Knife project

[Rippy]

It's that time of year again when I head downstairs to my basement workshop to entertain myself till better weather. Summer doesn't find me down there much unless I'm repairing something. Winter time means projects, and one of my favorite projects is knife building. I carry a knife with me in the outdoors and over time they develop sentimental value to me, reminding me of trips I have taken them on. This is such a knife in the pictures below. It has been on a few canoe trips and when I pick it up off the shelf the memories come back to me.

Last year I had a thread here in DIY in which I built a Bird and Trout style sheath knife. A Bird and Trout knife is a lighter duty knife suitable for cleaning small game and light camp chores. This year I must be feeling a little more sticky / stabby, cause the knife I have in mind is a little larger then the one pictured above.

I will be using D2 tool steel for the blade. I have used D2 on several projects in the past with good results. It is an air hardening tool steel as opposed to a oil or a water quenching tool steel. It has very good edge wear properties. At 1.5% carbon it has a higher carbon content then most tool steels. While not quite a stainless steel, (true stainless steals start at 13% chromium and go up from there), with a chromium content of 12% it has good stain resistance when hardened.

After digging through the knife wood stash I decided to use Black Ebony again for the handle. I went back and forth as I was in a curly maple mood this fall. Black Ebony with nickle silver bolsters. And the blade will have a mirror finish instead of a satin finish like the above knife has.

I will try to post up a drawing of this project this week end along with any progress pics. Dave

 

[Canotrouge]

Cool!! I'm putting a handle on a carving blade I bought from Pine wood forge. It is out of african black wood... Keep posting, I like knives!!

 

[memaquay]

I like it when you are feeling stabby, can't wait to see this one unfold! The last one was a beauty!

 

[stripperguy]

Rippy,

I was hoping for another of your knife projects. I really enjoy joining you in the basement (virtually, anyway) and following along.
So, let's get going!

 

[Rippy]

I like it when you are feeling stabby

Mem, a man doesn't get a compliment like that every day!

I hear ya SG, looking forward to it.

 

[Robin]

Nice, looking forward to seeing another fine build. Thanks

 

[Odyssey]

Well it's about time!! I've been hanging out in your basement all frickin summer and fall, wait'n for another knife project! That last one was a real beaut. Funny, cause I'm in a curly maple mood too. Or that might just be the scented dryer sheets your wife puts in the load of whites and towels.
Do me a favour Dave, and show a photo of you holding your knife, so I can get a better idea of the size of handle and blade. I need to hold a tape measure when I'm looking at this kind of stuff otherwise. Last month I was at a trade show, and visited a booth with axes and knives. When I asked the sales person which model it was( a Helle Temagami), I was shocked. I said "It looks a heck of a lot bigger in your website." She thought I was joking. I wasn't. Without human scale I'm lost.
Anyway, I'm seriously looking forward to a blade build tutorial. BTW What's your blade wood stash look like?

 

[Rippy]

Do me a favour Dave, and show a photo of you holding your knife, so I can get a better idea of the size of handle and blade.
BTW What's your blade wood stash look like?

Brad, I don't see how that is going to work. Last week you thought I was a Hobbit. Maybe I can stand next to a canoe and hold the knife. Maybe I should put the canoe next to the house for scale. We got all winter to work it out. Sorry you waited in my basement all summer and fall, it's a winter thing for me. In the summer I feel more shooty which works better out doors. It's winter and I'm feeling stabby already and it's not even Christmas yet.

As far as my wood stash goes It's just boxes of knife handle woods mostly in blocks but some in scales (knife talk for slabs that make up the sides on a full tang knife.) I mostly keep them separated by species. I guess I wouldn't have to, It's not like they are going to cross breed in the box. I have Maple (hard, curly, and bird's eye), Desert Ironwood, Cordia or Bocote, and Black Ebony in quantities. Once every few years I go wood shopping like it's the last time I can. Good exotic knife wood doesn't just grow on trees. Finding wood with exceptional grain is not easy either. You have such a small area to decorate on a knife handle as opposed to a rifle stock. You need tighter grain patterns with more contrast. When I find good wood I end up going over board and buy in quantities that I may never get used up because I don't know if I'll be able to find it next time. I plan on doing allot more knife making in retirement so it makes sense to stock up before all the good wood is gone. Well I better go get busy. Dave

 

[Odyssey]

Dave, I wasn't joking when I said I had trouble judging scale. I was perusing knife sites awhile ago and really did need to sit with a tape measure to figure out "what does a 4" handle and 3.5" blade look like in my hand?" I joke around, and enjoy kidding with you, but I take your skills as a craftsman very seriously. I was kidding about hanging around your basement, but wasn't when I said I was looking forward to your blade tutorial. Oh, and I have no idea what a wood stash might look like. Curly birch, curly maple, and even stacked leather looks good! I never cared much for antler, until I saw your last project. Wow. Oh, and I forgot about slabs applied to tangs. Another construction method. Too much for a newbie like me to remember. Don't let me interrupt your project. Carry on buddy.
Brad

 

[Rippy]

I tend to name some of my things. He looks kind of stabby, I think I'll just call him "Stabby" from now on. The first thing I do to build a knife is to draw it out full scale and work out the dimensions and proportions.

Like I said earlier, the blade will be D2 tool steel (3/16" thick), the bolsters are nickle silver, and the wood is Black Ebony. This particular piece is stabilized wood. The sheets of .030" nickle silver and black vulcanized spacer material will stack between the wood and the bolsters on each end of the handle.

 

[Hanz]

Excellent!

I'm looking forward to tagging along.

Thank you

 

[memaquay]

Very sweet! I like 6 inch blades, me. That's a man's blade, without going all Crocodile Dundee. I totally understand your irrational wood fever. I get wood fever all the time. If I find a stack of clear cedar, I start to salivate, my heart rate increases, and I get all twitchy.

I really like Stabby for a name. When I was building paddles, I called them Spanky. The last one I built for myself was Spanky VI.

 

[ppine]

I have collected knives since I was a kid. My Dad used to bring me knives from his business trips. Stabby has great lines, much like the old Marbles.

 

[Rippy]

Very sweet! I like 6 inch blades, me. That's a man's blade, without going all Crocodile Dundee. I totally understand your irrational wood fever. I get wood fever all the time. If I find a stack of clear cedar, I start to salivate, my heart rate increases, and I get all twitchy.

I really like Stabby for a name. When I was building paddles, I called them Spanky. The last one I built for myself was Spanky VI.

I think the 6" blade is more of an emotional thing then a functional thing this time around. For deer hunting I use a 3 3/4" drop point blade. This is the knife that came out of the pencil tip and on to the paper. The more I looked at what I had drawn the more I wanted the finished product. I'm just going to go with it and see where it takes me.

Spanky is a great name for a paddle. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one around here that names things.
Looks like I'm not the only one to suffer from wood lust either. Ya know we share so many traits Mem. We pretty much have the same beard going on. I wonder if our mom's had the same post man or something. dave

 

[memaquay]

Ha ha, I was wondering something along the same lines too. Apparently my mom's family lived in Boston before they went to Prince Edward island.

 

[Mihun09]

Have you ever sold any of your creations? Could make a good Winter income source to help fund Summer paddling adventures.

 

[Rippy]

Have you ever sold any of your creations? Could make a good Winter income source to help fund Summer paddling adventures.

That's kind of my retirement plan to make a little money on the side and stay occupied. That's probably 10 years down the road. Mean time it's just a fun hobby.

 

[Jsaults]

Have you seen this vid from Gough Custom Knives?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5LXpgSzKyQ

Jim

 

[Rippy]

That was kinda fun to watch. The first few knives I made were flat ground and had allot of hand file and sanding work.

 

[Rippy]

A little about knife making. There are many many ways and methods to make a knife. There are many many styles and purposes.There are many many materials for both blade and handle.There are several types of blade grinds. Examples of grind types: flat ground, concave ground, convex ground, chisel ground. Each have their reasons or purposes. There are many types of handle construction. Full tang, partial tang, through tang, hidden tang. There are different types of bolsters and different ways to fasten them.

This is how it seems to me. Picture a tree with a crotch in it and smaller limbs growing out from the two main limbs. The first division (the crotch) is stock removal on one side and forged blades on the other. I'm on the stock removal side of the tree. I'll explain the differences later. So I'm climbing the stock removal limb and it branch's out to knife style or purpose limbs. I chose one and climb on up. Now it branches out to blade materials and I make my choice. Then to handle construction. Maybe last is selecting handle materials. The fruit (knives) is on twigs out at the end of each limb. Being many twigs can grow from one limb the fruit may look similar with the difference maybe being the handle material. Might have two outer limbs close together with very similar looking knife profiles but different tang construction(say maybe full tang vrs hidden tang). Most knife maker's work ends up close together in a certain area of the tree. There are many variables such as available equipment. Preference for certain materials. Preference for certain construction methods.

In short all of us knife makers are out at the end of a limb. We tend to like our own limb since we chose it our selves. We will all defend our limb to some degree or another. Many think that their's is the best limb and every one else is wrong or stupid or something. Me, I'm more passive as I don't feel the need to compete. I will defend my workmanship and to some degree my material choices. But I won't get drawn in to who's knife is best arguments. Nor do I feel the need to critique others work. We all are "works in progress".

I do not consider myself a knife expert since there are so many limbs I haven't explored yet. However, I am pretty knowledgeable about the limb I am standing on.

Full disclosure. In the past I have made and sold a few hundred knives. I spent two years doing it full time. I sold at gun shows and on consignment at a sporting goods store. That was 18 years ago before I got my present job. I still make knives and occasionally an old local customer tracks me down and purchases a knife. It's more out of courtesy for people that have supported me in the past that I do this. So I still keep a few around in case someone drops in.
Lest this tread get feeling like an agenda I want to make it clear. I am not interested in selling knives at this point in my life. The purpose of this thread is to share my hobby with some people I consider friends. It will help pass the time this winter and I really enjoy spending time with you guys. Also if you have questions about knives in general I will try to answer them if I can. Dave