Handles and fittings, the low tech way.

[D.Ellis]

Then I used the dremel tool with a carbide burr to texture the guard.

   

I decided to try something different, after lightly texturing the entire surface, I did a bunch of deeper grooves radiating out from the center of the guard.......

   

After this I cold blue it and hand sand with 1500grit to highlight the texture.

You may notice I am not showing finished pics of the components........I am saving that for the final photo's........have to have some suspense in this thread after all    :D  

That was it for today. We are approaching the finish line. Tomorrow I plan to sand and polish the ivory, and do the checkering.......and then it'll be time for final assembly.......oh, and I almost forgot, I still need to do something with that pommel nut as well.

Darcy  

[Alexander13]

All I can say is WOW! There's just so much information here it's just awesome! Thank you very much Darcy!!
The knife is looking amazing, too!!

Joel

[Sockrsblur]

Lots of cool tricks in your bag Darcy! I'm excited to see some of the checkering get put down. There are lots of very interesting components to this blade, it's Ben fun watching you work.
 

[Roughcountry]

Really enjoy watching you put this one together.
Thanks for taking the time.  

[ymountainman]

Thanks Darcy for doing these build alongs!

[tomsm44]

This is awesome.  I love the profile pics.  An ivory handled knife is on my bucket list.  I'm still a little scared to tackle it just now, but there looks to be some good advice here for when I finally do. Can't wait to see how this one comes out.

Matt

[Track]

Great walk through Darcy. A lot of info here.

[tippit]

Darcy,
This is an exceptional tutorial.  Thanks for taking time and taking us along for the ride.

[D.Ellis]

Thanks guys.
Did a bunch of hand sanding to get this ivory slicked up......time to scratch it up again.
It's been a while since I did any checkering, probably should have done 18 lines per inch instead of 22, since I was a bit out of practice, but what the heck, I do like a challenge.    

So first things first. I will be using Gunline brand checkering tools as well as 90* checkering needle files to point up the diamonds.
The basic tools from left to right.
-3 line tool used not to go faster, but to ride in 2 grooves and cut one........more accurate in theory than a 2 line.
-2 line tool........like the above, cuts one line and rides in one line.
- Needle file, for finishing the diamonds, taking grooves to depth.
- single line tool, for laying out the master lines and also for border work(which I am not doing here)

 
I have used this same style of checkering before on a couple of coffin handles, and really like how it turns out. It is a borderless style, and easier to cut than one that has to stop within a border.
 I took into account the angle of the diamonds when I shaped the handle, so the checkering master lines are parallel with the rear bevels of the coffin.
Here I have drawn in the starting lines..........these are critical as they set up the whole diamond pattern........
 

[D.Ellis]

Cutting the master lines with the single line tool.
   

Then using the master lines as the foundation, start cutting more lines using the 2 and 3 line tools.......trying to stay on track..........
   

   

more........a goof up there, should be able to erase that when the diamonds get pointed up.


   

Mostly done the layout here........flat topped diamonds and a few more stray lines to fix..............that was the story of the day for me........like I said, I was a bit out of practice. If the slip is too deep then it can usually be removed with light sanding and recut........there is a limit to how much you can fix this way without making it uneven......all the diamonds should be the same height and in nice even rows of identical width.

 

[D.Ellis]

time to point up the diamonds.........you want to do this a little at a time. If you try and take all the grooves that go the same direction to full depth you will erase the intersecting grooves and have nothing to follow.........so you have to do it in stages, each groove will be cut several times to reach full depth.
After a while I was really starting to get the hang of it again......I mean, I was really in the groove    :rolleyes:    
 

 


I did have to fix a few more slips along the way, but it turned out alright........not perfect, but not bad. Adds a bit of class in my opinion, and improves the grip for sure.

   

[D.Ellis]

A couple decent pics of the ivory before checkering........hard to get good photo's of the grain, but it's pretty cool looking stuff.
 


 

And one more close up of the checkering......there are 484 of those little diamonds in a square inch.

 

To be continued.........
Darcy  

[Sockrsblur]

Great photos Darcy! I like the checkering a lot
     

[Bladepeek]

Nice work. I've done quite a few practice pieces, planning to checker a gun stock. Never could get the hang of it. Every time I thought I was going ok, I'd get one line that headed south and couldn't correct it. Had my gun stock checkered by a pro in the end.

That piece of work is far more complicated than it looks, and very well done.

I have to second the "great photos" too.

[ymountainman]

Okay Darcy now yer showin out!    

[halfseminole]

How easy is the ivory to work vs bone?  I've got a pile of ivory nocks to make up and I wanted to check how soft it is before ordering it.

This is great work, and I need a set of checkering files after seeing this.

[Lin Rhea]

Just seeing this project is giving me ideas Darcy. Great job. I have that same set of checkering tools.

[kbaknife]

Great job, Darcy.
Not only does it take an incredible amount of time and attention to create such a cool knife, but I know exactly the demands of creating a decent build-along work-in-progress.
Thanks for taking us along.

[D.Ellis]

Originally posted by halfseminole:
How easy is the ivory to work vs bone?  I've got a pile of ivory nocks to make up and I wanted to check how soft it is before ordering it.

This is great work, and I need a set of checkering files after seeing this.

I'd say they are pretty similar.....ivory is a bit more dense than bone, but not going to be a huge difference in workability.

Thanks guys.
Got her assembled today. I did take some pics of finishing the pommel nut, but then like a bone head, erased them by mistake     Description will have to suffice......I sanded/polished the sides and the groove, textured the end and heat colored it to a dark blue........and then cold blued the end and rubbed it back with 1500 grit to highlight the texture. You can see it(blurry) in the background of the next pic.

I always do a dry run before final assembly to make sure there are no unpleasant surprises when I add the epoxy. After inspection, I take it apart again, and clean all the surfaces well with alcohol.
I had a pic of all the pieces awaiting assemble, but it got erased too.   :(

Anyway to seal the guard, remember it's a tight fit and has to be drifted on, so doesn't need any more strength, but as I do not want any moisture getting in there, I use JB weld to seal it with. A small bit on all the guard mating surfaces. The guard itself..........

 

.......as well as the tang/shoulder area.

 

And then I drift the guard on with the slotted stick. Some JB has squeezed out. I wipe it clean on the spine and ricasso joints to make sure I have seated the guard fully. I know the joints along the flats will be tight if the shoulders are seated well, so I'll clean that off later.

 

[D.Ellis]

Then I sometimes use the JB for the rest of the assembly, and sometimes a different epoxy. This time I used an epoxy that dries more less clear. I didn't want any dark epoxy near the ivory.

I coat the inside of all the components as I install then, and make sure there is no bare steel showing on the tang.......the epoxy is mostly to seal out moisture so I am careful to be sure and get good coverage.

Then I put a bunch of epoxy inside the handle and press it on, and thread on the pommel nut, torqueing it down tightly........I had determined the orientation of the hole in the pommel nut during the dry run, and so I tighten it until it is squared up with the handle.
Epoxy will pretty much squeeze out everywhere.

 
I clean this up with small strips of paper towel........wipe once and then discard the strip of paper.......otherwise you will smear epoxy back on again.

That's it for the assembly pics. I use an old toothbrush and a tiny bit of mineral oil to get the soft epoxy out of the coin edge grooves. I don't flood the thing with oil, as it may weaken the epoxy, just enough to get it clean. I have to babysit the knife for a while as the epoxy is under some pressure inside the handle and will continue to squeeze out anywhere it can. I just keep cleaning it off until it stops. Or sometimes I'll let it go for a while and then clean it off when it reaches the rubbery stage. The only trouble doing that is if you forget it, you'll have fully hardened epoxy where you don't want it...........I prefer to baby sit it since I have the tendency to forget things.