Utility Knife Complete

Three down, one more to go.  I was able to complete the utility knife for my daughter's kitchen set over this last weekend.  I think it turned out just as nice as the others, in spite of a few hiccups along the way.  Here are a few photos of this weekend's work in the shop.

If you recall, we left off last week with the utility knife clamped up, waiting for the epoxy to cure. The next step was to finish up the handle.  Most all the shaping work took place on my grinder with either the flat platen or the slack belt attachment.  I progressed up through the grits until the handle was nice and shiny.  I finished up by hand to get into those hard-to-reach places and gave the bolsters a 600 grit hand-rubbed finish.

The blade gets my maker's mark etched in with my shop-built etching machine.

Here is the completed utility knife after the edge has been sharpened.  It matches up with the other two knives of the set really nicely.  Again, I'll take some better photos once the set is complete.  Won't be too much longer I hope.

On to the last knife of the set, the chef's knife.  Here's the knife bolted to my hand sanding jig, awaiting its satin finish.

After a whole lot of hand sanding, one side of the blade is finished.  I got the other side really close to completion too before I left the shop.  I hope to get this knife finished up soon.  As much fun as I've been having with this project, I'm ready to move back to my folders.  I sure hope my daughter appreciates the time and effort that has gone into making these knives for her.  Thanks for following along with me on this build.

-  Brandant Robinson