want it.

So next job is to make all the holes for the 1-72 screws that'll hold the micarta scales onto the Titanium.

A bit of marking out, trying to work out where to locate the six screws. I was undecided on the middle bottom one at this point.

With five drilled, I had a look from the uncoloured side to help decide on the sixth location - hopefully it'll look ok!!

To drill the holes in the same location on the other liner, I used the original bolts as location pins and a hand vice to keep it all together.

Twelve little holes

Then to start tapping - half done here!

The tapping raises a slight burr...

..so I used a small but very sharp countersink to just knock the corner off the holes on both sides.

Twelve holes tapped and screws in to check they're all ok!

Next onto the micarta.

One screw in...

...and holding a liner on so that it can be used as a drill guide.

Now what you might notice in the picture above doesn't make sense. The liner is on the wrong side of the micarta - that was intentional. I missed out drilling lots more holes but if you look on the picture below, it shows the underside of the micarta with all the holes drilled.

You can see the break-out from drilling. I didn't want that to be seen on the outside of the knife. Even though I'll be countersinking, I didn't want to risk it going past the countersink.

So all the holes have been countersunk to allow the 1-72 screws to rest flush with the surface of the micarta. You can see the two test countersinks I did at the top left of the micarta, just to be safe! Once set, I used the depth stop on the drill press to make them all the same.

Right, what next?

Spyderco Pride rescale - Part 2

2011-06-20T10:54:00.000+01:00

So again I forgot to take my camera into the workshop to take some action shots - shame as titanium sparks look cool (even though they're quite dangerous!)

Over the weekend I discussed the handle shape with Maarten. Shape A is the original shape but we're going to go for a shape like B so that it's a single curve in the centre. I had said that I was going to test it out with cardboard but this morning I got carried away and just went for it!!

A rough shape starting to form...

Lots more work to do on this side.

However in checking the liners fit, I have spotted a problem!

I instantly thought that I had drilled the holes in the wrong place so put one of the old scales on but the problem is still there.

I'm going to check with someone a bit more knowledgeable than me on slipjoints but I'm hoping that I can grind the top of the spring down to be flush with the back of the blade.

Spyderco Pride rescale - Part 1

2011-06-17T20:29:00.000+01:00

A re-scaling project where I've been given a bit of free reign.

The Spyderco Pride has aluminium scales that are fairly uninspiring and quite different each side.

The request was for micarta or G10 replacements but I decided that I'm going to go a little step further.

You can see the Pride resting on the Brown micarta that will be used for the scales. In the picture below, I have added some extra dots. They are where I will use Torx screws to attach the micarta scales to Titanium liners. The original screws will be hidden underneath the micarta.

The original component parts.

So I missed out on taking pictures of drilling the holes in the Titanium.
Not too exciting but each hole needed two drill bits & one reamer.
- First use a 3.5mm bit to mark the centre of the hole, using the old scale as a guide for placement.
- Second drill out the hole with a 3.2mm bit.
- Third ream the hole with a 3.5mm reamer
- Repeat for each hole.

Beautifully lined up (but I just realised that I didn't drill out the lanyard hole!)

Next job that seems quite basic but is actually very important is to deburr all the holes.

More later...

Toddy's knife - Part 1

2011-06-03T08:41:00.000+01:00

So ages and ages ago, I ran a little competition with the prize being a blade ready to put a handle on, to the winners design.
Toddy won and picked the top design out of this lot:

At the same time as making Toddy's blade, I decided to make some of the others up as well as it wasn't a design I had tried out yet and wanted to play. For some reason I only started three out of the four and I don't know why now!

So one still needs to be profiled properly but I have progressed with the other two, both with bevels and heattreated, with Toddy's being worked on more.

The bottom one is flat ground but I think I may have gone too thin. We'll see!!
With Toddy's I have gone for a convex bevel. I know she likes it and uses it as she has a Bark River Mini Canadian.

I'm hoping that it'll be a nice discreet knife, quick to use but also comfortable due to the full length handle.

That could have been the end of this one (except for taking some more scratches out)
However, because it took me so long to get to this stage, I decided that I would put a handle on it as well (she can make the sheath herself! )

Mary wanted a wood that is native the UK and wasn't worried about the lanyard hole (I'm not too fussed by them either).

So a bit of Laburnum that was cut down from a friends garden more than 10 years ago, some stainless road, glue and clamps...

Then starting to rough shape....

A different day after fondling it a while to decide what needs to go...

The finger groove needs to be really comfortable. It'll make or break this knife. It'll be going thinner yet but I'm taking my time with it.

Back in the game!

2011-05-24T09:11:00.000+01:00

Well after what feels like an age, I'm back at work which also means I can get back in the workshop.

Straight away get the angle grinder out and chopped out two blades.

The first one is a fixed blade based on the Enlan EL-01 folder. I recently bought this knife to study the flipper mechanism and was so impressed with the feel of it that I thought it would be interesting to make a fixed blade version of it.

I feel that the design needs two little tweaks though.

The thumb ramp will be slightly extended and the guard will be more rounded.

The second knife I'm working on is a Canadian belt knife style knife, very similar to the type of knives Grohmann make. It's a very distinctive design and quite different to most other knives we see.

I was too excited about getting back on the tools that I forgot a lot of pictures so we've jumped on to having the blades profiled and the bevels started.

Both are from old saw blade, 1/8" thick.

Available for Sale - Stuart Barker PSK with Red G10 & Carbon Fibre

2011-05-19T08:02:00.000+01:00

Stuart Barker PSK blade with Red G10 & Carbon Fibre handle with stainless steel pins.

£50 delivered in the UK.

A Woodlore Bushcraft knife copy

2011-05-14T08:26:00.000+01:00

This design is the same as Ray Mears uses. He designed it himself and it is made by Alan Wood, a truly superb knifemaker. Due to Rays name on the design, it is a very sought after design with demand being higher than Alan can provide. Years back the company Wilkinson Sword made a budget version of the knife under Rays instruction but they went bankrupt and closed. In more recent years, the knifemaker Steve Wade Cox has been asked by Ray and the Woodlore team take make some of the knives alongside Alan.
Demand is still higher than they can provide so there are many copies by other knifemakers.

This is one such copy, completely made by myself.

This one is handled with Bog Oak. The original Alan Wood is Birds Eye Maple so the look is very different. Everything else is the same as the original with 4mm O1 steel with a sabre / scandi grind.

I must admit that it was a design that I was reluctant to make because it's so copied. I feel that by copying it over and over, it is stifling creativity. However, it was an interesting thing to make and it's good to say that I have made one, at least for myself.

A new arrival / The reason why my posts have slowed down!

2011-05-13T20:23:00.000+01:00

So over Easter I had a holiday down in Devon then when we got back, I had four days back at work before going off again for my wife to have our second child.

My little girl - Rowan Meredith Light - 8 lb and half an ounce.

Guycep Necker sheath

2011-04-18T15:41:00.000+01:00

Two new blades started.

2011-04-18T15:38:00.000+01:00

I've started these two blades after being so inspired by the KITH knife (post below)

The bottom blade is 4mm thick EN9 witht he same shape as before.
the top blade is a bit thicker (but not sure how thick!) and is EN45.

I'm trying out a different idea on how to define the corners by pre-drilling some holes.

The plan is to flat grind them both again.

At this point, I'm only working on one blade at a time - the EN9 blade first.

I was tempted to leave the bevels at this height but I had slipped with the angle grinder earlier so more grinding required!

That should do for the grind height. Need to clean up the flats now. Hopefully I can keep the slight hint of the hot rolled finish on the bars. It should go well with a Wrought Iron bolster.

KITH knife finished.

2011-04-12T11:41:00.000+01:00

I really enjoyed making this knife.

To re-cap: The blade is circular saw blade, green micarta bolster with a carbon fibre spacer then the main handle is Cocobolo.

Here are everyone else's knives that managed to get finished in time.
All made to the same shape but you can see the great variety in them all.

First sheath in a while!!

2011-04-10T18:00:00.000+01:00

Seems like a long time since I made a sheath and it now seems like I have a few to do.

This is the first one started for a whittler.

The leather has been dyed with vinegaroon - a chemical reaction between the tanins in the leather and wire wool dissolved in vinegar. I like using vinegaroon as it's so easy to get an even finish and the dye will never wear off.

Fallkniven F1 handle mod - part 2

2011-04-10T11:13:00.000+01:00

Part 1 here: Part 1

I've jumped a long a little bit without pictures.

So I've thinnned the tang down quite a lot but I think I may want to take a little bit more off.

I have started slotting the micarta out for the bolster. I made the first one too wide so I'm now planning on having the handle as three pieces of micarta and two pieces of Cocobolo.

Hammer-In at Bushfire Forge

2011-04-05T20:21:00.000+01:00

This last weekend, Owen Bush hosted a Hammer-In at the Bushfire Forge

Unfortunately I could only attend on the Saturday but I had a great time, chatting to old friends, making new ones and hitting hot metal.

A few pictures and video I took to give a flavour of the day:

KITH knife Part 4

2011-03-29T18:26:00.000+01:00

Part 3 is here: KITH knife Part 3

So last night I put my mark on the blade.

The metal removing part of the etch complete:

Then the darkening part of the etch done:

Ready for a clean up with a bit of cardboard (a nice gentle abrasive)

and all clean (I still get a buzz out of this bit)

Then it came to gluing up but I should have planned it out a bit better.

My clamp wasn't holding it all together in a way that I was confident that there would be no gaps so I had to clamp it by hand.

I'm using Devcon 2 Ton epoxy that takes half an hour until it gets to a point where it's not going to move so I sat and watched TV while holding it all together.

I was still worried that I had gaps but i wouldn't be certain until the shaping stage.

The rough handle glued together.

Marking the centre line with my laser level.

Then start reducing the handle down:

No gaps!! I'm happy!!

I'm really, really liking this knife so far. It's going to be a struggle to let it go!

KITH knife Part 3

2011-03-28T09:08:00.000+01:00

Part 2 is here: KITH knife Part 2

I really need to get a new bandsaw blade. I had to use a coping saw to trim the excess wood from the profile.

Boring!!

Starting the first cut:

Look at how boring this is. You can't rush it else you'll snap the blade. It's a good work-out for toning your bingo wings as well!!

Finished the first cut with only one little wound:

Not actually as long as I thought.

Second cut done:

Cutting the back I rushed a bit and snapped the blade!

These saws are much quicker, although not so good at curved lines...

I decided that I wanted to put a pin in the handle.

First, drill a 1/8" hole through the handle without the blade in place.

...then insert the blade to the correct depth and drill a little bit again...

...which leaves a nice little mark on the tang.

Next I get a larger drill bit and drill a hole in the tang.

I'm certain that the pin will fit and the excess space will fill with epoxy. Perhaps not the strongest solution but stronger than no pin at all.

KITH knife Part 2

2011-03-24T20:16:00.000Z

Part 1 is the post prior to this one.

So, printed out a new copy of the design.

Bolster needs a bit of work but that's fine.

Handle should fit on here quite nicely:

I think I went for the right size

I decided to angle the front of the cocobolo slightly so that the majority of the grain was running down the length of the handle.

Hit a bit of wonky grain and snagged the cutter, knocking the block off line!

Went round again but had the same issue, despite being careful.

I decided that leaving it at this stage would be fine...

...because I can reposition the handle slightly!!

KITH knife Part 1

2011-03-23T21:43:00.001Z

This one has been worked on for a while but I'm only just getting round to sorting the pictures for on here.
Old camera, I'm afraid!

So, to start off, I should explain what KITH stands for. It's Knife In The Hat. A number of people make a knife then names are drawn out of a hat as to who receives each knife. It's basically a make and swap!
Sometimes there's a theme to the knives that are made.

For this KITH, it was based on a design by James Wood.

The idea was suggested that it would be interesting to take that drawing and have a number of people make a knife from it, to see what variations were produced. The only restriction on the build is that the knife looks like the drawing from the side so it could be made from any thickness of steel, have whatever grind you like, be a full tang or stick tang and, of course, any materials used for the handle.

Currently there are about 17 people in the build with a number of people having finished already.

I decided to use my favourite circular saw blade steel, 1/8" thick.

Rough cut with the angle grinder:

I got the profile pretty close with the angle grinder! Looking back, I'm quite impressed!

I recently purchased a Bubble Jig from Fred Rowe of Bethel Ridge Forge. It's designed to help you learn to grind freehand. I decided to flat grind this knife - this is about the third or fourth knife I have attempted this with.
In some of the pictures you can see the jig but I am intending to do a more comprehensive review later.

15 degree bevel:

Up to 10 degrees:

and higher still:

Pretty good, even if I do say so myself!

I noticed that the plunge line was coming in at a funny location:

and also that there was a bit of a scrath from when I had cut out the profile with the angle grinder:

A bit more grinding to move the plunge and some hand rubbing to remove the angle grinder mark...

Getting there
:

The plunge line looks much better here:

Next, heat treating.

So this:

Leads to making a bit of metal hard like this (listen to how tinny it sounds):

So, the plan for the handle - Green Micarta bolster (top of pic) and Cocobolo handle (bottom of pic)

Starting the slot for the bolster:

and a bit of time later...

I made a larger slot at the back to make filling the fit out easier later.

A bit concerned about that nick in the micarta at the top! I only just noticed it and wouln't be impressed if i had to start again! I'll see how it goes....

A really boring job now.

Filing out the slot by hand.

Slow progress...

Getting there...

Many days later (certainly felt like it!)
(and onto the new camera now)

The fit is spot on now, but no picture.

I misplaced my design printout so made a rough guess at the height of the bolster.

Rough cut:

and rough shaped:

Another catch up.

2011-03-23T09:55:00.000Z

I've been a bit remiss in updating recently so another blast of pictures of oddments that I've been doing.

You should start to see some improvement in the pictures part way through this post and then from here on out as I've got a new camera that copes with the low lighting in my workshop a lot better.

For Sale: An unfinished Enzo Lynx whittler

2011-03-13T14:10:00.000Z

This has sat like this for a while.

It's an Enzo Lynx blade in a large handle.

I'm undecided as to whether having a long handle is a good or a bad thing. Long handle means there's lots of options for holding and whittling but it does look a bit odd.

It needs a final bit of shaping and polishing or can be cut down in length too.

The handle is nicklle Silver bolster, leather, black fibre, Ebony and Red Mallee (with a nice subtle ripple / chatoyance)

The tip is missing 1mm. It'll be back to normal after it's first sharpen.

£45 delivered.

No sheath.

For Sale: KC Damascus Persian blade

2011-03-13T14:07:00.000Z

A rarity!
This was made by Colin KC. It still needs finishing (scratches polishing, sharpening, etc) but has been hardened. I've just never been sure what to do for a handle so it's sat untouched and it needs to be made up as it will make a beautiful knife.

It's stats are: hollow grind, 11 layer mild with 1% carbon core, 7 3/4" o/all, 4 1/8" blade

£50 delivered in the UK.

A new handle for an ALOX SAK in Green Micarta

2011-03-13T08:06:00.006Z

This is a project I did a year ago and I've just been reminded about it so I thought it would be a good one to put up on here.

I had a commission to swap the scales on this ALOX Swiss Army Knife for green micarta.

A bit of time with a grinding stone on the dremel

On the Alox models there is no liner between the blades and the Alox and I was concerned that the micarta scales wouldn't be a smooth surface so wanted to add another liner.

Rather than having to make some new ones, I had a quick try with the liners from a standard SAK.

It doesn't line up so I decided to make my own liners out of Titanium.

So, a quick photo as a record of what goes where.

and a bit of help from Timmy

I pulled out some Titanium for the new liners. My Dad gave me this hand vice a while back (a car boot bargain) and I wasn't particularly bothered at the time but having used it a few times in this situation, it's perfect. I've now bought some more as they're really handy things.

Using the old scale to keep the holes in the correct position.

Perfick!!

This was then repeated for the second liner.

Unfortunately the middle hole is smaller and I didn't have the correct size in at the time so I drilled it later.

I got the dremel-wannabee out to cut the Ti down.

Just starting the first past (you can just see the sparks next to the disc)

I got about a third of the way through half of the length before the first disc wore out!!

I was dubious that I would have enough discs to get all the way through so decided to upgrade!

Be warned:

Titanium sparks are dangerous! If a Titanium fire starts, it's hard to put out.

This is more like it

Done but notice how much the diameter of the wheel has been ground away - I suspect I was right about not having enough dremel cut off discs!

So now a Titanium sandwich needs to be made.

Again, the hand vice comes in useful!

The Ti was shaped down to the right size all the way round.

I drilled some pilot holes that will be tapped for the screws that will hold the micarta scales on. (Sharpie marker was using as a poor man's marking fluid)

Pilot holes for the screws drilled through the micarta:

Tapping holes was something that frustrated me until Terry Knipschield showed a better way of doing it.

His method is to use a power drill to hold and drive the tap. If you have it on a low torque setting, if the tap gets jammed, you don't have a broken tap. Just hold it straight and let the tap threads pull it in.

A bit of deburring. I had been a bit stupid before and not deburred the holes in the Ti before pressing against the micarta.

a bit of 400 grit and a lump of granite removes any burrs in a few passes.

The holes in the micarta need expanding out to be through holes and countersinking.

I suspect this is a bit unorthodox way of making sure the drill lines up....

Slip it through the existing hole, lower the bit, clamp micarta, raise drill and swap for next bit. It gets me by.

The clamp is a home made piece based on something Bob Terzoula uses. A big piece of scrap Aluminium has been used for the base that is held in my cross vice.

So, bit of countersinking.

Results in this

but leaves the screws sticking out on the back.

it doesn't take much to reduce them down.

I got a bandsaw shortly before doing this knife. My Dad upgraded so I got his old one. It's not too great but saves my arm. I don't use it too much at the moment as I think I need some new blades and need to spend some time learning the best way to set it.

Scales now profiled (no pics of this)

Rather than fit new pins, I hope to reuse the existing ones. The problem is that they were cone shaped because of how they were seated in the Alox. i don't have a metal lathe (yet ) so to made them flat on the end, I used my pillar drill and a file. It took quite a while to do the three pins!

it means they sit like this:

I thought this step would be more difficult!

Well, I jumped on quite a way since the last picture, although sadly no inbetween shots.

The second bit of Ti was a swine to get in place when trying to get the last pin through, pushing against the springs.

Once it was in place I realised that the piece of Ti on the other end had been bent at the end so it all came apart again so that could be flattened out.

When it was back together, the pins were riveted over. I was wary of this part but it all went ok. The can opener is a bit stiffer to open than before so had a hit or two too many but I think it should loosen off slightly.

So, it looks like this:

Trond Knife - Part 4

2011-03-11T10:20:00.000Z

Part 3 here: Trond Knife - Part 3

Just a quick one....

All glued up and I smoothed off one side to see how the woods are going to look together. I think it'll be great!

It ended up with the blade wonky to the main block but that's not a major issue as there's plenty of space to straighten it up by selective shaping.

I have a little trick for marking the centre line, after struggling lots of times in the past with rulers and string.

By using a laser spirit level, I can get a straight line that conforms to uneven surfaces easily, where in the past getting the ruler or whatever to sit flat has been quite tricky.

All done and ready to go.

A little bit taken of the side as well.

Starting a new handle for a Fallkniven F1

2011-03-05T16:00:00.000Z

Another project started...

The Fallkniven F1 is a bit of a bushcraft classic. I think it's a bit boring with it's rubber handle so I've taken this:

and I've done this:

I don't know what handle I'm going to do yet but I think I might do it similar to the Cold Steel Kukhri I did before but with Cocobolo for the centre of the handle.

We'll see......

Help save Portland Works

2011-03-02T20:33:00.000Z

I don't intend to use my blog for this sort of thing particularly often but this is something I feel is important.

If you want to just go straight to the petition to be signed, I've put that link first. The background info is after.

Petition here: http://www.gopetition.com/petition/43409.html

Website about the issue here: http://www.portlandworks.co.uk/

Background (Preamble):

Sheffield’s historic Portland Works is threatened with closure and conversion into flats. Please help us to persuade Sheffield City Council to reject this planning application.

This atmospheric metal trades building, a grade II* listed building, currently houses a thriving collection of profitable and innovative local businesses. It is a place where the boundaries between art, industry, and technology break down, allowing Sheffield’s manufacturing past to inspire its creative future. Local artists rub shoulders with tool makers, heritage craftspeople ply their trade next to businesses researching and developing new patents, and the sound of local bands rehearsing mingles with the rasp of grinding wheels.

The proposal to convert Portland works into flats threatens a whole traditional way of life. Conserving this place means more than preserving its beautiful grade II* listed architectural fabric, which witnessed the manufacture of the first stainless steel cutlery. It means defending jobs, safeguarding traditional specialist skills so that they can be passed on to new generations, and preserving continuity with Sheffield’s proud tradition of expert ‘little mesters’ who work in an enterprising, sustainable, and fundamentally local way.

There is a viable and exciting alternative to flats on this site, an option that seeks to conserve both the building’s fabric and its use. The Portland Works campaign, staffed by volunteers, aims to purchase the works building with funds raised through a community share issue. Our aim is to repair its fabric and to develop it as both a business cluster and a community space.

However, for this to be possible, Sheffield City Council must reject the current planning application to convert the building into flats. This petition urges them to do so, in the name of Sheffield’s historic past, its characterful present, and its sustainable future.

Duncan Chandler / FGYT DSK blade in Carbon Fibre

2011-02-27T08:31:00.000Z

Something simple - a laser cut O1 blade from Duncan Chandler / FGYT of Dorset Woodland blades with the addition of a bit of Carbon Fibre and Stainless Steel. I think the blade is a DSK 'Wisdom Edge'. The flats have been left with the hot rolled finish from when the steel was manufactured.

It doesn't need to get much more complicated than this.

Another Stu Barker PSK plan

2011-02-27T08:21:00.000Z

So I've got hold of another Stu Barker PSK blade and I'm planning to do the handle in G10 & Carbon Fibre like I did previously with this one: Orange & Black Stu Barker PSK

I don't want to use Orange this time (a bit too much Orange going around at the moment) but I'm undecided as to if I should use Red G10 or Pink G10 so I've put it up as a forum poll.

Trond Knife - Part 3

2011-02-13T10:43:00.001Z

Part 2 here: Trond Knife - Part 2

So, since the last part I have reflattened the end of the block of Desert Ironwood and made the hole for the tang of the blade in the block deeper.

The initial depth of the hole with the initial outline drawn round the tang:

...and where I had to take it to get the bone bolster to fit flush against the Desert Ironwood block:

It was only after I had made the hole deer that I spent any real time thinking about any sort of spacer between the bone and Ironwood.

I looked at quite a few options but when I came across an off-cut of Yellow Mallee burl I had, I knew it was the correct choice. It's one of my favourite woods with a very tight and interesting grain, and this particular piece is an off-cut from a block I used to make a box for my Wedding ring - seems an apt choice for a knife for me!

So, add in a couple of thick black bits of vulcanised fibre and it looks like this:

So if we compare the tang against the side of the block, the original hole was sufficient!

Oh well! I just need to make sure I leave the handle long enough so that I don't expose the hole now. That's the main reason for drawing round it on the side of the block.

It's all been glued together and is sat in a clamp in my kitchen right now.

Customising a Guycep / Guy Stainthorp Neckmuk knife - Part 2

2011-02-11T15:51:00.000Z

Part 1 here: Part 1

So first an extra hole in the tang (solid carbide drill bit and cutting paste)

Then the handle material rough cut ready for drilling:

So more cleaning up on the blade.

Then the handles were drilled out for the pins, the pieces were all stacked together then the front face of the handle was shaped together.

Once that was done, it was glued up.

and I've started rough shaping of the handle. African Blackwood is hard! Why did I suggest it?!

Complete and utter stupidity!!

2011-02-06T08:22:00.000Z

So on Wednesday, I was stupid.

Very stupid.

I had been asked to add a couple of little scales to this blade I had made:

On Tuesday evening I had glued the Carbon Fibre on, ready for shaping on the Wednesday morning.

Carbon Fibre is tough stuff so I wanted to remove as much excess off the handle with a saw before going to the belt grinder.

I put the knife in a vice, blade down and sawed some excess off. At the same time, I was thinking about other things, daydreaming. Big mistake! I half thought - oh, I could do with taking a bit more off.

I repositioned the knife in the vice the other way up so it would be easier to get the rest off. The blade was now facing up, uncovered. I was still daydreaming, not really thinking about what I was doing.

I started to saw.

The saw was quite blunt, so needed quite a bit of force.

Just as I was about to finish the cut, I realised what I was doing. This was really stupid! My left hand was over the knife blade. At the same time as completing the cut, I started to pull away but the hacksaw pushed my hand down on to the upturned blade.

It actually didn't hurt too much - a good sharp blade!!

So anyway, I was looking at my hand - an inch and a half gash across my palm with a big hole at the start and exposed tendons.

I was not impressed! What a complete and utter stupid idiot!

I have damaged some tendons previously (not in a knife related accident) that required surgery and I had visions of going through that again, with all the recovery time as well. I thought this would be worse because after all, I had just stuck a knife in my hand.

To add to my stupidity, I was so angry with myself that I kicked a very solid door full on. That hurt too!

The good news is that when I went to a A & E, all I needed was three stitches in my hand with no tendon damage. I can only conclude that because I realised what was about to happen and started to pull away, it stopped the damage being too severe.

No pictures of it unstitched (unfortunately), but this is what it looks like right now:

It doesn't look as severe stitched together as when it was open. My grip is fine (although I'm not using that hand) but I do have a loss of feeling in parts of the last three fingers. Very, very lucky.

My foot ballooned and was bruised both sides of my ankle. I've been struggling to walk for the first two days but while it still hurts, I'm not limping. Ironically it's actually more of an annoyance than my hand.

All in all, a big slap in the face about paying attention, being safe with my work (knife blade pointing up in a vice!) and using sharp tools (the saw)

Trond Knife - Part 2

2011-01-29T07:21:00.000Z

Part 1 here: Trond Knife - Part 1

So, the piece of wood chosen was the Desert Ironwood.

Why?

Because my wife said it looked manly - I couldn't argue with that!

The bone bolster is at an angle so to get the best fit and grain orientation with the wood, I cut an angle to match on the front face.

The rough sawn face needs cleaning up

so I was a naughty boy and used my pillar drill as a mill again. Not recommended but a risk I'm prepared to take with wood and only taking light cuts.

With it all nice and flat, the tang hole needs drilling.

First draw round the tang...

...then make sure it lines up with the drill bit.

The wood is amptly named Ironwood - very hard and dense.

With wood like this you need to do a bit of cutting then pull the bit out as the channels in the drill bit fill with wood, creating lots of friction. The swarf needs chipping out of the channels.

The last bit of drilling and disaster!

Damn, damn, damn!

Thankfully I hadn't cut the block down to size yet so I think there's enough available for me to trim the front off enough to expose the drill bit and start again.

That was a wasted session but hopefully not a wasted bit of wood!

Customising a Guycep / Guy Stainthorp Neckmuk knife - Part 1

2011-01-29T06:33:00.000Z

Guy Stainthorp AKA Guycep did a run of these blades some time back.

They all had a paracord wrapped handle, soaked in glue but while they're handy wee things, the paracord doesn't make for the most comfy long term.

So, I've been tasked with a new handle for it.

First order of the day is to remove the old paracord.

Ooops! A sharp lesson in safety!!

Tape x 2 and I can carry on.

With the handle off, I decided to clean the blade up a bit. It was left with a quench finish but I'm going to aim (!) for something a bit more shiney!

Rubbing

A bit more rubbing, with lots to go.

Sometimes I use this bit of rubber glued to a bit of wood to help follow the curves.

Engine Oil helps polishing

So, I still have plenty of work to do on the blade but the plan for the handle is this lot:

I'm going to put another hole in the handle where the blue dot is so there'll be three stainless steel pins. Then the handle itself will be orange G10 liners with African Blackwood say on top (underneath the blade)

It should be interesting!

Customising a Swiss Army Knife so that it is no longer a knife!

2011-01-20T10:32:00.000Z

On a forum, this popped up:

"Following a couple of minor injuries at work our senior managers have decided to totally ban the carrying of pocket knives and the also use of knives as a "tool" for work use. I have carried a SAK for nearly 30yrs and feel like I've lost my right arm now (excuse the pun). I don't often need the blade, but all the other stuff comes in useful almost daily.

So... onto my question, does anyone know whether there are multitools available without blades as I have a space in my pocket and it needs filling... "

I decided to make a FrankenSAK out of a Victorinox Climber (the model that was currently being carried).

It's actually one of the more easy modifications that can be done.

The starting point - a three-layer Victorinox Climber, Swiss Army Knife

So first, the plastic scales need to be removed. Another knife helps. they're not glued on and pop off easily.

For one of the rivets, just filling the head off works.

Then a bit of a tap with something pointy to push it out one layer....

...so that the corkscrew can be removed.

For the other three rivets, I want to preserve the bushings so I drilled them out.

which means that the bushings will just pop off.

Prise the outer liner away.

then remove the two blades and spring.

the pins were then filed down to an appropriate length, the bushings put back on at then the pins were rivetted in place.

My rivetting:

Victorinox factory rivetting:

We now have a two layer SAK.

For the scales, i could re-use the old plastic scales but it would leave a gap where the corkscrew was, so Alf is going to make some custom ones:

all the tools:

A knifeless Swiss Army knife!

Playing with Sugru on a CRKT Slip KISS

2011-01-16T19:48:00.000Z

I'll add some text and re-order the pictures later...

Available for Sale - Thuya handled neck / rabbit knife.

2011-01-15T15:34:00.000Z

O1 steel, 3mm thick.
Convex grind.
Thuya handle with stainless steel pins and lanyard tube.
No sheath, but one can be made at extra cost.

Now sold

fgfgf

A sanding idea to stop pain in my hands.

2011-01-15T13:14:00.000Z

I don't know about anyone else but I find gripping sandpaper can start getting a bit painful after a while as you're having to grip on such a thin item while exerting force.

I've been concerned that this'll develop into a bigger health issue so have been thinking of a way to avoid it.

I'm now playing with Clingons - a really cool means of adding a tie loop to a tarpaulin.

With a bit of lateral thinking, I thought I could add some wrist loops to sandpaper so you don't actually need to grip the cords as the loop goes round the hand, therefore avoiding hand fatigue.

The only problem at the moment is getting used to the different length as even that extra bit of length from the clingon changes the 'feel' of how it's working.

In use:
(Not on a knife that is ready for it yet, just used to show how it works)

A Camp knife & a Bowie in EN9 - Part 1

2011-01-15T12:52:00.000Z

I'm trying to be good and not start any new projects until I've cleared out some existing ones.

Well, last week I needed something to work on that would clear my head without having to think too much. The obvious thing to do was to grind some metal so i started these two.

They've been sat with the designs on them for quite a while. The steel is EN9 with added carbon.

So a bit of work with the angle grinder doing this:

Leads to this:

If you're careful, you can use the discs until they're worn right down.

Then to refine the lines so that they're smooth, we need to do some of this:

and we get these:

I don't have any real plan for the camp knife. No prizes for guessing what I'm planning for the Bowie handle, although it may change yet.

Trond Knife - Part 1

2011-01-05T13:23:00.003Z

Calling this Part 1 is a bit of a lie. It's Part 1 of this incarnation.

Back in 2004, the first blade I bought was a Lauri factory made stick tang blade, shortly followed by the blacksmith's knife pictured below and the stick tang blade that this build is for, from Trond Pedersen.

So, my first attempt at a handle ever was done using the Trond stick tang blade. I was a bit naive as to what I could achieve.

It looked like this:

The black wood is Ebony, the spacer is a piece of Silver and the main section of the handle is Snakewood.

Snakewood is very hard and at the time I only had hand tools so found it slow going.

I didn't slot the bolster out, but instead made it in two halves and glued it on. The arrow indicates the join. I wouldn't do it like that now.

I abandoned the build after a while, in the belief that the handle was all wrong and would never be any good. If I still had it in that state now, I could confidently remove the excess leaving an elegant handle.

That's experience for you!

I don't have a good picture of the second attempt at a handle, but it's indicated in this pic

I think this was about 2006

This time I slotted a piece of Cow Bone as a bolster and fitted a block of Amboyna burl for the handle. I think there were a few thin bits of Birch Bark between them. I did a fair bit of shaping before realising that the blade was sat in the handle wrong, with the point far too high to be usable.

That one got removed too!

I managed to salvage the bolster and that'll be reused this time round.

So, onto the knife as it is today.

The blade has a forge finish which I love.

the bevels look a bit uneven but that is due to where I have started to flatten them out to remove the hollow grind that Trond gave it.

The blade tapers from the handle to the tip and from the spine to the edge, all hand forged.

The red arrow is to indicate the hint of the lamination line. The blade is made in a San Mai fashion, essentially a metal sandwich. It has a high carbon steel core with mild steel forge welded either side. This is how they are traditionally made to save money (the expensive steel is used for the cutting edge but the steel that won't do any cutting is cheaper) and possibly to give added strength by allowing the blade to flex.

When the handle is finished I'll see if I can polish the spine and bevels up then lightly etch them to highlight the lines.

The old bolster:

The outline isn't right but the slot is perfect and I'm confident the correct sized bolster is waiting inside.

Sat with glue. A perfect fit. no clamps required.

One of the hardest parts of knifemaking for me, is choosing what materials to use for the handle. I love lots of different types of woods and want to use them all!

This knife is for me and these are the options I'm looking at, at the moment.

Top to bottom: Desert Ironwood, Yellow Mallee Burl, Axe Head (seriously!), Stabilised Curly Birch

They're all very different to each other. I'm not intending to use much of a spacer between the bone and the handle but may do some carving towards the back of the knife so the handle needs to hold the interest.

I think they can all manage it though!

The intention is for it to be seen as a puukko knife, which is why I was thinking of staying fairly simple, although many puukko knives can be quite ornate. The Curly Birch would be the most 'true' choice (even more so if it wasn't stabilised) but I find it hard to use such an expensive bit of wood on myself! The Axe Head wood is fairly plain but I've never seen it before which is why I have kept it for my own use. It's very dense and will polish up beautifully. The Yellow Mallee has lots of interest with the burl eyes and the Desert Ironwood is just a bloomin' nice bit of wood!

Playing at making my own micarta

2011-01-05T11:52:00.000Z

After a few discussions about 'odd' handle materials, I was reminded of something I've been meaning to try - making my own micarta out of some dog hair! (All naturally shed - she doesn't have a bald patch!)

I didn't have a lot of hair to play with so hopefully it's enough to make a spacer. When it was full of resin, it got even smaller!

I had a lot of resin left over, which I hadn't really thought about beforehand so I decided to throw some string in it.

I've no idea how this'll work. I've only played at this once before, a couple of years back.

Hessian W. Kneissler - Part 2

2011-01-05T11:40:00.001Z

In the post below this one, the picture of the scales doesn't show that I had already rough drilled some holes in the back of the scales that will line up with the pins in the handle.

The next job was to make the junction of the scales and the metal bolster a perfect fit.

I don't have a disc sander (yet) so for small projects, I have a small Proxxon table saw. It cuts really well but limited depth.

You can see that it's not deep enough to go through the full thickness of the hessian micarta.

That's not a problem though as it's deeper than the thickness of the bolster so I can just snap the excess off, leaving a nice 90 degree junction.

Perfect!

So ready to glue the first scale.

I'm sure I've mentioned before that I love my Kant Twist clamps.

Well, that's still true and if anyone ever decides to give me more then I won't complain!

-----------

Edit to add that the second scale is now glued on

The plan for another W. Kneissler

2010-12-30T16:07:00.000Z

Another W.Kneissler knife that I'm going to rehandle in a similar way to the orange one I did previously except this time I'm going to use some hessian micarta that was made by Warren Smith.

I have a load of sacking to make some myself as I think it looks great but I never quite get round to it, so buying it instead is ideal. It should give the knife a bit of an old fashioned look with modern durability.

First Slipjoint knife completed

2010-12-29T10:28:00.000Z

I haven't been posting much lately as I've been focussing on trying to get this particular knife done in time for Christmas.

I did the final bit of polishing and shaping on Christmas Eve morning. It's not perfect but there was little else I could do for the faults except start again.

For my first effort, I'm actually quite happy, although there are some faults that I'm fully aware of.

Two parts of the spring have grind marks on them still. I may have been able to grind one of them out but I was concerned with making the spring too thin. The second area is where the spring contacts the blade and if I had ground this down it would have changed the way the blade opened so I just left it alone!

When closed, the spring is a fraction of a mm higher than the back of the handle. It should be the same height when open and closed. More planning for next time!

The blade rubs on the liner when it closes, so sometimes it doesn't quite snap all the way. This is because I decided to make the blade with a chisel grind. I've chamfered the liners where it hits but not sufficient to remove the problem. I think over time it'll wear in.

This shows how the edge of the blade is against one side.

The highlighted area on the brass is where the blade is rubbing.

I'm happy with how the blade opens and closes. It snaps well. I put in a half stop, because I like them.
The camera I was using didn't have a video function so instead I just kept my finger on the shutter. I think it shows the pace of the close quite well.

I'm pleased with the shape - I left the end more round than on the knife I based it on. I think it works.

I'm looking forward to making the next one, although apprehensive at the same time!

Helen Light Photography

2010-12-14T20:34:00.001Z

My wife has just launched her wedding photography business.

She can found here:

http://www.helenlightphotography.co.uk/

So if you're interested in booking a wedding photographer for Hertfordshire and the surrounding areas, please take a look.

Monday morning catch-up

2010-12-06T11:36:00.000Z

So, despite earlier promises, I haven't been catching up with my pictures of what I've been working on. With a new week starting, I thought I would force myself to get back to it.

Here's a few more pictures and few notes of what I've been working on.

First off, a bit of an unusual one. This is an Enzo blade and the customer wants the knife to only weigh a maximum of 120g when finished. It's his choice that the centre of the handle is cut away and it's actually quite comfortable!

Still 4g to go. All the holes need countersinking a bit and final shaping and polishing. I'm confident it'll get there!

There is a second Enzo blade being done in a similar way, but the goal for that one is 100g total (it's a smaller blade).

Next, another full tang Leuku. This came about after someone seeing my 1/8" thick full tang Leuku but wanting a thicker and heavier version. This one is 1/4" thick and will have Cocobolo scales.

This is the Carbon Fibre & Orange G10 ready for the Spyderco Mule. It's been drilled and needs the front shaping before gluing to the handle.

A few oddments

2010-11-23T20:23:00.000Z

I've been quite busy working and making but I realised that I've been a bit bad at updating recently, so thought I would post a few snippets up to get myself back into it.

A design that'll be made at some point:

I found a piece of steel that didn't have a goal in mind so started sketching on it. It's not a style I've tried before but after showing it round, it seems to be liked so I'll definitely be making it. The handle materials are undecided at this stage but possibly a Nickle Silver or Copper bolster and maybe pure black Ebony or a green dyed wood for the handle.

Next, a blade I've shown before that has been slowly shaped when I've had a minute here or there to fill.

I'm really not sure on the handle at the moment - this is the first sketch but I don't think it's quite right! I may have to thin the tang some more to give myself some more options.

This is a design on a big lump of D2 that I was given. It's going to be a beast of a knife!! The design is strongly influenced from a knife by Chris Claycomb.

Finally, I just received this Spyderco Mule (52100 steel) today. The plan is to remove the handles that are on there and do a contoured handle out of Orange G10 and Carbon Fibre, in the same way as I did the PSK knife previously.

I have boiled the knife already this evening, so as to break down the epoxy. I need to drill out the handle bolts though as they are corby bolts so have a step, holding the handle onto the knife.

Slipjoint folder for my Dad

2010-11-15T14:24:00.000Z

As a present for my Dad last Christmas, I bought him a slipjoint folder by Trevor Ablett. When I showed it to my wife, she admonished me, suggesting quite strongly that I should have made him one instead of buying one.
She was, of course, correct so I sold the Ablett on. Unfortunately on the time scale that was left, I didn't have time to make one for Christmas 2009 so I made him a promise that I would have it ready for Christmas 2010.

As often happens, this has been put off repeatedly but thanks to the likes of eBay telling me close Christmas is, I thought I had better get started!!

I'm making a slipjoint folder, which isn't something I've done before. For those that don't know, a slipjoint folder is a folding knife that doesn't lock, but uses a spring to hold the blade in place. A non-locking Swiss Army Knife is a familiar example.

Rather than designing a knife from scratch, I decided to use an old knife that I acquired a few years ago.

The opening action of this knife was absolutely awful. When you open the blade out, you should feel some resistance then when it's almost fully open, it should snap into place. This didn't do that so it was dismantled to see why.

The reason became obvious quite quickly.

The spring has been worn away where it contacts the knife tang. That curved section should be flat.

It matches the curve of the blade perfectly....

So the hope is that if I remake it with a straight spring, the action will be fine! I think it's a fair gamble as the knife has obviously had a history of being used. If it was rubbish, I imagine it wouldn't be this worn.

This is the curve of the tang:

I haven't seen the liners with large holes in before, but then I haven't studied many old folders. I know the liners get dished on some folding knives, but I don't actually know why!

The blade is very worn down. It's been sharpened many times.

The markings on the blade:

This is where I am:

The blade is over-sized all over at the minute. I would rather take bits off later!

The spring is currently over-sized too, but I'll be making it smaller before heat treatment

The overall plan at the moment is to have the blade ground as a chisel grind to give my old man something different. The scales will be some Laburnum that he dropped off earlier this year that we salvaged from a friends garden at least 15 years ago!! I'm thinking of brass bolsters and liners, soldered together. I've not done any soldering like this before though so I'm unsure at this stage....

Lauri Leuku - making it up as I go along!

2010-11-02T11:17:00.000Z

I must admit that I haven't been working on this handle with a particularly well thought out plan. I have the main handle glued in place, but I hadn't fully thought out what the plan was for the butt plate.

What I should have done, is anneal the tang of the blade so that it was soft enough for me to pein over and hold the back plate in place. However, I didn't do that so I needed to think of a different plan.

A nice thick piece of brass plate for the butt plate....

Rough cut down to size with another spacer of Turkish Walnut.

Turkish Walnut - A big hole for the tang togo through then 4 holes for brass rods.

Transfer the brass rod holes through to the Brass plate:

Then also through to the main section of Oak:

...and this is them stacked together with another bit of leather in there as well.

The plan is to have 4 x 1/8" brass rods that are epoxied in place and also peined over the butt plate. The tang of the blade will be cut down so it only goes throught he Walnut, not into the brass.

More friction folder work

2010-10-28T20:26:00.000+01:00

This is work done on two separate days, but I forgot to post up the first bit!

So, first day....

More smoothing

I had ignored the end of the Snakewood bolsters up until now.

Another annoyance for me is the washers.

They don't fit on, without being exposed over the front as the design of the blade gives such a small area to work with that standard washers don't fit. I needed to work out a solution.

I've just noticed that I haven't got pictures of the scales all polished and smoothed after this session.

Ah well, it'll have to wait!

---

Next session was an hour to drill two holes. Well, not even two whole holes really! I needed to drill the countersink for the pivot screw to sit in so that the head of the pivot doesn't sit proud of the scales.

I got a 4mm end mill that'll cut a nice flat bottomed hole - looked about the right size but I'll do a quick test drill first.

Hhm, a bit big! A tighter fit would be nice.

Suppose I should actually check the size of the head properly.

Smaller than 4mm!

I found a different style of pivot head to try instead.

Better! I'm sure it'll fit.....

Clamped up with some mole grips, leaving the bolster attached to the liner for support. A 3mm drill is used to line it up with the hole that goes all the way through for the pivot bar itself. The 3mm bit is then swapped to the 4mm end drill without changing the position of the part to be drilled.

Spot on!

I think that all it's got left is to cut down the pivot bar and the pivot screws to the right length and it's done.....

Whittler #1

2010-10-25T12:12:00.001+01:00

So two of the blades in the previous post are little whittling knives.

I'm still working out what wood to use for the other one, but the first one has been glued and rough shaped already.

The handle is Yew wood underneath and Turkish Walnut on top. I wanted to do something a bit different for this one but couldn't think of something then I was inspired but the Carbon Fibre & Orange G10 handle I did and also Andy Roy's work. Andy has been stacking wooden handles like this for quite some time and I thought I should give it a go after the really positive response I got from the synthetic version I did.

The handle needs washing to raise the grain then more fine sanding to polish it all down, then have that repeated again and again until no more wood fibres lift. Then it'll be ready for an oil bath.