Handling another Helle blank

[Rob DiStefano]

Some day I'll make a blade (yeah Rob, right, sure      :rolleyes:     - you already have 73 projects started and near finishin'      :D     ) ... but 'til then I'm drooling over the blades you guys scratch build into gorgeous knives            ...  and just sticking handles on blanks.            

Piece of elk antler I sawed off (the large base end has become a bopper for making rifle flints) and drilled out to accept the knife tang (which I'll serrate with a Dremel carbide wheel for better epoxy purchase when gluing), sliver of oak, chunk of I-don't-know-what-kinda-hardwood, but it looks nice.          

nuttin' fancy, just a little 2-3/4" neck/patch knife.  the helle blank is their #50B fjording, triple carbon steel (not stainless).

   

[tippit]

Alright Rob...you belong here!

[gudspelr]

Very cool. Looking forward to seeing it done. Any plans for a guard or spacer to fit up against the blade shoulders?

And careful...the more of these you do, the more likely it'll suck you right into full on knife making   .


Jeremy

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by tippit:
Alright Rob...you belong here!

thanx jeff - better than where my wife keeps tellin me i belong  :D

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by gudspelr:
Very cool. Looking forward to seeing it done. Any plans for a guard or spacer to fit up against the blade shoulders?

And careful...the more of these you do, the more likely it'll suck you right into full on knife making        .


Jeremy

this'll be the 7th blade i've handled and i mostly do whatever is functional, looks reasonably nice, and is absolutely the easiest and least time consuming for me to do.  which means using as many power tools as possible, and not gettin fancy or over my head in the build process.     :D  

since the blade is small and will probably get relegated to cutting off ball patching and hang off one of my possibles bags, i think i'll just curve the bone down on the top and bottom so thumb and forefinger can rest on the blade's curve = no guard.  this'll make a nice friction slip-fit into whatever leather i'll cut out and sew up for the sheath.  

there's way too much wood happening and that'll get sanded down a bunch on my sanding stations (i had already rough bandsawed some of it off).  

i'll hafta see how the wood sands and scrapes down to the bone, but if possible i'd like to tape off the bone and red wood in order to black aniline dye stain that thin oak spacer before clear coating or epoxy finishing.

i wonder what the red hardwood is - maybe paduak?

[gudspelr]

Sounds like you've got a great plan. As for the spacer, not sure-I've not tried that. I do know antler will want to soak up what it can. An idea that comes to mind is this (and may not work at all...?):

Tape off everything behind the antler very well and apply some tru-oil to the antler. You can use some of that to seal everything later, too. If you get decent coverage of the antler and there's sufficient epoxy between the spacer and antler, it may keep any of the dye from getting soaked into the antler. Then, when it's done, you can apply tru-oil to it all and even out any inconsistencies rather easily. If it's too shiny, just buff with some fine steel wool.

Gonna be cool when it's done and there's something special about carrying stuff you've made while afield.

Jeremy

[Lin Rhea]

Welcome to the knife forum!  

[Rob DiStefano]

thanx lin!        
 
some time with the bandsaw and sander, whittled the handle butt down to best fit a hand, rasped and sanded.

the tang has been serrated with a dremel wheel prior to gluing ...
   

and now the slow set epoxy is curing ...
   

[gudspelr]

Looks fantastic-nice work shaping it. Looks like it'll be comfortable in hand.      


Jeremy

[Rob DiStefano]

epoxy cured, clear coated.  nothing special, but serviceable, i think.  time to make a sheath.

 

[Rob DiStefano]

sheath done up quick 'n' dirty ...

 

 

[Rob DiStefano]

Another helle blank, this time a #55B Nyling, triple lam with a center of stainless and carbon outside.  Got an elk tine that should work out.

Tang and tine cut to length, tang notched for epoxy ...
 

Drilled the 1/4" tang hole, marked and sanded the bone end ...
 

All done, including the sheath ...
 

 

[gudspelr]

Great job-bet they serve you well.

Jeremy

[Rob DiStefano]

thanx - this last one will be a gift to a friend who just got into muzzle loaders and needs a patch knife.  

[Bladepeek]

Rob, have you ever given any thought to putting at least a thin welt in the sheath? I know it's not traditional, but every old sheath I've seen (Marbles, Olsen, a few others) have the stitching cut.

Ron

[Rob DiStefano]

last one (for me, yay!).  a helle triple carbon hefty 4-3/8" viking blade.  got a billet of this nice hard wood from a friend, dunno what species but it's nearly as dense as a rock and took hours instead of minutes to cut, rasp and sand.  found out - it's lacewood.

the sheath was made without a welt strip, but after it was stitched, each of the stitch holes was opened with a filed sharp nail,  a strip of blue 3m painter's tape applied to the back side of the sheath and over the stitch holes, then a drop of quality slow set epoxy filled each hole.  it works well to protect the stitching without adding bulk to the sheath.  

 

 

[Bladepeek]

What a great forum. Learn new things every day. Thanks Rob.

[Bodork]

Rob, you are getting better with each knife you build! Good job!

[Rob DiStefano]

thanx for the kind words.  i wish i was building a knife, but for now it's just an assembly process with some handle and sheath building.

[Lin Rhea]

Yes sir. Much improvement. Keep up the good work!