I WILL completely finish this one!

This looks horrible, silly, childish, amateur. Gotta fix it. I'm assuming there is a quick easy way to do it without much work. That's how it normally works with knife making, right?

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I'm getting worried about these streaks. Can someone tell me how to avoid this and is there a fix? I'm guessing it comes from sanding the guard and the handle at the same time. Thanks in advance.
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Like glass lol... and not too much angle grinding left do lol


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Try blowing out those pores with an air hose. Or wiping with acetone. After you get them clean again seal them or fill them. You can use the dust from sanding the scales( wood ONLY) to fill the pores. By just sanding over the pores. Leave the dust in the pores. Use CLEAN sandpaper. It will be a perfect color match. Then rub in a little super glue or minwax sanding sealer to harden the dust in the pores. Other guys may have a better method. I don't glue my scales down till close to finish. I use brass pins that slip in th holes. I'll pull the pins on one scale below the surface so I can sand. Then do the same on the other side. When the fit is pretty good and the scales are sealed but not finished then I epoxy scales and pins with pins a bit long. After dry then sand the pins flush to scales and finish scales.

I'm fairly new to this so take my method with a grain of salt.

You are improving rapidly!
 
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Try blowing out those pores with an air hose. Or wiping with acetone. After you get them clean again seal them or fill them. You can use the dust from sanding the scales( wood ONLY) to fill the pores. By just sanding over the pores. Leave the dust in the pores. Use CLEAN sandpaper. It will be a perfect color match. Then rub in a little super glue or minwax sanding sealer to harden the dust in the pores. Other guys may have a better method. I don't glue my scales down till close to finish. I use brass pins that slip in th holes. I'll pull the pins on one scale below the surface so I can sand. Then do the same on the other side. When the fit is pretty good and the scales are sealed but not finished then I epoxy scales and pins with pins a bit long. After dry then sand the pins flush to scales and finish scales.

I'm fairly new to this so take my method with a grain of salt.

You are improving rapidly!

Thank you very much for the information and compliment. It boosts the confidence for sure. I can say this... at this point in my life, I'm completely 100% obsessed with this hobby. It's pretty bad actually lol. I wake up at 6 and "make knives" till I go to bed... lol.. newness hasn't worn off yet.





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Hardened, re-scratched, so is it now just sand to satisfactory polish then glue???


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Just an update pic. I hope I'm not aggravating anyone, but as you guys have mentioned, I have to have some some sort of small victory. Thanks for all of your help!


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Finishing your first knife is not a small victory. It is a major accomplishment. And, it proves to the rest of the world that your are as crazy as the rest of us.

Your knife is looking good. Getting close to the end result.

Keep up the good work. Not much left from here.

DeMo
 
Wow! Talk about a major improvement from your last attempt! This isn't some incremental little win, this is a gigantic leap forward in fit, finish, and overall execution!

If anything, this ought to reinforce to you that the quality of the end result depends on taking that little bit of extra time on every step. This is the same knife as the last time. The difference is not racing to the finish line. Each process is its own piece of the puzzle, and when you do your absolute best on each process on each little piece of the puzzle, those more-perfect pieces fit together more perfectly. The overall process becomes easier and the end result is that much better.

The absolute worst thing you can do to yourself is work to a hard deadline. It's not always avoidable, but bumping up on a deadline never makes things turn out better. It seems whenever I have a hard deadline, that's the knife that will have some errant scratch or blemish or handle that won't cure... it's always something time dependent to fix. During the build process, always remember that there is no better time than now to get it right. The farther along in the process, the longer everything takes. A lesson I have learned the hard way in my life is, "If you don't take time to do it right, you'll end up taking time to do it twice."

ALWAYS ask yourself before moving on to the next phase if this piece of the puzzle is as perfect as you can make it. The answer is usually no, but sometimes it is. If you have the ability to make it better, then do it. BUT, also recognize when something is the best you can do. It may not be perfect, but it's as good as you can get it. No knife will ever be perfect, but so long as it's the best you can do at this time, it's as good as it's going to be. Make peace with that. Put it on the list of things you want to learn how to improve.
 
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Wow, I'm also a super newbie, and really glad to have found this site and post. It's intimidating hobby to get into, but posts like these make me feel ok about trying! Thank and well done!
 
Wow!!! Thank y'all. It means a lot to hear that from you. Really. You all have taught me a lot. I'll be forever grateful. John what you wrote above is the perfect description of my journey thus far. I'm very excited because I feel like I'm learning 1000 things a day and they all play a role in making something that will be used. I also feel like my next one will be exponentially better. Before I even order a single supply, I'll have a blueprint of that sucker drawn out. John you really really nailed it above... pay me now or pay me later with 500% interest. You say double; I say 5 times because I'm so inexperienced. Those "skip overs" are catastrophic. I am now a huge believer in DeMo's school of thought... you have to complete a knife. That is so important, and I never would have thought that until now. Thank you all again for all you have done. This is a big deal to me.

I'm still not done however.... lol ... but here a couple update shots. All glued and soldered. I have more sanding to do on blade and handle. Could've been way better, but I've got some easy ones that I want to do lol. Y'all are awesome.
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Can someone please point in me the right direction of the proper way to make this handle shiny and wet looking? Also, a couple more pics lol. I think I'm just about to be done with the blade and guard.

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What type of wood is the handle? Walnut??

I like using TruOil. If done properly, think shiny rifle stock. Same stuff. But, it does not work with all types of wood.

DeMo
 
If it's cocobolo don't put Tru-Oil on it. It will never dry because of the oils in the wood. I found this out the hard way. I haven't used it after that mess. Put if it works like dessert ironwood. Just sand it to 1000 grit and shine it with some wax.
 
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