WIP on two new designs
- Thread starter Von Gruff
- Start date
Von Gruff
KNIFE MAKER
I use a slice of 2 inch pipe to mark out the curve and a 2 inch sanding mandrel I made for the drill press to sand the inside curve, the outside curve on the handle scale is cut on the bandsaw and hand fitted first on the belt grinder and then finished with files.
Von Gruff
KNIFE MAKER
I should have taken a few pics of the process but I use a small spring clamp to hold the buffalo horn to the tang and mark one pin location using the 3/32 drill bit in the pres. Remove the horn from the tang and drill it through then rub the back of the horn on 100 grit sandpaper to remove the chip out on the back of the hole. Return it to the tang with a hold pin. (my hold pins are simply steel nails sanded down till they are a smooth slip fit in the pin hole) With one pin in place I can make sure the horn is correctly aligned and mark the second hole. The drill and sand routine is repeated.
Now with 2 hold pins in place I can mark and drill the third hole and when the back side has been cleaned off I can return it to the tang and scribe the top and bottom lines which gives me a "square" to place the slice of 2 inch pipe on to mark the front and rear curves. When the four lines (profile and curve) are cut on the bandsaw I can then do the clamp, mark and drill to the second piece of horn using the first as a template and with its lines bandsawn the two can be hold pinned together to sand and polish the front of the bolster curve, while the rear inside curve is left as it comes off the 60 grit paper on the drill press mandrel. They are now a mirror image of each other and in the case of having and order for a pair of knives(as is the case this time) with this treatment I can use one bolster as a template for the curves placement for the second knife
Now with 2 hold pins in place I can mark and drill the third hole and when the back side has been cleaned off I can return it to the tang and scribe the top and bottom lines which gives me a "square" to place the slice of 2 inch pipe on to mark the front and rear curves. When the four lines (profile and curve) are cut on the bandsaw I can then do the clamp, mark and drill to the second piece of horn using the first as a template and with its lines bandsawn the two can be hold pinned together to sand and polish the front of the bolster curve, while the rear inside curve is left as it comes off the 60 grit paper on the drill press mandrel. They are now a mirror image of each other and in the case of having and order for a pair of knives(as is the case this time) with this treatment I can use one bolster as a template for the curves placement for the second knife
Von Gruff
KNIFE MAKER
The handles are shaped and finished but unfortunately the swamp kauri handles on the pair of Old Western skinners were less than I anticipated so will remove them and start again. They were for a special order of "something fancy" for a father and son but have given him some nice other wood options.
Waiting for him to get back to me on his choice
Leopardwood is one of the options he has asked about
Some eucalyptus root I stabilised a few weeks back
The eucalyptus was rather plain but was one I did to keep as a sample
This is the pocket ranger with a cherrywood handle and again will be a sample of the style.
Working on some sheaths at the moment with the handle material for the others in this batch arrives in the next couple of weeks with both a traditional vertical sheath and the 45* cross draw for the pocket ranger in a similar style to the full size J T Ranger
Waiting for him to get back to me on his choice
Leopardwood is one of the options he has asked about
Some eucalyptus root I stabilised a few weeks back
The eucalyptus was rather plain but was one I did to keep as a sample
This is the pocket ranger with a cherrywood handle and again will be a sample of the style.
Working on some sheaths at the moment with the handle material for the others in this batch arrives in the next couple of weeks with both a traditional vertical sheath and the 45* cross draw for the pocket ranger in a similar style to the full size J T Ranger
Von Gruff
KNIFE MAKER
Thanks OP. I did use a router table and a pattern piece to do grip caps for the rifle stocks I was making but it is a lot of trouble to set up and there is a certain amount of danger working with high speed bits and small pieces so the way I do it is the quickest, safest and most accurate way that I have found (to date).