Not done yet, but wanted to share.
In my first thread about Andersen Forge moving, I showed the first knife I forged in Minnesota using a bar of Damascus that I made in Illinois:
I wanted it to be a little different than the normal Brut de Forge.
So, I have often felt the need for a little better fit of the scale that I normally get. Some folks may not realize that with the forged-in finger guard, it's impossible to lay the knife flat on a platen or sanding surface to get the handle sides flat.
So - I milled mine in with a precise forward "stop" to the scales:
Now, for the scales I used a piece of stabilized curly walnut from Northern California that I got from a new friend who IS! the guy who cut down the humongous walnut tree known as the "Cujo tree", as it was the tree in the front yard in the Stephen King movie "Cujo".
This guy and his sons are tree specialist in Northern California and I've been able to get some really, really fantastically figured materials from them in the last few months.
So, I just wanted something a little special for this knife.
Here I have cut the block in 1/2 an am milling the mating sides:
Then, over to the small mill to mill the leading edge of the scales:
When done this way, they line up perfectly so the figure matches across the spine of the knife.
That's all for now.
The knife gets hot-blued this morning, final fit up (and I might mention the scales have three internal alignment roll pins. The spine has been mirror polished for the hot-bluing and I need it to go back in the same place for final fit up, which will include my "bulls-eye" pins inspired by Lin Rhea.
I'll get pics up tomorrow - I hope.
Thanks.