Just finished my first knife...

[Tom Gold]

Actually still has a wee bit of work to go on blade and scales but I'm away to the Lakes this weekend and finishing touches will have to wait because I really want to use it.

Made from 4mm 01 with brown denim micarta scales and brass loveless bolts.

Notes to self for next time: De-scale after quenching not after tempering.
Use less micarta for the scales as it is heavier than it looks and is tough to work
Get a belt sander!

 

[Stevie777]

Nice job. I'm in the process of adding handles for two knives, just about the sanding and shaping stage, 2 pins and i'm good to go.

I too dont have a belt sander and like yourself have chosen rather beefy scales. chose 12mm when 8 or 9 would have been fine, can i ask what you used to shape yours.?

I'm considering buying a Bench grinder with linisher though as i would use it for other projects.

 

[Tom Gold]

Stevie, I locked the rough blanks together with the pins and used a rasp to get down to the outline then did the round and shaping with course grit paper once they were attached to the tang. Can only imagine how much easier it would have been with a belt sander...

 

[Stevie777]

Stevie, I locked the rough blanks together with the pins and used a rasp to get down to the outline then did the round and shaping with course grit paper once they were attached to the tang. Can only imagine how much easier it would have been with a belt sander...

Yeah, the scales i bought are African Paduk. I said 12mm, it was 11mm. Tough as nails and a nightmare to sand even with a 80 grit flap disc mounted on a drill.

A Band saw and a Linisher are on the shopping list defo. Dont want to spend fortunes though. Have you been shopping around.? I have looked on Ebay and Gumtree, some decent machines at decent prices but too far away for me to collect.

Hopefully someone closer will be selling something in the near future.

 

[wolfsam]

Very neat, nice one. how did you grind the bevels?

 

[David LaFerney]

That is a super nice first knife. Did you heat treat it yourself or send it off?

 

[Clouston98]

Canny little First knife that mate! Well done .

 

[Tom Gold]

how did you grind the bevels?

Wolfsam, did it with a filing jig I made from plywood. Aaron Gough, youtube knifemaker has a great tutorial which I pretty much copied. Worked pretty good!

Did you heat treat it yourself or send it off?

David, yes, racked up a pile of charcoal in an old wheel rim and blasted it with my hot air paintstripper. Buried the knife in the coals and heated to non magnetic (no idea what the actual temp was) quenched in cooking oil then 2 hrs in the oven. I did some pretty savage battoning with it before putting the scales on and it was fine so am hoping its properly heat treated!

 

[wolfsam]

Ah right excellent, I'll have to check it out. Good luck in the Lakes.

 

[David LaFerney]

What temp did you temper it at? I'm curious because I have some O1 that I've never used, but only have a rather crude gas forge - which works great for 1084 I've been working with. Sounds like we are at similar places in knife making though.

 

[mick91]

Looks great! I know exactly what you mean about getting a belt sender though I've been spending hours sending down recently

 

[Stevie777]

Bought a belt sander yesterday, not the one i was after/needed but it will do many other tasks. Knife sharpening, heavy duty flat sanding/Shaping etc. got it for £28 so i grabbed it at that price. Just need to source some belts and disc's now

LIke so.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Nice looking knife.

 

[mick91]

Bought a belt sander yesterday, not the one i was after/needed but it will do many other tasks. Knife sharpening, heavy duty flat sanding/Shaping etc. got it for £28 so i grabbed it at that price. Just need to source some belts and disc's now

LIke so.

Where was that Stevie? That looks ideal to my needs like

 

[Stevie777]

Where was that Stevie? That looks ideal to my needs like

Sorry man, should have said Second hand from The Barras Market/boot sale type thingy in Glasgow...It's ok for taking down the Heavy, not so good for final shaping of knife handle needs. As i said before, it will come in handy for other tasks i have planned though.

ps, The one i got is not the Draper name, same model, Drape bought them over a few years back and stuck there logo on them. sturdy bit of kit though. Found the belts and discs easy on ebay this morning. 4" x 36" belt with 6" disc. Just gonna mix and match the grits.
Sorry if you thought i meant NEW. the cheapest i've seen them is around the £120 mark.

 

[mick91]

Aye thought so I thought youd missed the 1 off the start! Nevvermind eh. Try Amazon for draper belts they sell a lot of their gear cheap

 

[Stevie777]

Aye thought so I thought youd missed the 1 off the start! Nevvermind eh. Try Amazon for draper belts they sell a lot of their gear cheap

Will do, Cheers.

So far sourced 10 belts and 50 discs various grits for just under £25 from ebay, i'll see what Amazon has to offer. in the process of cleaning it up and WD40ing some of the rusted nuts and bolts, runs well. quite powerful, very quiet. if it all goes tetas up at the very least i've got a electric motor and a plug for £28..

 

[Tom Gold]

Thankee Crossland!

 

[Johnny R]

That's a really nice job mate,well done

 

[BogdanS]

Good, very good job Tom - if your first knife looks like this i am very curious to see the next one!

All the best,
Bogdan