Not the Sloyd knife I was aiming for....

[tombear]

For some reason I rather fancied acquiring a pattern of Sloyd knife that's illustrated in a 1891 book on the subject. easier to show it than describe it.

A search of the net found only one supplier of something similar, in the US and beyond my means even without postage and import duty etc. So i thought can i cut something down to approximate the style? To this end herself ordered me a 6" Mora No. 3 high carbon blade for about 12 quid.If I removed the curved part of the blade I;d still have 3 3/4+" straight edge and I could turn the tip into something. If I was careful cooling while cutting I would't ruin the hardening and I'd finish hand filling it. Simples. So I thought.

Anyroad, it turns out every cutting disc I have for the Dremel bounces off the steel this blank is made from, it wouldnt even scratch it. I;m sure theres folk who can angle grind or whatever the sucker into shape but not I.

So rather than waste a rather nice blade I don't already have a example of in my carving kit I thought I'd handle and sheath it. I had last piece of what I think is Birdseye maple left and cut and filled a collar from a brass ashtray I've used for making buckles etc from.

I again used the lathe to drill the pilot home for the tang, its the only way I can ensure its dead centre with the gear I have. Foolproof i believe the term is. I then used Permagrit files and a padsaw blade I've filled to a point to enlarge the hole until it was a good tight fit, slapped copious amount of epoxy resin glue in, on and around and using a wood vice to hold the blade pounded the handle on, wiping away any glue that squeezed out. I left it overnight and then carved and sanded it to a shape that fits my big fat paw well.you cant see it from the side but its quite bulbous in the middle. Overall its a bit fatter and longer than the usual wooden Mora handle. I worked down to superfine sand paper ( no idea what the grit size is but its pretty smooth ) and soaked it in raw linseed oil overnight . I'm pretty pleased with it anyway.

Next was a sheath. Unfortunately I am down to scraps of thick veg tan. I prefer a deep scandi style sheaths that protects most of the handle for knives that will live in a tool box. With what I have left in the scraps bag that wasn't a runner so until I have more 5mm veg tan to wet mould I've resorted to a simple three layer sewn together type of sheath i associate with old school scout knives.

The widest stuff I had left made two strips 45mm wide so there wasn't enough room around the edge to have some reinforcing rivets so its just glued and saddle stitched around the edge. There's a spacer of 2mm stuff between the back and the front pieces with a cut out for the blade. Due to a big ragged hole in the smaller piece I had to choose to either make the sheath left handed or have the flesh side out so i went for the former. i doubt it will ever go on a belt so its no biggy.

Today I dunked it in a double boiler full of beeswax and then used a hair dryer and a rag to remove the excess. I also made a couple more size 10 candles as the wax was already molten but that's by the by. It will lighten off a small amount.

I'm looking forwards to trying it out soonest. not sure what to make....

ATB

Tom

 

[Stew]

It would have been a shame to de-tip that blade as it looks very nice as is.

I wonder why they suggested it to not have a tip in that text?

 

[Robson Valley]

The tanto(?) tip might be essential for some tasks in the original Sloyd wood working curriculum.
Like the chip carved designs seen so often in the handles of hand saws.

I'm surprised that the Dremel could not cut that steel. That is a first. Got any diamond wheels to try ?
At 15,000 rpm and the factory Dremel cut-off wheels, I've made all steel cuts that I've intended.
That includes cutting Hall and Ukal farrier's knife steels.

 

[Janne]

It is tipless as it is a beginners tool.

I find it intriguing that they are using nomenclature and design from Sweden?

(Slöjd is Swedish for woodcraft.) Anybody knows the reason?

Edit: found the reason. The woodcraft was made popular as a hobby because it was taught in the castle Nääs in Västergötaland. Started in 1872.
Was made into a school subject. Slöjd teacher/ instructor learning institution.
The Slöjd subject spread to over 40 countries.

Hence the write that it is a Nääs pattern. They developed designd of tools to be used,
I had no clue this hobby and school subject was developed there!
Trä slöjd ( wood slöjd) and sy slöjd ( sewing-fabric slöjd) which every child has today!

The carborundum cutting disc for the Dremel will cut nicely. That is what I use when I shape and modify my blades.

http://uk.naas.se/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Näs_Castle

 

[demographic]

Got a bench grinder which has managed to remove the teeth off a massive M2 High Speed Steel power hacksaw blade in short order.
Or one of the 1mm thick cutting discs in a grinder would cut the end off no bother.
By massive I mean its about 600mm long by 50mm deep by 2.5mm thick.

To keep it cool put it in wet kitchen roll as you cut it or just dip it in water every few seconds.

 

[Janne]

I have several Dremel discs, various designd and materials.
The ones that cut hard steel best are the dismond coated ones, but they are expensive and I seem to ruin them fast.
The Carborundum ones (infused fiberglass) are good too, and cheaper.
I also have one with some other crystals than diamond, but find it ‘grabs’ and jumps easily.
I have cut myself with that one, badly.

 

[Janne]

But, as I pointed out, that one is a beginners knife.

If you want a ready made knife with a chisel front edge, you can get one!

https://morakniv.se/en/product/chisel/

 

[tombear]

Here's a couple of sizes a chap in the us makes.

https://bluesprucetoolworks.com/products/sloyd-knife

Not sure I'd want a secondary bevel myself, even if i could afford one of his. The points look right for chip carving rather than safety.

I did find a Swedish auction site that had one on, I saved the pic but lost the link.

I recall it was model or size No. 1 or was it Nr. 1?

If I could heat treat worth a damn it would be the easiest thing in the world to make by stock reduction.

The discs for my Dremel were thin brown gritty things that turned to dust and didnt dig in at all. I'll have to get a diamond one.

ATB

Tom

 

[Janne]

I use the thin brown disks on plastic and soft metals, using low speed.
You are correct, steel destroys it.

 

[demographic]

I have a Dremmel but honestly its so utterly feckless compared to even a 4 1/2" grinder with a thin cutting disc that I only ever use it for detail work on small stuff.
For cutting its fairly Meh.

 

[tombear]

Well, If I could remember how to braze ( last done 35 years back at school ) I could have fixed back on the part one of my lads kindly broke off my Axminster belt and disc sander and the following would have taken a afternoon and not ended up taking a inordinate amount of time over three days.

Anyroad, despite not being set up to heat treat ive had a go at making a 1890s style sloyd knife from a scrap of 3/16ths" 01 tool steel i had left over from making the Big Nessie several years back.

Using the pic and dimensions from the Sloyd handbook in the first post, modified slightly to give it more of a point for chip carving I drew the outline of the blade I wanted to make. 4" blade and 31/2" stick tang. I then marked it out using a sharpie and went round the edges with a lovely old automatic punch I got MiB on a boot sale for peanuts. Then I drilled the holes and used a power saw and my last metal cutting blade to join the dots. That was the last time I used a power tool on this project, mores the pitty.

I then began filing. and filing and filing until my hands felt like they were about to fall off.. I did walk away and do other stuff over the weekend but I spent a ridiculous amount of time filing. I am so glad i have such a comprehensive set of really good quality files, shame they are far better than my skill level merits!

After the edge was done ( the tang thinned off some ) I set the blankat a angle in the vice so top of the spine was in line horizontally with the bottom of what will be the cutting edge at the widest part of the blade where it joins the tang. I then started filing as horizontally to the ground as I could.so i would basically have removed half of the metal when I had filed down to the top of the spine and bottom of the edge. This part would have taken about 10 minutes on the belt sander even with plenty of stops to cool the blade. I also made a pigs ear of it near the tang but since its going to be a user and its only the third blade i've done i'm not going to beat myself up over it.I ain't going for pretty!

I've not put a edge on it as if I recollect you do that after the heat treating in case the thin metal burns? The edge is nearer 20 degrees than 15 but I can live with that,

Towards the end of filing the top side I discovered or rather noticed the bottom wasn't as flat as i thought it would be. I started flattening that on a oil stone and then on a coarse diamond stone but that was taking too long so i resorted to a NoS file block of the sort used used on steam engines to flatten the mounting area for a steam injector to the pistons or some such. For doing that it would be mounted on a length of wood and sawn back and forth by two men. Anyroad, its a lovely bit of kit for removing a lot of metal fast while keeping it flat. Once it was flattened i went through three grades of diamond stones to get rid of the scratches. The top of the blade had the same treatment with the diamond stones and is pretty flat although there's a slight rounding on the spine near the tang end.

I'm much better at the wood work part of making a knife so any sins with regards to blade or tang being lobsided or whatever I will deal with then. Ive some nicely figured yew that turns out is seasoned not green as I thought when i bought it cheap which will do the job nicely.

Now we come to the main stumbling block. It needs heat treating and i just don't have a heat source that can get up to the hardening temperature. last year we got a big can of propane and a blow torch that would theoretically do the job but despite our bests efforts, backed with fire bricks, out of the wind etc I couldn't get the small blade in the middle to the right colour to quench in oil and do more than colour it black.. So I now need to find some one willing to do the heat treat for me for cash or a trade or just for the karma!

Thats all for now folks!

ATB

Tom

 

[bobnewboy]

Perhaps see Stewart’s thread offering heat treatments?

Cheers, Bob

 

[tombear]

Well folks, nearly two years later and it looks as if this project will actually get finished. We got a son a basic two burner gas forge for xmas and as soon as the weather improves hes getting him self a 19kg propane tank and having a go at heat treating stuff he's made by stock reduction as well as doing a bit of metal bashing. Once he has the hang of it he will be doing some work for me then I can get on with doing handles and sheaths.

More as soon as its done.

ATB

Tom