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Author Topic: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6  (Read 2808 times)

Offline the Ferret

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #40 on: June 11, 2007, 12:50:00 PM »
Next I needed to decide what handle shape I was going to use. You can use your imagination here (within limits) and I think on one of these I'll shape it something like the red outline. The yellow lines shows where I'll take a dremel with a cut off blade and shorten the tang and make little notches in the tang for the epoxy to bite into. Of course final shape is liable to change some once you get to removing wood and wanting the handle to feel good in your hand, but this is where I'm going to start (after thinning the width some.) Leave it full width until after you drill your holes, this also gives you an option on using any side for the sides depending on grain pattern and orientation

 
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Offline shawnee

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #41 on: June 11, 2007, 12:51:00 PM »
Just a couple of quick tips I've come up with while building knives from the Helle blades...

I don't like to tape the blades, because of the tape residue, so I make a blade cover out of a manila folder or thin cardboard of some kind, then tape it up good to keep the blade edge covered.  If you make it snug, it will do the job nicely, but can still be removed when needed, then put back on.

Second tip is to keep someone from ruining drill bits.  If you want to drill the tang on the Helle blades, you can't do it unless you anneal them. A small propane torch will do the annealing job...just don't let it ruin the temper of the blade.  Heat it just enough to turn the metal blue on the tang.

Great looking blade, Mickey.  Can't wait to see what you do to finish it up.  I will have to get me a couple of them soon.  Been meaning to make me a neck knife for a long time.
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Offline the Ferret

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #42 on: June 11, 2007, 01:10:00 PM »
The top profile of the handle should look something like this..tapering from the butt to the blade

 
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Offline the Ferret

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #43 on: June 11, 2007, 01:12:00 PM »
Because the hole is round the tang doesn't have a specific direction to go into the wood and you could actually put in in like this and do a whole lot less shaping

 

it actually fits into your hand pretty nicely and gives a good grip with no sanding at all (just looks kinda funky)

 
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Offline the Ferret

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #44 on: June 11, 2007, 01:46:00 PM »
Here's something to think about. On the knife I'm building (well on all knives I build whether commercial blades, bandsaw blades or flint) I try and put a little indent or leave some space between the blade and the handle

 
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Offline the Ferret

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #45 on: June 11, 2007, 01:52:00 PM »
This gives a locator and a stop so your index finger doesn't slide into the sharp part of the blade when cutting down

   

and conversely, when you flip the knife over for unzipping a critter it does the same for your thumb and gives you somethig to push against

   

The tops of most blades are flat so you don't need a locator or pusher on top, however some primitive blades, especially flint are sharp on both edges and need locators top and bottom. (Tippits blade on the right in the bottom pic on page 1 is a good example of that)
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Offline the Ferret

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #46 on: June 11, 2007, 03:53:00 PM »
well, I ran into a snag...handle shaping was going along nicely... here's the top profile next to the other handle block for comparison
 

and the side profle

 

It felt good in my hand too
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Offline the Ferret

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #47 on: June 11, 2007, 03:56:00 PM »
but in case you didn't see it in the above pics, here's what I ran into

   

stinking worm hole and tunnel (tunnel is right above my thumbnail)   :mad:  . I don't know whether to call it "antiquing" or "character" or JUNK! LOL

Trying to decide how/if to continue....   :banghead:
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Offline Forester

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #48 on: June 11, 2007, 04:10:00 PM »
Mickey,

I noticed that in the first pic.  I would call it character and continue, IMHO.  As long as it does not hurt the structural integrity of the piece then it is cosmetic.  In this case it's Mother Nature's cosmetic touch on your new knife.
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Offline the Ferret

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #49 on: June 11, 2007, 05:29:00 PM »
You may be right Forester.

I taped off the blade with painters tape (low residue), cut off the end of the tang, and put little grooves in the tang for the epoxy to bite on to using my dremel tool with cut off blade. It's now ready you be inserted into the handle as soon as I decide whether to use this handle or not.

 
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Offline stabow

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #50 on: June 11, 2007, 05:54:00 PM »
Mickey,
How much of the tang did you cut off and what overall length are you going to end up with ?.....stabow
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Offline maddawgd

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #51 on: June 11, 2007, 06:51:00 PM »
Ferret,read your post last week and ordered the blade.Thanx for the build along pics and info.It came in the mail today.I pumped.
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Offline stabow

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #52 on: June 11, 2007, 07:40:00 PM »
I just ordered 3 off them. See that there out of stock till the 18th. Looks like a good project this summer and give a couple to my hunting buddies......stabow
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Offline the Ferret

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #53 on: June 11, 2007, 08:03:00 PM »
stabow I cut this one off at 2 1/2" from the little ridge because I may slot the front of the handle a little bit to pull the blade further back in. Gonna discuss it with my brother and see if he agrees that's a good plan.

Overall length should be 5 3/4"

BTW Wingnut called and said the wood I'm using is Mesquite from the southwest, AZ, Texas etc. It's a real pretty wood. I must have gotten itwhen Dianne and I visited AZStickman a while back.
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Offline Forester

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #54 on: June 11, 2007, 09:23:00 PM »
Well there you go...wormy mesquite....prized by many in the southwest just like wormy chestnut here in the Appalachians.....your knife will be the envy of all!   :saywhat:
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Offline the Ferret

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #55 on: June 12, 2007, 05:34:00 PM »
Well I sanded out 100% of the worm holes and 95% of the tunnels. The handle is pretty small now but I actually like it better. Gluing it up was a piece of cake. Mixed up some 2 part 5 minute epoxy and using a popsickle stick put a bunch down into the hole. Slid the handle in and out a couple times to get rid of air pockets and then added more epoxy and slid the knife tang in. This time it filled up the hole to overflowiing which I wiped off with a paper towel. Then I sprinkled some sawdust from the sanding process per 4Nolz suggestion, and pushed it into the epoxy with the end of another popsickle stick. Blew off the excess sawdust and set it aside to dry. I still need to tru oil the handle and make a sheath with neck strap. Think I'll try and make it like the one Tippet showed on the bottom of page 1.

Here's the final knife pics

 

 

One of the easier projects in traditional archery thanks to Helle.   :thumbsup:  

So whatcha think?
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Offline Ga.boy

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #56 on: June 12, 2007, 07:25:00 PM »
Really nice job, Mickey. Got me fired up to try one myself. Thanks for the tutorial,

Chuck
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Offline W.Tim

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #57 on: June 12, 2007, 09:23:00 PM »
Looks GREAT  :thumbsup:
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Offline Forester

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #58 on: June 12, 2007, 09:54:00 PM »
Good job Mickey!  I really like that little knife.  Thank you very much for that build along.  Your descriptions here make me think even I could make a serviceable handle for a Helle blade.  Thanks again!
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Offline Caveman IL

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Re: Neck knife blanks..FINAL PIC page 6
« Reply #59 on: June 13, 2007, 06:47:00 AM »
Thanks for the pics and info.  Great job!  Larry
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