WIPstagram - American Tanto progress

[Erin Burke]

A few more photos for today.



PHOTO 33 (Milling)
I don’t know why, but I really like this image.

Milling the guard/tsuba. In this photo, I have already milled the slot, and am now taking the guard down to the correct thickness. A smart person would have reversed this order of operations. :les:

Oftentimes I'll use a shop vac to clear chips when milling, but today I'm blowing with the compressor.




PHOTO 34 (Disc)

A quick touch of the tsuba against the disc grinder to remove marks from milling.

My in-laws gave me that genuine alpaca hat for Christmas. Boom.
Hey!... Would somebody empty the garbage already?.?...




PHOTO 35 (Fit)

Here, I am slowly adjusting the fit-up of the guard slot with small files. The tang is coated with Sharpie so I can see where things are tight. (see next photo)

PHOTO 36 (Tight)

Here is a better shot showing where the guard/tsuba is tight against the tang. This gives me some idea where I need to do more filing in the slot.

PHOTO 37 (X’s and Y’s)

For embellishment, I drew an arrangement of three holes along one quadrant of the guard. I spent a long time dragging circles around in CAD to come up with these location, so I’ve got my heart set on making sure that they end up in the rights spot.

I have glued a copy of my guard template in place with spray adhesive – did I mention that I hate spray adhesive? – aligning the front and rear centerlines with scribed centerlines on the guard blank.

In this photo, I have placed a drillbit into the chuck backwards, and am using it to establish X & Y coordinates on my DRO display. Once I have all of the coordinates written down, I will flip the drill bit back around and make holes. This order of operation negates any error due to slippage or mangling of the paper template once I begin drilling.




PHOTO 38 (Abrasives)

More grinding to the lines.

(More to follow)

 

[Justin Presson]

You have all the cool toys. Looking good

 

[Mark Behnke]

I'm learning and having fun at the same time imagine that!
Sequence is a big problem for me not that it is for you but I feel better now that you mentioned it.
Overwhelming amount of content, anxiously waiting for more.

 

[slatroni]

Dude, just checked out your gallery! You got mad skills!

 

[BonhamBlades]

that is a fun WIP

 

[stezann]

Thank you Erin! Craftmanship, design, pictures, explanations and sense of humor are top quality in your wip's!!

 

[Erin Burke]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

You have all the cool toys. Looking good

It's true... I have been blessed in many ways, including number and coolness of toys. :thumbup:
My current challenge is to finish and sell a few knives so I can buy an optic for my new AR.:happy: My wife is a saint.

Sequence is a big problem for me not that it is for you but I feel better now that you mentioned it.

This is why it takes me forever to build anything... I have to think through steps and plan over the course of days before I feel comfortable approaching the equipment and materials. :les:

Dude, just checked out your gallery! You got mad skills!

Thanks dude. I'm always hoping to see improvement with each project... and fingers are crossed that this knife trends that way. :3:


Erin

 

[Erin Burke]

PHOTO 39 (Lovely)

There's something quite lovely about freshly milled copper. I have a large plate of this stuff and nibble pieces off as necessary.

When preparing blocks for spacers, I find it is best to leave them oversized… especially in the front and back. This allows more flexibility when milling and fitting the slot.




PHOTO 40 (Guidelines)

Here I have laid down some guide lines for milling the slot in the copper spacer block.

In a pinch, huge Sharpies make an awesome (rapidly deployable) substitute for Dykem. Not sure whether I’ve mention it before, but every shop should have a height gage and granite surface plate (or two). :thumbup:




PHOTO 41 (First Trial Fit)

The spacer block has been milled, filed and hammer-fit into place. This is very snug and will need to be tapped back off with a wood block and small hammer.

As mentioned earlier, the spacer block still has extra meat in the front and back.





PHOTO 42 (Taking to Shape)

In this photo, I've {carefully} ground to the template lines. I started at about 50 grit and progressed through an A45 trizact. Pictured is a cheap 220 grit belt.

PHOTO 43 (Peen or Pein)

We go through all this trouble with scribes, templates and stencils to get cleanness, symmetry and precision... then we beat on it to give it texture and character. :34:

Here I'm peening the edge to get a slightly raised lip around the front and back faces of the tsuba. This has the added benefit of leaving a pleasant dimpled texture along the edge.

You’ll note yet another appearance by my patented multi-function wood devices. These exact blocks have been used on nearly every knife out of my shop. Right now they are being deployed in a vertical clamping configuration. Incidentally, these revolutionary and historic blocks can be yours for a one-time payment of $389.98… and incredible value. But wait… if you order now, I will autograph these very blocks and ship at no additional cost. :thumbup1: :53:





PHOTO 44 (Groovy)

This little montage shows how I add a groove to the spacer.

In the upper left corner, I have measured the edges of the groove shown on my sketch, and am transferring the info as lines to the rough spacer. I darkened the edges of the copper using a large black sharpie to provide contrast; and have scribed three lines... bottom of groove, top of groove and middle of groove.

At the upper right, I am cutting in a starter groove along the center scribed line. I'm using a diamond wheel on my little mill.

The lower left shows the spacer as viewed through a magnifying light. I don't actually use this magnifier, but instead use one of those cheap magnifying visors from Harbor Freight. Lower right shows that... sort of.

Cutting in the groove with files probably took about an hour, with about another half hour required to clean it up with fine sandpaper wrapped around the shaft of a center punch.



(More to follow)

 

[Erin Burke]

PHOTO 45 (Frame)

I selected a block of stabilized Karelian Birch (from Mark at Burl Source) for the handle because I think it will look good with the copper and the black frame & wrap. Mark had quite a bit of this wood for sale a few years back… I bought three blocks, but wish I had gotten more. It’s one of those woods that looks OK in pictures, but is way more attractive in-hand. Karelian Birch doesn’t really have any chatoyance, but has this odd-but-cool butterscotch feel in person. :63: <--- using this emoticon because, hey, if I don't who will..?..

Due to the frame construction, I had to split* the block in half and sand things flat. (Edit: "split", not "spit"... though that would be cool...)

It is important that all components are FLAT... completely. I rough-flatten the pieces on a small disc sander, but follow up with paper on a surface plate. I don't take the grit too fine, as I want to allow for a good epoxy bond later.




PHOTO 46 (Stick It)

To ensure a clean fit, I'm gluing the handle together in stages. First, I glued the frame to one of the scales using Acraglas. I’m kind of anal about my epoxy mix, so the resin and hardener are blended by weight in a tiny plastic cup on a small digital scale. :shush:

Once dry, I mounted the block in my mill, and created some pockets for epoxy to settle into for final glue-up.

Next (not shown) I trimmed carefully around the frame on my bandsaw, then (even more carefully) sanded scale #1 close to flush with the G10.




PHOTO 47 (Clamps)

Here we have it clamped up to glue on the other scale.

It's important to have enough epoxy to bond the scale to frame completely... but I need to avoid too much spill into the internal cavity, as I still need to be able to slide the tang in there.

PHOTO 48 (Test Fit)

Here is the first test fit of all of the handle components. This is where we check to make sure all mating faces are dialed-in and there are no gaps. Overall, things look really good. :thumbup1:

PHOTO 49 (Draw)

Drawing the temper WAY back on the tang.

When doing this, I pinch the blade between my bare fingers (near the "WATER HERE" arrow in the photo), and start heating at the tip of the tang with my torch. As I walk the heat up the tang, my fingers start to develop this uncomfortable burning sensation :52:... at which time I submerge the blade up to the choil area (to avoid destroying the edge temper) and continue applying heat. I like to walk the heat coloring just forward of the area where the guard will sit.





PHOTO 50 (Get a Grip)

The handle on this knife will have the physical support of a pin combined with an Acraglas bed. In previous photos, I showed some of the mods that were made to the handle and G10 frame to give the epoxy some bite… here, I am giving some teeth to the tang.

Before drawing back the temper, the tang would have scoffed at this bandsaw blade, but now it slices like butter. The softer tang will also make the eventual drilling of the pin hole easier.


So, for the first time in this thread, the pictures are caught up to my progress in real time. :confused2: Now what are we going to do???:34:

This weekend I'd like to get some hand sanding done on the blade... but I have family coming into town from the other side of the state, so we'll see how that works out. :57:

(More to follow...)

 

[Justin Presson]

Looking awesome and you got a few more laughs out of me

 

[Mark Behnke]

Enjoying the filters, makes me want to go to the shop. In the morning.

 

[wall e]

Beautiful choices to filter out 97% more lead and hard water from your pic. Anxious to see the whole knife.

 

[stezann]

It is coming out beautiful... pictures, humor and knife altogether!! :63:

 

[dkemppai]

Wow very nice! Great detail in the pictures!

Dan

 

[JawJacker]

 

[Erin Burke]

Thanks guys... I'll try to keep this going.

View attachment 53873

Now that was funny.


The last weeks have been a loss for knifemaking. As mentioned in the last installment, my family was in town for Valentine’s Day weekend, making it near impossible to spend any time in the shop. But that’s OK… I DID get to celebrate my daughter's birthday AND go shooting with my dad. :gunsmilie:

That’s his wispy gray head.

The following series of photos will be boring. This part of the project involves work (trial & error) and stress, with very little to show for it. :25:



PHOTO 51 (Shinogi-Ji)

Because this blade is so thin, it will be a real challenge to keep the bevel ridge (shinogi) crisp.

Here I have started hand-sanding, but you can see how the longitudinal strokes with paper and sanding sticks really begin to blur the transition. This is going to be a bear moving forward. :51:




PHOTO 52 (Kiss of the Disc)

While hand-sanding can cause blurring of the grind line, a kiss with the disc grinder seems to bring it back. :clap:

I’m out of paper towels.




PHOTO 53 (Reflections – they mean nothing)

By now I have hand sanded to a relatively clean 2500 grit. The fine grit pattern runs longitudinally… but the shinogi (grind line is still mildly muddy).

PHOTO 54 (The Problem)

A simple illustration of the problem.

PHOTO 55 (Hamon)

A couple photos showing some items used to start bringing out the hamon.

On the left you'll see a bowl of warm vinegar (with a few drops of dish soap) and a folded paper towel. Warm vinegar seems to work a bit faster, and the soap helps break up the surface tension so the vinegar will flow more evenly across the steel when wiped on with the paper towel. This process leaves the surface looking nasty (not shown).

On the right is a jar with some loose abrasive. After rinsing the vinegar from the blade in the sink, I work the abrasive with my thumbs to "exfoliate" the ugly etch and bring out the hamon. :shush:




PHOTO 56 (Bio-hydraulic Paper Buff)

Let's lay out the plan.

The Task: to bring out distinction and clarity in the three areas of the blade... ji (bevel), shinogi-ji (flat) and kissaki... OR to create crisp transitions (shinogi & yokote)

Here is my BIG IDEA for an order of operations:

1. Use buffing compound on paper to give a unique look to edge bevels. In my limited experience, I've noticed that green compound can give a darker distant look to the surface and hamon, which may work well for the kissaki area.
2. Mask kissaki at yokote and re-work loose abrasive into main bevel area. This should open the bevel back up and give a lively hamon, while creating a distinct separation at the yokote.
3. Sand flats to 3000 grit. This should be the final step that nails a clean shinogi line.

Seems like it should do something… right?

Here's a photo of me hand-buffing with a sanding stick. :Idea:

PHOTO 57 (Buff – Part Deux)

Tools for experimental paper buff.

In this photo you can see my sanding stick, some green buffing compound, and a folded piece of paper that has been impregnated with compound. :20: Toward the right-hand side of the photo you can see the portion of paper that has already been used.





PHOTO 58 (Yokote)

Because of the long kissaki, variance in geometry at the yokote is so minimal as to be almost nonexistent. To emphasize the transition, I'm attempting to employ two different finish polishes masked cleanly from each other. Here I've taped the kissaki and will be attacking the ji (primary bevel) again with loose abrasive powder.

Finally… in a photograph untaken… I did some final sanding strokes of the blade flats with 3000-grit paper AND…








… everything sucked. :sad:

The ridgeline (shinogi) transition is just not popping like it should. One side turned out OK at best, while the other side had areas where the 3000-grit paper made incidental rub marks over the line. Unacceptable.

I need to reevaluate my process to get this as clean as I want it. I’ve heard of some folks using fine stones to for final finishing. Does anyone have recommendations on some decent stones for this? I’m thinking something like 800, 1500, & 2500 equivalents.



Had to go make some holes in paper on Saturday... you know, to make myself feel better.

(More to follow... assuming I can come up with some high-grit stones or another bright idea.)

 

[slatroni]

Recoil always makes everything better.

 

[dkemppai]

Recoil always makes everything better.

It brings testosterone levels up too!

 

[stezann]

yes stones seems the way to go...but i bet it would be better 2000-5000-8000. Anyway - iirc - Pavel Bolf had some youtube vids about yokote

 

[Mark Behnke]

Mason jars in the shed, guns in the woods, no problem.
As far as stones go, you got'um, using your wifes blue willow.
Trouble!