Knife making kit

[stinger]

Hey guys,

After many many many hints dropped SWMBO got me a knife making kit for crimbo. Nothing overly fancy just a "starter kit" containing leather, thread, brass bolster, antleer piece and 9cm carbon blade. Looking forward to doing it but i have a few questions so here goes.

1) Can anyone reccomend a glue?
2) I don't have the luxury of a table vice is there any alternative? I.E G clamp.

Any help/advice would be very welcome

thanks Phil

 

[Waldganger]

I would use araldite, but not the five minute one, use the 24 hour or even longer.

Is the blade already shaped?

If it is I'd say a G clamp would be fine to clamp the blade to the table with the handle hanging over the edge and use files and sandpaper to shape.

good luck

 

[CaptainBeaky]

Araldite 2011 if you can get it, Araldite Precision if not.

If you're clamping with a G-Clamp, use a piece of leather or lead sheet to protect the blade, otherwise you'll make yourself another big job, which will be polishing out the marks from the blade

 

[DaveBromley]

is that the voice of experience Captain?

I did the same thing with my first knife, wont make that mistake again lol

I use araldite precision, but am looking at getting some 2011 bottles from axminster

Show us some pics of the kit so we can follow your progress fromstart to finish!

Dave

 

[brancho]

Wrap the blade in tape to save on blood loss and blade damage.
As far as fitting the brass bolster is concerned thin the tang of the knife a little up to the last few millimetres and the force it teh last few mm. This will end in a better bolster fit. Dont be worried about shortening the tang either.

here is an example of what I mean
before

The blade by alfred.branch, on Flickr

Thinned


Factory Bolster fitted by alfred.branch, on Flickr
fit when doen

Scandi kith 3 by alfred.branch, on Flickr
I will post some links when I am home tonight.

 

[Asbo]

Well i used wood glue and contact adhesive lol and it is holding up quite well

 

[stinger]

Show us some pics of the kit so we can follow your progress fromstart to finish!

Dave

will do mate, ill be taking pics of every step to post here and on my blog.

Thanks for all the helpful tips so far guys, i'm deffinately taping up the blade lol.

keep em coming i need all the help i can get lol.

Cheers
Phil

 

[CaptainBeaky]

is that the voice of experience Captain?

I did the same thing with my first knife, wont make that mistake again lol

Only the once... :11doh:

 

[brancho]

Well i used wood glue and contact adhesive lol and it is holding up quite well

My first was the also done with wood glue but it caused corrosion

Epxoy is the correct glue but the strength is not as necessary on a stick tang as it is on a fulltang

 

[Stew]

My first was the also done with wood glue but it caused corrosion

Epxoy is the correct glue but the strength is not as necessary on a stick tang as it is on a fulltang

or you could use shellac.

 

[Everything Mac]

Another vote for araldite here. - I use the precision stuff.

no complaints so far

 

[Mojoracinguk]

when handling my first knife I went out and brought a shash clamp with a jaw opening large enough to swallow the full lenght of the blade and handle + a block of wood that the blade tip was stuck in (about an inch thick block to make sure the blade did not cut through)

this was used to clamp the handle onto the stick tang.

only cost £6 from a local hardware store...you just need to look around a bit.

can post linkies if needed

Mojo

 

[stinger]

Picture of the actual kit really looking forward to getting stuck in.

 

[brancho]

For tutorials look
HERE HERE HERE and HERE

I suggest you read them all and pick the way you want to make it from them. You got a nice peice of wood with that kit.
As for finish soak all but the antler in Danish oil or Linseed oil for an hour to keep it light or up to 24 hours to darken the wood.

 

[georann]

Don't suppose any of you wonderful people could help come up with a design for the knife kit I got for christmas? Its a Brusletto Jerven blade with Curly Birch Handle. The block has already got rounded edges and the blade is 9cm long. (Mora for size comparison) I have access to quite a few tools, but this is my first ever knife!! A sketch template for the handle would be brilliant, or any help you can suggest!

Thanks in advance
Dan

N.B I've read quite a few tutorials on how to make a knife but just wondered what to ideas for this particular knife

 

[brancho]

try drawing round the blade and drawing a design like this

Knife designs by alfred.branch, on Flickr

I would suggest a shape like this but go with your own design

I would also cut/file the shape out roughly before rounding anything. Take heed of how thin that Mora Viking is when deciding on the final shape.

 

[stinger]

thanks for the design help brancho thats the type of design i was thinking of. couple more questions if thats cool.

1) I'm thinking of cutting the tang back a bit, its roughly 105 MM at the min i was looking to cut about 25 - 30 MM of it, will this affect the knife in anyway? is there anything i should bear in mind before doing so?

2) I would really like to use the araldite 2011 but my budget for this project is limited cause i have various tools to get for this and other projects. Will araldite precision work ok as an alternative?

Pretty sure these have been answered already abovel, just looking conformation this is my first knife and i'm apprehensive at everystep lol.

any help would be appreciated. at the moment iv got the bolster and antleer attached (pics to follow)

 

[DaveBromley]

araldite precision will be fine, thats what i use myself.

Looking forward to seeing your design and the finished product

Dave

 

[brancho]

1) I'm thinking of cutting the tang back a bit, its roughly 105 MM at the min i was looking to cut about 25 - 30 MM of it, will this affect the knife in anyway? is there anything i should bear in mind before doing so?

A hacksaw will be very hard work but angle grinder or dremel will be easy and any heating should only be localised but holding the tang in a vice will act as a heat sink. I cut the tang to get as much length as possible on the last piece handle material but may tangs are shorter anyway.

2) I would really like to use the araldite 2011 but my budget for this project is limited cause i have various tools to get for this and other projects. Will araldite precision work ok as an alternative?

The type of epoxy used on a stick tang is not so critical as on a fulltang as they are not stressed in teh same way try and use clear epxoy as it wont show as much if you get gaps.

Pretty sure these have been answered already abovel, just looking conformation this is my first knife and i'm apprehensive at everystep lol.

I would say take you time and get the pieces to fit so cant see any gaps. You sand the faces of each piece smooth by using a piece of 120 grit paper on a flat surface and carefully sanding it in small circles this will help with the fit of each piece.


BTW ask as many questions as you like thats the pint of the forum learning from each other.

Whats your bolster fit like?

 

[CaptainBeaky]

1) I'm thinking of cutting the tang back a bit, its roughly 105 MM at the min i was looking to cut about 25 - 30 MM of it, will this affect the knife in anyway? is there anything i should bear in mind before doing so?

I would leave the tang as long as possible, as long as you don't have to drill too far into your last handle section. Personally, I usually prefer to have the tang all the way through and rivetted, so as not to rely entirely on the adhesive, but that isn't really necessary with modern epoxy glues.

2) I would really like to use the araldite 2011 but my budget for this project is limited cause i have various tools to get for this and other projects. Will araldite precision work ok as an alternative?

Again, as Alf says above, the Araldite Precision should be fine - I use 2011 because I do full-tang knives as well, and 2011 plays nicely with the Araldite coloured resins (as well as having higher peel and shear strength). I usually use black resin - this is invisible in joins if you are in the habit of using black fibre spacers between blocks , and is also brilliant at filling filework on full tang spines.


Looking forward to seeing the pics