Knife Build

[Kepis]

Wasnt quite sure where to put this, either crafts or tools, feel free to move if you think it's in the wrong place.

This post might not sit well with some people as it contains a cloned knife and others may ask why go to the trouble of doing a project like this on what can be considered as a piece of junk, well it's something for me to do, it's been a fun build and has helped in my rehab from illness by way of making me get off my butt and exercising my legs, arms and hands, any way yesterday i got given an Izula clone free of charge in an awful green colour, so i figured i have nothing to lose by having a play,

20171127_142833 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

First job, sand the paint off the handle and leave it rough as a key for later, then remove all the paint from the blade, i was going to sand it, but elected to use good old Nitromors to strip it in the end.

20171127_144749 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20171127_144802 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20171127_160537 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

I used some of the Beech i wrote about the other day to make some scales, i drilled two holed for some brass tube and flattened the inside surface down on the belt sander

20171128_145956 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20171128_150957 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

Then mixed up some epoxy and glued it all up and left in clamps overnight to cure

20171128_152206 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20171128_152247 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20171128_153030 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

Today i went out and rough shaped the scales on the sander, then handed sanded to 400 grit.

20171129_144959 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20171129_145025 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20171129_153220 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20171129_153230 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

Then gave the wood a really good drink of boiled linseed oil, which you could see the wood absorb

20171129_154552 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20171129_154613 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20171129_154737 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20171129_154831 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

I made a couple of mistakes which i'll make note of for the future and the clamping up didnt quite go to plan as i have a couple of small gaps between the scales and the tang, but overall im pleased with it, especially as it's the first full tang knife i have ever put scales on, sure the steel may be rubbish and there are a couple of gaps, but it's kept me out of mischief, given my bod a bit of a work out and even if it just ends up as a letter opener, it's been a fun little project.

 

[Janne]

Despite the faults you mention ( not really visible to me!) I am quite sure it is very functional and will be 'fit for purpose' !

Good job!

 

[Samon]

Love it!

Balls to the clone haters, mate. Nothing is sacred and we know what we sign up for when we choose to pay £15 compared to £115!

If it cuts, pokes and does the job it's good imo. And you just made it better!

Regarding gaps and scale delamination, my advice is true your scales flat as possible aswell as the handle. Beyond that, even epoxy won't fix uneven surfaces. Especially when you've flattened everything but the steel us bendy.. lol trust me, fillet knife failure in my drawers.

Either way, looks great. Now make the sheath

 

[Tony]

Thanks for taking the time to post this step by step up Kepis, I enjoyed looking through that and it looks like the end result is a lovely little user,

I presume the brass tube went through the gaps in the metal handle, did you do anything to locate them or is it the bond between handle and metal that's holding everything in place?

 

[Kepis]

Love it!

Balls to the clone haters, mate. Nothing is sacred and we know what we sign up for when we choose to pay £15 compared to £115!

If it cuts, pokes and does the job it's good imo. And you just made it better!

Regarding gaps and scale delamination, my advice is true your scales flat as possible aswell as the handle. Beyond that, even epoxy won't fix uneven surfaces. Especially when you've flattened everything but the steel us bendy.. lol trust me, fillet knife failure in my drawers.

Either way, looks great. Now make the sheath

Thanks for the advice, i laid the scales and knife on a sheet of glass and looked for light coming underneath, couldnt see any so figured they were flat, of course what i didnt take into account was, unstabilised wood, minus brass monkey temps last night and an unheated workshop, still, if it all goes pear shaped, we have the technology now to rebuild it ;-), sheath is already made, just has another knife in it at present.

 

[petrochemicals]

Goodpost!

 

[Kepis]

Thanks for taking the time to post this step by step up Kepis, I enjoyed looking through that and it looks like the end result is a lovely little user,

I presume the brass tube went through the gaps in the metal handle, did you do anything to locate them or is it the bond between handle and metal that's holding everything in place?

Thanks Tony, you are right the tube goes through the gaps in the handle, its just the bond between scales and metal, plus a good dollop of epoxy in the gaps that holds it all together, did think about using a machine screw up front, but thought the tube looked better.

 

[Kepis]

Despite the faults you mention ( not really visible to me!) I am quite sure it is very functional and will be 'fit for purpose' !

Good job!

cheers ears, time will tell if its any good i guess.

 

[crosslandkelly]

That turned out well. nice job.

 

[Muddypaws]

Looks excellent to me! That style of knife is a useful shape, and even if the steel is not very good I'm sure you will derive a great deal of pleasure using it, because you made it.

 

[g4ghb]

I like it! The shape and the execution

A question though, was the knife in its 'green' sharp? With the paint I can see it might not be the best edge.... also how robust was the paint? How would it have stood up to actual use.... it's seems an odd idea to paint the blade however in an odd way I quite like it

 

[Kepis]

I like it! The shape and the execution

A question though, was the knife in its 'green' sharp? With the paint I can see it might not be the best edge.... also how robust was the paint? How would it have stood up to actual use.... it's seems an odd idea to paint the blade however in an odd way I quite like it

Cheers mate.

It had the beginnings of an edge is probably the best way to describe it, the paint is no good at all, it was already chipping and lifting from the top of the bevel, dont think it would have stood up for long in use.


20171127_134334 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

 

[Yeoman13]

That looks like it was a fun little project. Nice result.


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[Kepis]

That looks like it was a fun little project. Nice result.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

thanks

 

[g4ghb]

Cheers mate.

It had the beginnings of an edge is probably the best way to describe it, the paint is no good at all, it was already chipping and lifting from the top of the bevel, dont think it would have stood up for long in use.


20171127_134334 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

Ah much clearer, thanks mate. It looks almost powder coated which is normally quite robust but I thought it wouldn't fair well to use.

 

[Kepis]

Ah much clearer, thanks mate. It looks almost powder coated which is normally quite robust but I thought it wouldn't fair well to use.

Just a really rough paint job, probably paint and sawdust, it does feel nice to the touch, but it wont last long

 

[Robson Valley]

Very dramatic improvement. Good decisions on your part.
I'll bet you learned a lot in the process.

 

[Kepis]

Well its been sat in an oil bath for the past 20 hours in order that the Beech gets a really good soaking, overall im pretty pleased with it for a first full tang build,

20171201_145736 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20171201_145657 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

been a great little project and ive learnt loads in the process and had some really good advice on this thread from you chaps, there are a couple of things i will change and make note of for future builds.

The only thing i really dont like and this is down to me being over zealous with the sand paper and over critical of my work, which is normal by the way, is the tang protrudes slightly in a couple of places, only by a small amount and ive had factory blades far worse than this, you can just see it on the top of the handle.

20171201_145707 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20171201_145722 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

even so im thinking i'll gently grid it down on the belt sander, or should i just say, sod it, accept it for what it is and move on to the next one, after all, its only aesthetic and doesn't effect how it works.

Now i need a sheath for it, i was going to use one i already had, but im going to build a wooden one for it from another bit of Beech, just waiting on some rare earth magnets to arrive, more on that project as it happens.

 

[snappingturtle]

I like the violet green that it was, but for sure you have made it much better, I like to make knives its a primitive thing in both man and metal its half practical half art and I loath to make knives for all the imperfections I make but then that just spur's you on.

 

[Janne]

The (slightly) protruding metal gives you a better grip.

I always try to see the positive aspects in everything!