Knife buildoff challenge discussion

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Matti, you have nailed that to a tee! I can't change my M.O. and I know that it has hurt me in vote getting down through the years in the BO's. But, I'd have to take drugs to inhibit myself on projects. So, not likely to happen.

At least I provide entertainment for those watchers in the early going! :bigsmile:
Haha I'd have to NOT take drugs to be as productive as youseguyz!:crazy: Hope I provide a bit of infotainment too!
 
The original goal was to make a double edge boot knife. One side ended up not looking right.
So kind of got a little bowie swoop.
& single edge.
Sometimes in art, the restrictions and the things that didn't go to plan lead to a better piece.

Now you have a unique knife that no one else has. Instead of another spear point boot knife.
 
Ran across this Bear & Son skinner while at hardware store today. Had to snag .
20210212_182959.jpg
 
Goodwill Hunting Knife

Just got home from visiting the Tandy Leather Co. shop in Tempe, AZ. It's kind of like a warehouse with an outlet store built in to it. Smelled great, all that leather. Found a sheath kit that I can sew up and also picked up a couple of stamps and a wooden mallet. The stamps are an oak leaf, I know not very desert like but will also be used in the BACK40 where oaks and other trees prevail; and another that will be used to trim the edge of the sheath.

I just bought a pound of leather scraps online, should be here in a few day. Hoping some of it will feature in the build off.
 
Thanks Lee.

I put a nice leather lanyard on the new blade.View attachment 151169
Reminds me of the Old Timer Sharpfinger, which has been on my knife list since forever.

1613520263153.png


It might be the only one on my knife list, because I only just realized I had a knife list.

I guess a Cold Steel Ti-Lite would be on there, and one of every number Opinel, I'd like another kukri in machete size since my last one went missing, a nice quality laguiole knife would be cool.., the condor bush cutlass is supposed to be a great machete by all accounts.

It's probably quite an extensive list now that I think about it. :bigsmile:
 
you know the screws that hold together chain rings on two or three cog cranks? I'd like to bolt my knife together with those. I'd like that they are a bike part, and seeing through the bolts would be cool. Thoughts? Are hollow bolts like that made for anything else?
 

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Found this old dog in the garage when I moved into my place a few years back. I could redo it, the stacked leather handle is rock hard, and the blade is pretty rough, but I kinda like the look. I keep it in a cardboard and tape sheath, but green tape, because I'm classy.
IMG_20210216_161246847.jpg
 
Found this old dog in the garage when I moved into my place a few years back. I could redo it, the stacked leather handle is rock hard, and the blade is pretty rough, but I kinda like the look. I keep it in a cardboard and tape sheath, but green tape, because I'm classy.
View attachment 151340
I say don't touch that one. Except maybe a new edge and a clean.

Awesome, but they're not exactly rare. Some stalls at flea markets will have boxes of them (they always seem to know the nice versions and price them more than I'd pay). And there are some quite cheaply made ones out there, with extremely thin tangs.

So, if you have a cheap one you won't be able to do much with it to make it real good, and if you have a nice one you should oil it and leave it as is until the handle rots off.

If you look at the bottom of the pommel you should see a peened tang poking through. That'll tell you how thick it is under the leather.
If the pommel is threaded on instead of peened, that could be a bad sign. Might mean that the tang is a rod welded on just below the blade.

Now's the time for an actual knife expert to come along and say that that is the excellent original that all the flea market knives were trying to copy.
 
you know the screws that hold together chain rings on two or three cog cranks? I'd like to bolt my knife together with those. I'd like that they are a bike part, and seeing through the bolts would be cool. Thoughts? Are hollow bolts like that made for anything else?
Ian, you can find similar bolts at your local hardware store, and in smaller diameters that might be a better fit for a knife handle. And that is a COOL idea!

BlaDe oN~!
 
If you look at the bottom of the pommel you should see a peened tang poking through. That'll tell you how thick it is under the leather.
If the pommel is threaded on instead of peened, that could be a bad sign. Might mean that the tang is a rod welded on just below the blade.
Neither. The pommel has a silver pin through it to hold it in place, visible in the photo. I assume that because there's enough tang for a fairly large pin, it's decent sized.
Perhaps I'll rub some oil on the steel, give it a little shine... As for the edge, I put that dirty grind on there myself. :blush:
 
you know the screws that hold together chain rings on two or three cog cranks? I'd like to bolt my knife together with those. I'd like that they are a bike part, and seeing through the bolts would be cool. Thoughts? Are hollow bolts like that made for anything else?
I've seen similar setups used on knives before, maybe if you look up knife making supplies online.
 
Neither. The pommel has a silver pin through it to hold it in place, visible in the photo. I assume that because there's enough tang for a fairly large pin, it's decent sized.
Perhaps I'll rub some oil on the steel, give it a little shine... As for the edge, I put that dirty grind on there myself. :blush:
I see it now. I took the pin to be just a reflection at first glance.
 
Goodwill Hunting Knife
Opened up the Tandy Leather Co. sheath kit this morning and got a start on it. First thing I did was a 'dry fit' of my blade in the sheath. A little tight, so I did what I'd been thinking of doing anyway, and took the sharp corner off the back end of the blade. Has better flow now, and less of a 'cleaver' kind of look.

151235958_838771403338870_5846430994565658934_n.jpg
151224168_701630157195028_1112552824398401548_n.jpg


I used some virgin olive oil to darken or 'patina' the veg-tanned leather. Then grabbed the stamps I had purchased at Tandy and the wooden mallet, and embossed some design onto the sheath.
151609801_174780237751279_1484798187431774444_n.jpg


151201374_237824607881119_3703360559650426963_n.jpg



You can see the original color on the right, which will be the inside of the sheath, and then what happened after I applied about 3 coats of oil to the leather on the left.

151191119_2761108910872592_3667817281708100786_n.jpg


I found that I needed about a dozen strikes with the mallet to get an impression on the leather that was deep enough to be seen. In the photo above, I had only hit it about 6 or 7 times. Here are the pieces drying in the sun. The oiled leather lightens as it dries, so I will likely add more this afternoon.

151527207_285358156271565_7793456662996151858_n.jpg


151863037_426745221967736_7822449123198645328_n.jpg
 
Goodwill Hunting Knife
Opened up the Tandy Leather Co. sheath kit this morning and got a start on it. First thing I did was a 'dry fit' of my blade in the sheath. A little tight, so I did what I'd been thinking of doing anyway, and took the sharp corner off the back end of the blade. Has better flow now, and less of a 'cleaver' kind of look.

View attachment 151359View attachment 151358

I used some virgin olive oil to darken or 'patina' the veg-tanned leather. Then grabbed the stamps I had purchased at Tandy and the wooden mallet, and embossed some design onto the sheath.
View attachment 151360

View attachment 151361


You can see the original color on the right, which will be the inside of the sheath, and then what happened after I applied about 3 coats of oil to the leather on the left.

View attachment 151362

I found that I needed about a dozen strikes with the mallet to get an impression on the leather that was deep enough to be seen. In the photo above, I had only hit it about 6 or 7 times. Here are the pieces drying in the sun. The oiled leather lightens as it dries, so I will likely add more this afternoon.

View attachment 151363

View attachment 151364
Looks good. It's easier to work leather on a granite slab, but obviously not necessary.
 

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