Dacks' Buildoff Project

[P. McKinley]

Thanks guys!

RoyalM - The smallest screw plate I have for my lathe is still larger than these two blocks. So, I need to square up and glue these to two more larger pieces that, in turn, will be screwed to the face plate. These two small blocks are indeed the sacrificial ones - allowing me to cut into them to achieve the right profile on my handle. An alternative would possibly be, to use a four jaw chuck... which I don't have.

When I'm done turning the pieces, I'll just saw off the blocks as close to the handle as possible and grind/sand off the remaining wood. The paper should actually be newspaper....something about the type or orientation of the fibers, or something. In theory, the paper will just tear away from the handle block leaving little clean up.

We'll see!

[P. McKinley]

Sometimes, when I find myself fiddlin' and fussin' over something to the point of frustration, its a sign that I shouldn't be fiddlin' and fussin' with it.

This is/was that case with turning this handle. There were just way to many steps and the process was becoming needlessly complicated. And, all the while, the process of turning this handle would have been rather delicate.

So......

I cut the damn thing on the band saw and was done with it. Screw it!!

I also spent several hours fitting the guard to the handle. I used a band saw to create the rough "V" in the handle block, then used a small 1x30 belt sander, files, and even the guard itself to clean up the joint surfaces.

To help marry the two surfaces, I wrapped strips of sand paper over the guard and very carefully used it as a template for the receiving surfaces. Several times I would use a file to keep the surface flat as this process would slightly round over the receiving faces. This worked quite well and the guard seated in very nicely.

Here's a few photos of the process:

This is 180 grit. I worked it up to 220.


Almost there:


I think I'm there:

[P. McKinley]

I think I have discovered a fatal flaw.

CRAP!

[zekiel]

Uh oh, where? that's looking really nice so far that I can see.

[P. McKinley]

A bit of a scare the other day.....

While I was doing the fine tuning to the guard/handle fit, I noticed something that didn't look right. So I checked.

This is the milled blood grove I had done by a machine shop down the road. There is a groove on both sides.


The groove on side "A" is perfectly centered, just fine. The other side however....




The side "B" groove is angled slightly off-center with the tip end off by about 1/16". This means the two grooves do not line up centered on the blade.

My worry was/is that this discrepancy will be fatal when heat treated.... warping, cracking, etc.

I've spoken to several of the forum's seasoned pros and the consensus is that the blade should make it through heat treat ok. However, all four of these makers also saw a potential problem with the sharp, square-bottom edges of the groove. Apparently, this creates a stress point that may prove to be a problem.

When I arranged for the work at the machine shop I had wanted to do the groove using a "bull nose" bit that would produce a rounded bottom to the groove. They didn't have one and a new one is apparently quite expensive. They didn't want to buy one just for this job. So I agreed and went ahead with the job.

In doing so, I realized that the resulting groove would give the blade an "industrial" or "steam punk" look, and I didn't want that. So, I came up with the brilliant idea of creating thin file-worked steel inserts to inlay into the grooves and secured with steel pins and JB Weld.

This shows the 1/8" thick, undecorated inserts(one in the groove). These would be further thinned to 1/16 on a surface grinder, and then file worked.


However, since the grooves don't line up, pinning would be an issue. So I scrapped that idea and am now doing some very tedious hand work to bring the grooves to a point and make them look half decent. In the photo I'm using a Dremmel with a variety of diamond bits to do the rough-in. This will not be easy as I need to create a smooth, flowing transition from square to round.... with minimal tools..... and considerably less experience/ablility.


I'm really quite depressed over this and I've lost a lot of my enthusiasm and excitement because the project had been progressing quite nicely. There is now a permanent flaw I can do nothing about.... making the finished product, however nice it comes out, ..... worthless! This is the first time I've tried a blood groove and it seems I have a lot to learn. I heat treat on Monday and we'll see how it goes.

If anyone else has some advice..... please offer it up.

Live and learn.

[Obijuan Kenobe]

Finish it. Don't let this beat you. You can't see the difference between sides unless you measure, so then keep on keepin' on. That flaw is minimal.

I think it looks great.

obi

[RoyalM]

I say finish it. Ok there is a flaw there but you've already learned from that so even if you don't think this entry will win it will still serve to teach you how to do things better or how not to do things next time. It still looks a great knife to.

[P. McKinley]

"....so even if you don't think this entry will win...."

RoyalM - For me knife making is a hobby, its fun, its something I do in my leisure time. While it'd be pretty special to win something like this, to be honest, I'm in for the challenge of process, not so much the opportunity for profit.

Beyond that though, the issue is that I know there's a flaw, so in good conscience I can't even offer this knife as a gift, much less for sale.

[dragoncutlery]

i like the way the groove looks with the moto tooling your doing to it keep it up

[ratstuph]

No one, not anybody, grows in a desirable direction without making mistakes. So it is not perfect; turns out some of my best work has flaws. You can choose to focus on the flaws and stay stuck, or you can keep working. These yahoos here aren't dressed up in cheerleader outfits (at least that I know of ), they are just folks who think your work has promise. Did you want to turn your back on that?
I too am looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
all da best,
rats...

[P. McKinley]

Rats' - This'll work out just fine(pending heat treat results) and it will be a handsome piece when I'm done with it. I've just been in the shop working on the second side and its turning out quite well despite my remaining disappointment. But, the project has now taken a different, unexpected path, I'm up for that. And hell, if the blade does fail, I have another, almost identical, blade that can be altered to fit this project.

There's always hope,....... even for me!

Thanks for the support.

[P. McKinley]

Today I was able to get a bit of rough shaping done.

First I made the "v" cut for the tail piece, then I bored a stepped hole to accommodate the bolted tang:




I cut the "tail" from a chunk of antler, fit it to the handle "v", and rough shaped it:


Using an old furniture maker's trick, I taped(double sided tape) on the two slabs I had previously cut to form the basic handle profile. This created a more or less flat surface from which I could shape the other two faces:


Once I had the handle roughed out I was able to start the shaping guard:


Now, it starts to look like something:


After about three hours of hand filing, the horns are taking form:


This is where I stop for the night:


Tomorrow I'll thread the tang, and I have an hour's worth of hand sanding before I heat treat the blade. The handle still has a lot of fine carving, and the horns still need to be fine tuned and textured... I'll hopefully get some of that done as well.

[craythegray]

FUCKING WOW!

I love the fact you take the time to let us behind the scenes!

Thank you so much!

That was the most fun I have had all night!

SEXY

[P. McKinley]

continued.....

I just have a few minutes here and there today so I continued fine tuning the guard and began laying out the carving design on the handle.

I'm happy with the front profile:


But, I still need a smooth, sweeping, symmetrical recurve on all four faces from this angle. Its almost there:


An ovalized version of the "JD" logo will be inlaid in the center of each side. I need to continue the lines of the guard with a shallow channel flowing into the logo, and then down to the tail. So I'm going to carve a shallow channel down the center then flare and contour the edges:

Side "A"


Side "B"


More later if I have time.

[RoyalM]

Lovely lines on that handle mate, very organic looking horns.