Dagger KITH knife part 4

The dyeing of the hessian worked (I think) so I started making the 'micarta' (using the same method that I used in my second post) . After I had seven layers of hessian I covered them with a piece of clingfilm , positioned the blade in the middle and then covered it with some more clingfilm .

I then put another seven layers on top of that.

Into the press and clamps for a few hours .

After a few hours and a bit of a clean up and trim

This might be seen as cheating but it seemed easier than chiseling out a groove for the tang. The next step will be shaping the handle and gluing it all together 

Dagger KITH part 3

I have decided to use black hessian 'micarta' for the handle , so I need to dye some hessian (I've never done this so I hope it works ) . I've started with 20 pieces of hessian and some water based dye .

having a good mix up . I don't have any directions for the dye , so I'm going to leave it to soak for a couple of hours and see if it works .

It's seemed to have done the trick . I will start with the 'micarta ' tomorrow afternoon

Dagger KITH knife part 2

I went round to a friends to get a bit of mild steel welded onto the blade for the tang (see I did give you a mention ,Jeff ) . He did manage to give himself a little nick in the process.

I have now done the heat treatment and given a bit of a clean up on the grinder

Now it need a few hours of sanding and then a handle of some sort. I am thinking of putting some brass rivets in the holes ,but who knows I might think of something else by then.

Dagger KITH knife

Another KITH has started on British Blades and its all about symmetry .
For those of you unsure about what a  'KITH' is , it's a Knife In The Hat . So everyone makes a knife and then names are drawn and knives get swapped.
The finish date for the KITH is sometime in September so I have lots of time to decide what to do for a handle (good thing too ,cos I don't have a clue )

An hour in my garage part 5

I think I should start calling this ' Two weeks in my garage'
Anyway the glue has set, so the scales the scales need shaping . I follow the same steps as I did with the skinner .

 All shaped and ready for hand sanding and then a good soak in danish oil

Just a picture of the liners

And this is what they look like after a fair bit of hand
sanding and 12 hours in danish oil

There a re still a few scratches that need to be sorted out , but I'm pretty happy with them so far

Thank you for having a look
Warren

An hour in my garage part 4

The fiber liners are stuck on the scales and need to be shaped . I use my grinder to remove the excess and then re drill the holes . I also drill a few holes through the liners and into wood to give the epoxy some more purchase

All glued and pinned

All clamped up

Now the skinner is ready for the next step

I shape the end of the handle first using the work table on the grinder set at the same angle that I used when i ground the tang. the next four photos show the shaping of the handle , Its all done on the grinder on the slack part of the belt

I gave it a quick dip in Danish oil just to see what the grain is going to look like , and it shows up the scratches . Once the oil has dried I will start hand sanding .  

An hour in my garage part 3

Now that the two blades have been heat treated

and cleaned up on the polisher I need to decide

 what handle material to use on them . There are still some scratches on the bevels , but I will sand them out when I do the final sharpen and clean

I decided on some Turkish Walnut for the skinner and Yew for the nessmuk (I think its a nessmuk)
The walnut came from Stew Light about 18 months ago and the yew came from Isca Woodcraft's .
In this photo the scales are just roughly cut to size.

Here they are profiled on my grinder . I find grinding them to shape with a 80 grit belt is quicker and neater than cutting them with a coping saw

I drill one hole and then pin the blade to the scale to keep it in place while I drill the other holes .I use a 4mm drill for the pins and a 6mm drill for the lanyard tube 

Once the holes have been drilled. I pin the two scales together and shape the front edge . Its easier to get the two scales symmetrical if you shape them together.

I thought I would have a go at using some fiber liners with the yew scales, so I epoxied the scales to the liners and clamped them together

While the glue was drying on the yew scales I started putting the skinner together . once the pins and tube are cut to length I give everything a good clean with acetone .

After a nice even coat of epoxy on the scales,pins and tube I fit the pieces together and put them in my vice for about 24 hours . At this point I cant do much more until the glue dries