More Work on the Bobcat Knife

My shop time this last weekend was limited, but I did manage to make a lot of progress on the Bobcat knife in a short time I had to play, enough to know that this is going to be a real nice one in the end.  Here are a few pics of the build process.

With the bolsters all polished up to a mirror finish, they get a dip into some muriatic acid for some etching.  The etching process brings out the layers and patterns in the Damasteel.  I've found that about an hour in room temperature acid is about the right soak time.  I do move the piece in and out of the acid every few minutes to remove the bubbles and keep the etch going.

While the bolsters are taking their bath, the scales get several coats of tung oil.  After the oil dries the scales will get a light coat of Renaissance wax and a buff until they shine.  This process really brings out the three-dimensional qualities of the buckeye burl.  This stuff is really beautiful.

While the bolsters etch and the scales dry, I take a few minutes to polish the heads of all the screws until they are bright and shiny.  I use this small plate of threaded titanium to hold the screws while polishing them on the buffer.

Time to focus on the blade.  I attach my shop-made edge guide to the blade tang so that the guide lines up with where I want the plunge cuts to be.  Now, it's on to the grinder from some hollow grinding.

At this point the blade has been ground to a 220 grit finish.  From here on out it's hand sanding.  I'll take the blade up to 600 grit and then give it a good 600 grit satin finish.  I missed taking a photo after the hand sanding was finished, but this blade turned out really nice.  the grind was even, free of any ripples, and the plunges were spot on.

After the etching is complete, the bolsters get a very light buff with some pink scratchless compound on the buffer, followed by hand polishing.  This photo doesn't show off the Damasteel pattern very well, but I'll take some better photos of this detail when the knife is finished.

I really enjoy doing filework on my knives.  I tried a little variation on a favorite pattern with this one.  Using a basic twisted ribbon design, I alternated directions every two twists.  The new pattern catches the light differently at different angles, kind of like the facets of a cut gemstone.  It turned out quite nicely.  Again, the photo resolution is terrible, but better pics will follow soon.

The last task for the weekend was to filework the liners.  I went with a climbing vine pattern which, at this small scale, is very challenging to get right.  In the end, the pattern came out great.

That's it for this week.  Next week I'll get the finishing touches put on this knife and if everything goes well, the knife will be finished.  It should be something extra special once done.  Thanks for stopping by the Robinson Edge.

-  Brandant Robinson