After looking at my brother's copy of David Boye's 'Step-by-step Knife Making' I thought I would like to have a go at making something like his utility knife. I really liked the shape and thought it looking quite similar in shape to a traditional chef's knife.
1) Got a good quality (but old and rusted) Sabatier 10" chef's knife from a charity shop.
2) Removed the original handle which was poorly fiited and wobbley, marked the outline and ground, very slowly, ensuring blade never got hot, glowed or turned blue.
3) Ground finger ridges and fitted rough handle of local birch using brass pins.
4) Shaped the handle using sand paper (glued to a piece of thick dowl for the finger ridges) and rubbed with sesame oil. Gave it a final sharpening. The blade is fairly thick so it is no good really for wood work but is a fine general purpose utility knife. Sharp enough to butcher a hare (see DIY tripod thread)
5) Made a simple belt sheath - not finished yet but I used it on a camping trip.
All in all, I am generally pleased with the knife, and not too bad for a charity shop knife and about 3 hours of work (not including glue-drying time). Not quite a David Boye knife, mind you!
1) Got a good quality (but old and rusted) Sabatier 10" chef's knife from a charity shop.
2) Removed the original handle which was poorly fiited and wobbley, marked the outline and ground, very slowly, ensuring blade never got hot, glowed or turned blue.
3) Ground finger ridges and fitted rough handle of local birch using brass pins.
4) Shaped the handle using sand paper (glued to a piece of thick dowl for the finger ridges) and rubbed with sesame oil. Gave it a final sharpening. The blade is fairly thick so it is no good really for wood work but is a fine general purpose utility knife. Sharp enough to butcher a hare (see DIY tripod thread)
5) Made a simple belt sheath - not finished yet but I used it on a camping trip.
All in all, I am generally pleased with the knife, and not too bad for a charity shop knife and about 3 hours of work (not including glue-drying time). Not quite a David Boye knife, mind you!