Pimp Your Knife - home customising production knives

[Rambo Rees]

I recently posted a few photos of a couple of cheap Hultafors knives I adapted at home in a thread I begana on another topic.
Just thought it might be an idea to start a thread where we could post ideas and photos of our home pimped knives?
Below are stainless and HD Hultafors knives that I adapted:
Both blades reground yo a deeper drop point.
The stainless handle seriously sandrd and filed down to fit my 6 year old's hand. The GK HD guard removed and handle properly sanded down as it was massive!
What have you kind folk done to your edged tools?

 

[Rambo Rees]

....

 

[Rambo Rees]

 

[Rambo Rees]

Orange knife above is how the blue stainless one looked originally.... massive finger guard kept as it retains the knife in the plastic scabbard.

 

[Rambo Rees]

Thanks to Kepis for this tip with shock cord.... to retain the GK HD as the guard had been removed....

 

[Kepis]

Think the most dramatic was turning a Hultafors HVK into a Froe.

unnamed by https://www.flickr.com/photos/163167411@N07/, on Flickr

unnamed (1) by https://www.flickr.com/photos/163167411@N07/, on Flickr

Apart from that, i've chopped the finger guard off on HVK's & Mora 511's to make them more comfortable, i also made a bitsa knife from a HVK blade that i inserted into a Mora 163 spoon knife handle.

20190512_163037 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/163167411@N07/, on Flickr

 

[Rambo Rees]

Think the most dramatic was turning a Hultafors HVK into a Froe.

unnamed by https://www.flickr.com/photos/163167411@N07/, on Flickr

unnamed (1) by https://www.flickr.com/photos/163167411@N07/, on Flickr

Apart from that, i've chopped the finger guard off on HVK's & Mora 511's to make them more comfortable, i also made a bitsa knife from a HVK blade that i inserted into a Mora 163 spoon knife handle.

20190512_163037 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/163167411@N07/, on Flickr

The Froe's impressive, is the edge to the outside? i can't make it out?

 

[Kepis]

The Froe's impressive, is the edge to the outside? i can't make it out?

yup, what was the cutting edge faces downwards

 

[Robson Valley]

I use mostly #18 nylon twist cords for a variety of purposes, since I buy the blades and build my own wood carving tools.
Yellow: #18 nylon surveyor's cord from the local hardware store.
Brown: A spool of dacron, gifted from an estate.
Black: #18 tarred nylon seine twine from a chandler (Pacific Net & Twine.)

Adzes: dry hafted, the twine is the only thing that holds the blades.
Nothing ever moves so no adhesives or screws are ever needed.
The break from yellow to black marks the "Holm Constant" placement for your first finger for economy striking with the least effort.

Crooked knives: Mostly decorative work here to hide my sloppy workmanship hafting the blades in a puddle of JBWeld epoxy. I have already established the ideal handle diameters for my big hands.

 

[Rambo Rees]

Like a lot.....what are....and where do you source the woodcarving blades?
...I am in the process of looking for a few carving items and just thought this afternoon that blades only and making my own handles would be ideal...and cost effective.

 

[Robson Valley]

The handles are glue ups of rosewood and mahogany. I used to have quite a stockpile. Angle in the handle shape are 15 degrees. No finish on any of the handle wood (except maybe the D-adze?)
I have pictures to demonstrate the whipping. Exactly the same as putting the guides on a fishing rod.
In general, these are the common tools used here in the Pacific Northwest by the First Nations carvers.

I buy from several sources:

Kestrel tool

Northwest Coast hand carving tools, adzes, crooked knives, sculptors supplies

www.kestreltool.com

North Bay Forge Bent Knives for spoon carving and more

North Bay Forge on Waldron Island in the San Juan Islands, Washington. Jim Wester is a full time Blacksmith, making hand forged wood carving knives, kitchen cutlery and decorative ironwork. A full line of wood carving tools is in stock and ready for purchase.

northbayforge.com

Wood Carving Knives by Jamie Sharp

High Quality Wood Carving Knives made in Canada. Free shipping to USA and Canada for orders over $90. Native West coast Hook and Straight carving knives.

www.jamie-sharp.com

Mike Komick (died a few years back)

All of the blades in the middle picture are revised and reshaped farrier's equine hoof trimming knife blades. I have Hall (Canada), Mora (Sweden), Diamond (Taiwan), and Ukal Supervet (France.) Hall is the hardest steel.

Make your own. There great satisfaction carving with tools you build.
Call up your local farriers. See what they do with their used and worn down hoof trimming blades (know any DIY horsey people?). I usually can buy 5-6 at a time locally. Lots of ranches here in the valley.

 

[Kepis]

Like a lot.....what are....and where do you source the woodcarving blades?
.

A good source for blades is Moonraker Knives, other online sources are available too.

BLADES | Moonraker Knives

www.moonrakerknives.co.uk

 

[Rambo Rees]

The handles are glue ups of rosewood and mahogany. I used to have quite a stockpile. Angle in the handle shape are 15 degrees. No finish on any of the handle wood (except maybe the D-adze?)
I have pictures to demonstrate the whipping. Exactly the same as putting the guides on a fishing rod.
In general, these are the common tools used here in the Pacific Northwest by the First Nations carvers.

I buy from several sources:

Kestrel tool

Northwest Coast hand carving tools, adzes, crooked knives, sculptors supplies

www.kestreltool.com

North Bay Forge Bent Knives for spoon carving and more

North Bay Forge on Waldron Island in the San Juan Islands, Washington. Jim Wester is a full time Blacksmith, making hand forged wood carving knives, kitchen cutlery and decorative ironwork. A full line of wood carving tools is in stock and ready for purchase.

northbayforge.com

Wood Carving Knives by Jamie Sharp

High Quality Wood Carving Knives made in Canada. Free shipping to USA and Canada for orders over $90. Native West coast Hook and Straight carving knives.

www.jamie-sharp.com

Mike Komick (died a few years back)

All of the blades in the middle picture are revised and reshaped farrier's equine hoof trimming knife blades. I have Hall (Canada), Mora (Sweden), Diamond (Taiwan), and Ukal Supervet (France.) Hall is the hardest steel.

Make your own. There great satisfaction carving with tools you build.
Call up your local farriers. See what they do with their used and worn down hoof trimming blades (know any DIY horsey people?). I usually can buy 5-6 at a time locally. Lots of ranches here in the valley.

Thanks for the tips. The local farriers sound like a plan, I'll give it a go.

 

[Rambo Rees]

The handles are glue ups of rosewood and mahogany. I used to have quite a stockpile. Angle in the handle shape are 15 degrees. No finish on any of the handle wood (except maybe the D-adze?)
I have pictures to demonstrate the whipping. Exactly the same as putting the guides on a fishing rod.
In general, these are the common tools used here in the Pacific Northwest by the First Nations carvers.

I buy from several sources:

Kestrel tool

Northwest Coast hand carving tools, adzes, crooked knives, sculptors supplies

www.kestreltool.com

North Bay Forge Bent Knives for spoon carving and more

North Bay Forge on Waldron Island in the San Juan Islands, Washington. Jim Wester is a full time Blacksmith, making hand forged wood carving knives, kitchen cutlery and decorative ironwork. A full line of wood carving tools is in stock and ready for purchase.

northbayforge.com

Wood Carving Knives by Jamie Sharp

High Quality Wood Carving Knives made in Canada. Free shipping to USA and Canada for orders over $90. Native West coast Hook and Straight carving knives.

www.jamie-sharp.com

Mike Komick (died a few years back)

All of the blades in the middle picture are revised and reshaped farrier's equine hoof trimming knife blades. I have Hall (Canada), Mora (Sweden), Diamond (Taiwan), and Ukal Supervet (France.) Hall is the hardest steel.

Make your own. There great satisfaction carving with tools you build.
Call up your local farriers. See what they do with their used and worn down hoof trimming blades (know any DIY horsey people?). I usually can buy 5-6 at a time locally. Lots of ranches here in the valley.

Apologies for the thousand questions....which blade is on the uppermost knife in the first picture? (The one with only yellow nylon cord?)

 

[Robson Valley]

Don't apologize for the questions. Probably others are waiting to read the answers!

Ah, the first picture. Now it's my turn to apologize. Those 4 blades are the ones sold by Lee Valley (Crescent Knife Works, Vancouver, BC). I can't remember how long ago it was that I bought them. The top one with the really tight sweep is only ever rarely useful (once a year). The do-all utility blade shape is the bottom, the 'J'-shaped blade.

Note that the blades are all surface-hafted. There's no mechanical reason to center-haft any of these.

A new Hall farrier's hoof trimming knife costs me $50.00. I pay the local farrier $5.00 each for the worn ones. To me, there's a lifetime of carving steel left in those blades.

Do your best to get BOTH the right hand and the rare, left handed knives because they only have a single edge.
Proper PacNW First Nations wood carving knives are double edged for both right-hand and left-handed use.

 

[Rambo Rees]

Think the most dramatic was turning a Hultafors HVK into a Froe.

unnamed by https://www.flickr.com/photos/163167411@N07/, on Flickr

unnamed (1) by https://www.flickr.com/photos/163167411@N07/, on Flickr

Apart from that, i've chopped the finger guard off on HVK's & Mora 511's to make them more comfortable, i also made a bitsa knife from a HVK blade that i inserted into a Mora 163 spoon knife handle.

20190512_163037 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/163167411@N07/, on Flickr

How did you manage to remove the HVK blade so cleanly out of the handle Kepis?

 

[Kepis]

How did you manage to remove the HVK blade so cleanly out of the handle Kepis?

I think on that one i hammered the knife into a log, then put a stick against the front of the handle and knocked it off backwards, then wiggled the blade out of the log. The other way i do it, but nowhere near as much fun, is to hold the handle in a vice and run an old chisel along the top of the tang, making sure the knife blade is well wrapped in tape for safety of course.

EDIT: yup its the one i hammered into a lump of Oak

Capture by https://www.flickr.com/photos/163167411@N07/, on Flickr

 

[plastic-ninja]

Like a lot.....what are....and where do you source the woodcarving blades?
...I am in the process of looking for a few carving items and just thought this afternoon that blades only and making my own handles would be ideal...and cost effective.

That is a rabbit hole of almost infinite depth. There are some stunning blades around. Dave Budd, Nic Westermann etc etc as well as all those Scandi blades on Brisa.

 

[crosslandkelly]

My Mora forest knife, rehandled in Yew with a mosaic pin.


My old SAK dressed in Tiger Myrtle scales.



And a bit of Pyrography on a Mora carver.

 

[Stew]

Production knife modding? Hold my beer - I'll be back in a bit!
(and I'll try to just post a picture occasionally rather than all at once...)