Almost There

This last weekend I was able to get quite a bit of detail work on the "Bobcat" knife, as well as the blade completed.  Here's a quick look this weeks progress.

Here is what the blade looks like after the initial grind is done with an 80 grit belt.  The masking tape is there to help establish the plunge lines at the transition to the ricasso.  Once I move past 120 grit, I will take off the masking tape and use my handy dandy edge guide to true things up perfectly.  I didn't get a pic of the edge guide, so if you want to see what I'm talking about you can to scan back through the previous post.  It's simply a couple parallel pieces of hardened steel that clamp onto the tang like a file guide.

In this photo, the blade is finished up through 120 grit.

Before I go any further, I need to grind the lock ramp on the back of the tang.  I do this on the disk grinder at an 8 degree angle.  The top 1/8" is not beveled so that it engages the spacer in the open position seamlessly.

The hollow grind is now finished up through 1500 grit, ending the work on the grinder.  That's as far as I will go on this blade since I plan to do a 600 grit hand-rubbed.  I like to go a couple stages passed the finished grit to make the hand finishing easier.

This photo is a little out of focus since my phone doesn't take very good close up pics.  Here are the liners and the spacer after several hours of file work.  Man, do my fingers hurt!  The liners get a serpentine pattern and the spacer gets a twisted ribbon pattern.  These two designs look great next to each other and I think they will compliment the overall look of this knife nicely.

This is where I finished off for the weekend.  The blade has been hand rubbed, the lock and detent system have been completed, and the left liner and bolster have been notched for the thumb stud and lock release.  This knife is really coming together nicely.  This crumby photo really doesn't do this knife justice.  Once it's completed, I'll take a few higher quality pics to show off the details.

Here's a photo of the spine of the knife.  Although the picture isn't the best, you can still get a feel of how nice the file work looks.  File work in my eyes is really what sets a handmade knife apart from a production knife.  It really ups the appeal of a custom knife.

Well, I think one more weekend and I'll have this knife completed.  I really like how this design looks and feels.  It's definitely going to be one of my favorite designs.  More to come next week.  Until then, thanks for stopping by the Robinson Edge.

-  Brandant Robinson