Noob foray onto stock removal knifemaking

[TurboGirl]

I've made an auspicious start and thought I'd post my results so I can look back eventually- hopefully- and learn a bit I've got a fabulous knifemaking guru who encourages me and no doubt will kick my butt, Canadian stylee, when I mess up through stupidity- which WILL happen eventually, I know!

So here's what I gots so far....

The lower nessmuk style necker is my first playaround design which HWMBO cut out to make sure I wasn't gonna top myself before he got the insurance in place. I know he has now as he wanted me to cut the next one on the metal bandsaw with my waistlength locks flying loose and a beautiful flowing Isadora Duncan scarf on So the next is a copy of a freinds carver/ whittler which he kindly talked me through at a meet- I've been a right pain asking everyone about their knives, wanting to handle 'em, understand what makes them so unique to their owners for good reason or bad, much gratitude to the Midland Meeters for their patience!

I've clumsily blued the steel at the end (and a coupla areas on the blade n finger guard are just starting to go too) on the band saw (I'm on O1 3mm), just hoping this won't be too much of an issue at this stage...

I've rounded the spine on the whittler/carver as Cowboy reckoned it was one of the things that made his so pleasant to use, just hope I've not gone too far on it... I'm thinking of leaving a large ricasso (?soz if I'm not talking knife properly yet, am trying!) where the guard is as a firesteel striker... I reckoned as I'm pulling towards the handle away from the blade it should be safe enough. No keeping schtum and expecting HWMBO to split the profit if I'm wrong tho', tell me now please

I'm hoping to drill through for the pins and lanyard holes (both nickel cheapy stuff, I wanna churn out some knives before I risk expensive stuff and I quite like the simplicity anyhow) then I gotta think how to reduce the width of the tang at the tip and the butt... I may be living dangerously as I keep forgetting to cook HWMBOs' dinner as I get carried away knifemaking, with his tools, in his garage...

 

[RonW]

Nice going, Turbogirl!

I know many guys have tried this, but somehow I think it is special to see a woman do it and add that feminine touch to a knife. I'll be following your progress!

 

[TurboGirl]

Thank you very much, lovey, there's a few gals on British Blades I think I have an inner child who is prompting me from within to do this.... and its a boyyyyy!!!!

 

[udamiano]

Nice one Sal, looking forward to seeing the results

 

[sasquatch]

Nice one Sal, it's real brave of you to post a progress report of your first ones! The top looks a bit like a non folding Laguiole, should be interesting. Have fun and keep us posted...

 

[TurboGirl]

Oooooh I've had a productive weekend Here's the bevel jig seeing its first real action.... Chad, it's soooo addictive, why was I not warned?! These piccies aren't as finished, I've got some more touching up done with the files but had a baaaad need to walk over the fields to the pub and rave about them!

I mad a few mistakes with the whittler on the first side, notably not getting the plunge set up right... air turned blue a few times, never mind the blank!

I found I could ease the top curve of the bevel a lot sweeter by altering the directions I was filing so the angled top is much better now.

You can see in this one where I was too aggresive and let the file skip onto the ricasso/ finger guard.... good job the menfolk were safely esconsed at the pub really, we got to thunder cloud stage on that one! It's edge is lovely and straight at 8 degrees with a mil that I might form a microbevel on... am gonna ask my most respected guru on that one

So as we're trying to rub off the edges of noobness with trial and error, I attacked the necker's bevels from a different angle to see if this helped as it was a mutha to get the curves right, particularly getting the depths even each side. Having seen a BB thread where they offset on the jig, I thought I'd try it as this has a much deeper belly on the blade. I ended up moving the blade forward off the edge to try n get the angles better.

I've not got piccies of how I messed up the necker a little... I went a bit too deep in the centre on this side and had to stop a little early so the bevel depths had a big discrepancy and the resultant blade is a. too thin and b. slightly curved along the length of the cutting edge... I tried to compensate by hand filing to the right depth without touching the edge but it ain't pretty so on this one, I'm going to make the best of a bad job by refiling the bad side and seeing what happens... its main bevel is at 5 degrees each side which is ridiculous but the menfolk want to see what its like when heat hardened and tempered so its a valid experiment. I can always just use it for food prep if it survives, I'd wanted one for that and the whittler is my 'strong' knife. I've opened out the finger guard recess a little to give it balance and will polish all the blade surfaces up better than the whittler as the Old Man is desperate for me to leave the filed striations on the bevel as handmade snob value and I wanna cover over my mistakes on the necker below!

 

[lannyman8]

well done TG, looking good....

did no one say it was addictive??? it makes illegal white powder look like polo's... seriously though good work, and grab some brass rod for the handle, its not that much TBH...

chris.

 

[TurboGirl]

it makes illegal white powder look like polo's...

Yup, there was silver powder EVERYWHERE, the feds will have a field day if they come in! I'm tighter than a gnats chuff, Chris... been eying up 13" x 4mm rod at Cromwells to save a shilling or two... 76p ea, bargain!! And I'm thinking of using suede or leather for liners, I got lotsa offcuts in some smashing colours

 

[TurboGirl]

Well, this threads coming along at a respectable pace for an auld gal Anyhow to date I've been mostly polishing from 100 to 1200grits then drilled the handles for a key. I'vev bought vulcanised rubber scales (bought... gosh that word hurts!) as the leather prep sounded far too a. long winded and b. hit or miss for quality. I've bandsawed a load of scales at 1cm wide and had a playaround with dying them with indian ink, something I won't be doing on these 2 knives as I want a classic look for them.

Having had the ok frm the guru, I've hardened them this morning using a £20 log burner and a hothead propane burner... didn't manage cherry red along the full tang, just couldn't keep the heat in- but otherwise it went pretty well with a good colour over the blade and just beyond the 1st pin. They're soaking in GM7-8 for 2hr now before a good old polish and some handle making *EDIT_ I think this may have been too long a soak, I'll put more feedback when I've sharpened and used but GM7 might be better for a shorter time to not soften em too much*

 

[Dannytsg]

Looking very good!

 

[sasquatch]

Now it gets exciting! Looking forward to more updates when you get some shop time in Sal...

 

[PeterH]

You are simply taking the "mickey" now Sal, making it all look far too easy. This just will not do you know, it is supposed to be arcane wizardry learned after decades of apprenticed toil to the old master ..... you are just making me jealous

 

[TurboGirl]

Thanks, folks! I'm having fun for sure, but stressed?! Poor HWMBO, sharing his workshop with me, he just took shelter under a Defender and let me get on with it I was real worried about not get cherry red right up the handle but the hothead torch is for glasswork and I just couldn't sustain and grow the heat along the tang after a certain point...

I found a picture of my playarounds with indian ink on some ash I'd cut to 1cm for scales... when I want a real punky knife, I might use the idea

From left is plain wood, then I added some ink to boiled linseed oil which just gave a slight hue change (top half only so you can see that its real subtle), 3rd bit was using graphics markers (s'pose I'd use it for a graffiti acid tone handle but it didn't work well really- the left of the piece is sanded, it wouldn't have penetration for any longevity of use) and then the ink 4th... I sanded the top bit back before Boiled Linseed oiling it and I was really pleased with the effect

 

[TurboGirl]

...decades of apprenticed toil to the old master .....

He's a young master, teaching an old dog new tricks, and verrrrry much appreciated he is!

 

[TurboGirl]

Well, the steel babies are gestating well! Ready to lovingly rub down in the woods this weekend... here they are handled, in raw....

And shaped....

I didn't get pics of the handling process, forgot the camera and its just as well cos I did stick my fingers together with superglue at one critical point Basically I marked the blade onto the scales I'd bandsawed outta some lovely dry ash with a mad grain in it- I tried to match the wood one side to the other but I'm not sure how succesful that'll be until they're oiled. It was from a freinds wood, found while they were standing well back watching me make little logs out of bigger ones, so it has nice connotations as well as beauty They were drilled on a pillar drill, then marked with a 3mm excess and layered up with the scales and pins in, then bandsawed to rough size.

Sticking them together worked pretty ok with the obvious exception of doing my finger and thumb first (well, call it product testing- certainly tested the intelligence and scored low.... ) then left them in vices overnight. I cracked on today using a belt sander to eat most of the excess to a form my hands seemed to fit then am working my way back down the grits again... realllly enjoying the experience, just can't believe I've not messed them up irredeemably yet!

 

[sasquatch]

Good stuff indeed! I wish I could work that quick. You can clamp the blade into a vice with some leather scraps each side to avoid marks and really shape the handles now if you want to. I cut 1" strips of 120 grit and give it a shoe shine type of treatment to get them really rounded and nice. Or if you want to do it at a normal speed like everybody else you can use the slack bit of a linisher. Looking forward to seeing them properly. They're miles ahead of my first effort, you should be really proud of those Sal!

 

[Perrari]

Glad to see that you have started on your first knives, the results so far are very impressive. the bevels on my first knife were not that good. Keep up the good work, I will keep an eye out for the finished items.

 

[Captaincrash]

Great work, I like your scandi jig!!!

 

[TurboGirl]

It's tremendous, built and extended loaned by my canadian knife guru

 

[TurboGirl]

Having a brilliant home bushcrafting at home this weekend so I'm needing an update

I had a good session on the belt sander and got them halfway there... handy for the nails, too, gels, although they leave them a bit ragged ....

Got the necker handle finished with decreasing grits and a brilliant woodland vice at the PK Meet... here it is oiled, from its good side thanks to an aroldited wormhole!

And this is todays work, awfully scruffy so I'm sure you'll put me right... I was gonna trim down then sand and polish using a bone rib burnisher.... well, its an old rib bone actually, but d'ya think it'll do?

It's a good job HWMBO and Youngling are at Belvoir Steam Fair, I'm LOVING 'gittin r dun'!