Knife 2 - The Malibu Skinner - WIP

Kevin Zito

KNIFE MAKER
So this is a terrible pic (I'll take the first, but a dude named Caleb will more than likely take the last... whaaaaaat lol) of my second knife. The design is my own but based on many different designs by other people ... mainly Josh Gollardo (handle). The blade is 1095, and I'm going to attempt my first ever Hamon.... probably. The spine will have a different profile shortly.

So why the cockyness??? Lol .... Welllll, I bought my HF grinder for the sole purpose of trying to do a hollow grind ... lol ... I've learned a little since then. Anyway for me to use it like I wanted to, I had to rig it upside-down ish. It always been that way and I never thought a thing about it .... until today. I've been doing mostly grinder research today drooling over tool rest options.... thinking wow .... if I ever get my hands on one of those tool rests, I'll be knives like tomb raider guy lol. Bam, baby, guess what I figured today LOL. No lie... in ten minutes I did what used to take 8 hours. So I'm a little pumped up.

9e58d26ca6d0eb3636a2735953d59776.jpg


619f53fa3afe3c25d8696c931feec415.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This is God awful ugly correct? Be honest... lol... seriously though. The orange liner appeared brown ... I know I should have used better lighting. I'm not at all attached to it... really in a way I'm glad bec I practice important skills. Anyway... is there a resource on picking 3 or more colors that "go together". I understand the opposite side of color wheel deal for 2 colors but what about 3 or 4???
fa37429a0045fb75320bfb58c3a314a4.png

a124f9141df7e950499fa07c71dd112b.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
I like that design a lot. It is practical and elegant in its simplicity.

A grinder sure does lessen the grunt work, doesn't it? But it also illustrates what everyone has said since day 1: all the grinder does is hog off material. Hand sanding is where it's at for final fit and finish. As far as the liner colors, I like the combination. I also had a terrible time finding liners that are true to color. Aside from black and white, which are easy to find in fiber- but the liners in red, orange, etc- forget it. G10 liners are the only ones that are true to color that I've found. I did use some liners once made from a flimsy plastic. (felt like HDPE, which is milk jug plastic, but I don't really know) and it was disastrous. The grinder melted and smeared the material. After that ordeal I have stuck to fiber liners and the occasional G10. As a rule I don't like G10 in my shop. The health risks outweigh the usefulness to me, even running a dust collector and wearing a respirator.
 
Thanks John!! ... I like the way it feels in my hand also. You should copy it, I bet you could make it way better. Although I'm really going slow now and concentrating on details, so it may come out half way decent. Lol. Realizing that my grinder had a tool rest, has made a huge difference. I can square things up now. lol I'm so dumb.

My dad likes the colors as well ... I just think that the color in the liner clashes with the color of the wood. But again my wife likes the colors as well. Hmm ... I guess it's in the eye of the beholder.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
What I really envisioned for this knife was pastel colored handle prob blue with SS spacers. Sorta like a 60's muscle car /beach. Hence the name. What is the best option for this? Lots of cool colors that polish very well... there has to be some type of plastic or something, right? And to be clear, I mean scale material but could be used as space as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Kwzito, on your next one you should try to keep your grinding bevels a little forward of your handles, it doesn't look right with them going right to the front of the handles and actually looks like it could be kind of dangerous if your hand were to slip forward a little.
You could shorten the front of your handles at this point to make it look a little better but it may not feel right, I don't know.
I'm just throwing in a opinion here, I could be wrong. just trying to help out a little from what I can see in the pictures.
 
Kwzito, on your next one you should try to keep your grinding bevels a little forward of your handles, it doesn't look right with them going right to the front of the handles and actually looks like it could be kind of dangerous if your hand were to slip forward a little.
You could shorten the front of your handles at this point to make it look a little better but it may not feel right, I don't know.
I'm just throwing in a opinion here, I could be wrong. just trying to help out a little from what I can see in the pictures.

Hey you are definitely right.... I left it long because I know I can always take a little off. I was thinking on the end product I would prob take an eighth maybe 3/16 off of what's in the picture. But I do have a tendency to get close to the cutting edge.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It shouldn't be hard to find it or something similar, personally I don't like plastic looking stuff. I do like micarta and G10 though.
 
I think I rather this handle over the the first one I showed. Osage orange and Purple Heart with SS and black fiber spacers. I'm just about done with the blade. Gotta get me some hamon goop. What do you guys suggest I use?

aae84b5f12bdaa5ba797d2db25dcb738.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Okay so I'm done with the clever so im back on the Malibu skinner. Then I remembered that my sister needed one for her husband. So I guess he's getting the first Malibu lol. Anyway it is a different piece of steel with a slightly different design. Bolsters are 304 SS, handmade. I need to dress up the bolsters a bit more. Steel is D2, handle material is cocobolo. It's super orange in real life. Still have tons of work to do no doubt. I'm taking it all down and finishing (hand sanding) blade now. I just wanted to see what it would look like. lol. Let me know what y'all think. Thanks!
9b253a85e20548998a2e1b5f22b6f517.jpg
433a979f53336a477b908998f348ef60.jpg
a9e28e647e805be0f39e6cfeafda50d1.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
So I want you folks to know that I miss the days when I would I could post 40 update pics in a day lol. Now that I'm making knives on purpose lol it's taking me a bit longer. Anyway, I just wanted to show a little progress... it ain't too pretty, but again, I'm learning tons of new skills and loving every minute of it.
33182c9aa71e89c65aa066965e7a9312.png
8ab4501fc4647b1c27ff6072bad097ca.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This is ugly, correct? Should I push the plunge back a little or use longer scales? This is the one for brother in law (Father's Day). I haven't put in lanyard tube yet... and nothing is glued.

cd8fad00e96246db52f5011cb890327d.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
8fd2321f7cab2f93fe38c21852c899f3.jpg
 
Last edited:
Back
Top