Knife Build Along

Thought I'd post some pics of the different steps taken in making a knife.

First a nice piece of Damascus billet and my pattern for the knife that I'm going to make out of it.



Here the pattern has been traced on the billet.



Rough cut on the band saw and it's time to go to the grinder.



Profiled out.



Center punched where I want the Mosaic pins and lanyard tube to go.



Holes drilled and countersunk.



Grind lines laid out. I'll start grinding tomorrow or Saturday.



Stay tuned!

Thanks for posting....this is something I know nothing about and am fascinated by....crazy skills.....

X2

Mike I am always amazed by the knifes you make. Truly are an art form. You guys that do this all the time have some great skill. Thanks for posting.

Walter

X3

Keep the updates coming Mike!

How do you center the "grind lines" and what are all the additional holes in the handle for?

I would love to give this a shot one day! Thanks for sharing

The extra holes are to reduce weight.

That is going to be a sweet knife

X4

That and give more surface area for the epoxy when the scales go on. I haven't had a scale come off yet and don't plan to.
I didn't get to spend any time in the shop today but hope to tomorrow.

I measure the thickness of the blade and divide by 2 for the true center. Then I subtract .0125 from the center and set my height gauge at that dimension and scribe a line on the edge of the blade then flip the blade over and scribe the second line which will leave the edge around .025 thick after grinding and prior to heat treating. If you take the edge too thin before heat treat the edge can warp when the blade is quenched.

Good stuff Mike.

Good stuff your posting here.


I was hoping to see my knife coming along. I just ordered one and have been emailing you. It is the stainless with axis handle! The edc! I am so ready for it!!

Steel is on order, should be here next week.

Ok folks, I made a little progress this morning before I had to go mow.

Rough ground on a 80 grit belt.



Finished to a full flat grind on a 120 grit belt.



Sanded down to 400 grit. All of those ugly grind lines are long gone. I hate seeing grind lines.



Now it's time for a little file work. Marked the spine where I want the file marks.



Files laid out.



All done with that part.



Next step will be heat treat.

Stay tuned!

The file work looks great, how long does it take to make it all match like that?

Walter

That is awesome thank you for sharing.

I'm slow at it so from start to finish it takes me about 45 minutes I'd guess. I've never actually timed it.

You heat treat all your blades??

Yes I do all of my own heat treating and tempering.

Never would have thought of using g-balls on a file, heck of an idea, would work great on a chainsaw file I bet..

Love the file work, for me it sets many knives apart with an individual flare.

Oven is up to temp. I'll let it soak for 5 minutes and then quench in light mineral oil.



Quenched and cooled to room temperature.



Checking the hardness. Right at 63. Excuse my junky shop background



Into the tempering oven. It will temper at 375° for an hour and allowed to cool. Then again for 30 minutes.



Checking hardness again after tempering, Right at 59, right where it should be.



Brushed off and not it's time to go back to sanding.



Stay tuned!

Those golf balls make it easier on your hands. Besides, that the only use that I've ever had for a golf ball.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and photos with Mike. Very, very interesting to see! Baker

X2

Sanded down and lightly buffed.



Etched and coated with oil.



Now I just need to decide on the scales.
I'm thinking Giraffe bone but can't make up my mind whether to just stabilize them and use them in the natural color or dye them first.
I'm sort of drawn to this sample that I made this morning.

Looking awesome!

.

Ok folks, I had a senior day I guess and forgot to take pics of some steps like stabilizing the scales, sanding them flat and drilling the pin holes and so forth but here is a pic of it with the scales epoxied on and clamped for curing.



And here it is after curing over night.



And here it is shaped, sanded to 1200 grit and buffed out. I just need to sharpen it up and it will be done and off to the classifieds.

Thanks for following along!
Mike

Great looking knife Sir! Thank you for sharing how they are made....neat to see it all take shape then come together.....

Great thread Mike. The knife looks great.

Good stuff!

Wow super impressed

Very nice

Beautiful. Forrest

It looks great Mike, well done sir!!

Good looking knife Sir.