Almost There

After a long week at work, it was nice to spend a few quality hours out in the knife shop.  There is something very therapeutic about working with one's hands which does a heart good after spending so much time in an office all week.  Here is what I was able to accomplish over the weekend.

I started off working on the pivot system, but didn't get any photos of that process.  I've shown it many times before, so scan back through previous posts and you'll see how it's done.  Here's the knife after being assembled for the first time.  I used my new shop-built surface grinder attachment to grind down the thickness of the spacer.  I have to say, I was very impressed with it's accuracy.  I was able to keep it within 0.001" from one end to the other.  That's much better than I have been able to do in the past by hand.  I have a couple of tweaks in mind that should tighten up the tolerances of the attachment, but for now, I'm happy with it.

I had to call an audible on the scales before contouring the sides of the handle.  After adding the black liners to the scales, the handle ended up being a little to thick and chunky in the hand for my liking.  I decided to grind off the bark of the mammoth and contour it smooth with the bolsters.  The interior ivory of the mammoth was nice and creamy in color and looks kind of classy.  Frankly, I wasn't too upset since the color of the mammoth looked a little dingy and dirty to me (definitely looked better in the photos of the website where I purchased it than it did in person).  Now, it looks bright and shiny. I think I made the right call.

This photo shows the inside of the liners after spending some time at the drill press with a Cratex rod to give the jeweling detail.  It think this little detail is certainly worth the effort.

Here is the spacer laid out with 1/8" marks in preparation for some filework detail.  With a jewelers saw I have started making the "V" cuts for my "V's and O's" pattern.

This pic shows the completed filework on the spacer.  I fileworked the liners as well, but my phone doesn't take very clear closeup photos, so I didn't bother taking any pics of that process.  The background shows some of my filework patterns.

In this photo the blade has been etched with my maker's mark and the liners have been anodized a nice bronze color which looks really good with the creamy colored scales.  You can also see that I have cut the lock into the left liner which has also been fitted to the blade to keep it open with an early lockup.  The face of the blade will also get carbidized to keep the lock smooth and free from sticking.

It's a little hard to see in the photo, but the front and rear bolsters have been given a stipple texture. I do this with my rotary tool and a diamond flame-shaped bit. The scales have also been given a finish coat of Renwax to protect them.

Here is where I finished up for the weekend.  Everything is assembled and I even took the time to put an edge on the blade.  All that is left to do is a little bit of tweaking on the detent ball depth (it's a little too high and is binding against the blade during opening and closing), and turn a suitable thumb stud.

Here's a spine view of the knife, showing off the filework.  Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. It should make someone a really nice EDC knife.  The size is perfect for a small pocket knife, and I may even make a pocket sheath to accompany this little gem, to keep it protected from keys, change, and other pocket stuff.  Thanks for following along with me on my latest knife-making adventure. Have a great week!

-  Brandant Robinson