I WILL completely finish this one!

HAHAHAHHA!!

The old saying is true- "I could make a whole 'nother knife in the time it takes to make a guard"




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LOL....hang in there!! Yeah guards are a pain. The old saying stays true...Start with a simple drop point full tang hunter and keep it simple and don't use a piece of $50 handle material for your first.

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Justin Presson said:
LOL....hang in there!! Yeah guards are a pain. The old saying stays true...Start with a simple drop point full tang hunter and keep it simple and don't use a piece of $50 handle material for your first.

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Click to expand...


Man I sure do appreciate all the encouragement and support!! You guys are great!

Ok so I'm 90% sure that I'm gonna need another guard. I think a 3/8 gap on each side may be a little too much lol. But I think I know where I messed up. I'm thinking that I should sand the tang and NOT the inside groove of the guard? Right? Or at least try to sand tang first. I think this is what Demo was suggesting but I missed it.

Anyway am I correct in thinking that this guard will never look right??? Or is there a fix? By the way, I just fake pinned it to see what it was look like. I also just played around with shaping it a tiny bit to see how hard it would be.


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That is a perfect guard for a thicker knife! I'm sorry, I could not resist. Honestly, I giggled just a bit. But really, save the guard for a thicker blade.

Yes, to your question. Make the guard fit the knife. Concentrate on a tight/snug fit on the front of the guard. It is the only seam that gets seen. The rear is mostly hidden by the handle.

Also, if you start with a .125 knife blank - you can buy a .125 guard and not have to do a great deal of hand fitting.

You are learning and seem to have a great attitude. Trust me, you have not done anything much different than the rest of us on this crazy journey. I have ruined, mis-shaped, cut short, drilled wrong, and a whole lot more when it comes to early knife adventures.

Just keep learning and just keep trying. You will get there.

DeMo
 
The only thing I'd do to the tang is measure the thickness at the front, middle and back edge. If the tang is not flat and parallel then your guard will have gaps no matter what you do. Hand sand accordingly. Just don't sand it thinner than .125 Nobody makes a slot thinner than that, as far as I've found. Even with a milling machine, trying to cut a slot thinner than 1/8 on thick guard material would be a serious pain.
 
DeMo said:
That is a perfect guard for a thicker knife! I'm sorry, I could not resist. Honestly, I giggled just a bit. But really, save the guard for a thicker blade.

Yes, to your question. Make the guard fit the knife. Concentrate on a tight/snug fit on the front of the guard. It is the only seam that gets seen. The rear is mostly hidden by the handle.

Also, if you start with a .125 knife blank - you can buy a .125 guard and not have to do a great deal of hand fitting.

You are learning and seem to have a great attitude. Trust me, you have not done anything much different than the rest of us on this crazy journey. I have ruined, mis-shaped, cut short, drilled wrong, and a whole lot more when it comes to early knife adventures.

Just keep learning and just keep trying. You will get there.

DeMo
Click to expand...

Thank you very much! I see it like this. I have a knife in my mind right now lol. And I'm kinda screwed because I HAVE to make it. I also have another issue, and that is not taking my time and being patient. These are my worst traits. So I may as well work on them while doing something I enjoy (basically addicted at this point). I've also lost 35 lbs, lowered my A1C a full point (this awesome for a diabetic), have spent as much time outside sweating as I did when I was twelve, and found something that my daughter loves to do with me.

I might even make another one when I finish this one. Lol




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Last edited:
John Wilson said:
The only thing I'd do to the tang is measure the thickness at the front, middle and back edge. If the tang is not flat and parallel then your guard will have gaps no matter what you do. Hand sand accordingly. Just don't sand it thinner than .125 Nobody makes a slot thinner than that, as far as I've found. Even with a milling machine, trying to cut a slot thinner than 1/8 on thick guard material would be a serious pain.
Click to expand...

I checked it. It's .137 throughout. So I ordered 2- 1/8 slotted guards lol. I also ordered myself some brand new files which was 90% of the problem this go round.... crap files.




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Kwzito said:
Thank you very much! I see it like this. I have a knife in my mind right now lol. And I'm kinda screwed because I HAVE to make it. I also have another issue, and that is not taking my time and being patient. These are my worst traits. So I may as well work on them while doing something I enjoy (basically addicted at this point). I've also lost 35 lbs, lowered my A1C a full point (this awesome for a diabetic), have spent as much time outside sweating as I did when I was twelve, and found something that my daughter loves to do with me.

I might even make another one when I finish this one. Lol




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Click to expand...

Oh wait I see what you mean with front middle and back... and yes you are right I need to work on that.


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Why nobody said nothing about how hard it's gonna be to shape the guard lol... looks like an old tombstone.... ha... the only the "fitting" thing about the guard hahah


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Get a flat piece of countertop ie granite. Get self adhesive sanding paper and attach to the granite. Then use it so that your guard face stays flat to the sanding plate. It will eliminate this problem.

DeMo
 
DeMo said:
Get a flat piece of countertop ie granite. Get self adhesive sanding paper and attach to the granite. Then use it so that your guard face stays flat to the sanding plate. It will eliminate this problem.

DeMo
Click to expand...

That is perfect! I have just the right surface in mind. Thanks. I have a few update pics of the WIP I figured I would throw them in this post too. I have been playing around waiting for the guard to arrive. It's nowhere near done. This is just a mockup ... no glue. The handle will take me some time and the blade could use some love too. I have to admit though that I'm not sure if this knife "needs" a guard. I mean it's ugly as homemade sin, but I gotta finish one eventually, right? Or is this seen as a wimp out?
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I'm not a guard / bolsters kind of guy but certain occasions call for them, like wearing a tie.

You've come this far. Don't quit. This design screams "guard" because the plunge line breaks the spine of the knife.

hint: ( breaks the spine...) This same knife would look great without a guard but keep that in mind when you grind your bevels.


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Actually, that looks pretty good. But, it is entirely up to you whether you wish to have a guard. Guards can be hard to complete correctly.

To be completely honest, my first knife did not look that good. Here it is for comparison.

Kind of similar. Full tang, dark handle, shorter knife.

Everyone has to start somewhere.

DeMo

DSC02713_1.jpg
 
DeMo said:
Actually, that looks pretty good. But, it is entirely up to you whether you wish to have a guard. Guards can be hard to complete correctly.

To be completely honest, my first knife did not look that good. Here it is for comparison.

Kind of similar. Full tang, dark handle, shorter knife.

Everyone has to start somewhere.

DeMo

DSC02713_1.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words ... but ... your knife is way better. I'm sure you have looked at yours so many times and over scrutinized it. On one of my first knives I tried to do that file work like you have at the top of yours .... with a HF drill press. It came out awesome lol... and that's after almost killing myself with a half arsed sharp blade spinning around banging against that pole on the drill press. Sliced my hand open. Blade finally wobbled itself off the bit and went swinging right at me ... almost bit me again. Yeah. That's why mine don't have that. Lmao


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John Wilson said:
I'm not a guard / bolsters kind of guy but certain occasions call for them, like wearing a tie.

You've come this far. Don't quit. This design screams "guard" because the plunge line breaks the spine of the knife.

hint: ( breaks the spine...) This same knife would look great without a guard but keep that in mind when you grind your bevels.


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Click to expand...

Ahh... I see what you're saying. About breaking the spine. I'm definitely going to finish the guard, but I'm dreading it. I did NOT do a good job on the knife from the get go, so I know the surface of my tang is as flat as a bowl of spaghetti. But I do have .004 to play with on each side of tang before I dip below the 1/8 mark (slot size in guard). That leaves me having to plane the side of the tang digging a depth of .002... given an acceptable of gap of .001 on each side. I'm gonna have to take it slow lol. Meanwhile I have a far far far better ground 1/8 tang (I'm sure about it this time lol) sitting there. I did it again while waiting on the guard. So I'm a little tempted. Haha


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It's looking pretty good for a first Knife! Self critique is how we learn to make better blades. I know my first Knife was a disaster from the start but I finished it anyway and corrected the mistakes I made on it on the next one and the one after that and after that! In fact I think that I am still correcting those mistakes LOL! My advice is do not give up and alway's finish the Knife you have started because you will still learn and improve your skill's doing so.
 
Hally72 said:
It's looking pretty good for a first Knife! Self critique is how we learn to make better blades. I know my first Knife was a disaster from the start but I finished it anyway and corrected the mistakes I made on it on the next one and the one after that and after that! In fact I think that I am still correcting those mistakes LOL! My advice is do not give up and alway's finish the Knife you have started because you will still learn and improve your skill's doing so.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much! And to be honest with y'all... I don't think I can stop. I'm still new to the hobby, but I can't even think of anything else.


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