I had to learn a number of new things for this one...

Tiger Coral (I ground this too short by accident but made up the difference with spacers) with "Tuf Tex" (carbon fiber) & Vulcanized red spacer all dovetailed (the toughest part of this knife for me) . Set tables on 1"x30" belt sander/5"disc sander to 45 degrees and kept it there for all pieces. Hand sanded everything for better fit.

Backspacer from 440C-Blanchard ground to 5/32" per instructions-turns out that unlike the other kits, the DDRII takes a 1/8" (4/32") backspacer-I found out the hard way and had to take it down from .155" to .13" which is close enough to 1/8"...this took many hours of hand sanding. Started backspacer with Dremel but switched to files for cleanup. Drilled screw holes with my new Drill Press (8" Delta)-worked great!

Overall, I'm thrilled with this knife. Has created a lot of excitement amongst friends and acquaintences! Can't wait to get started on my next.

Dennis
(I hope this posts)

http://a3.cpimg.com/image/4D/13/10269773-87c9-024001B0-.jpg


I'll try and get backspacer shot posted ASAP.(I'll try and get a better shot of this)

http://a3.cpimg.com/image/6F/1C/10270063-f2dd-01F8017A-.jpg

Nice work, Dennis! Good pics, too.

Great Job Dennis.

Aren't those stainless spacers fun? !

That knife really turn out nice, for starting from a mistake.

Bob Sigmon

Very nice knife! Excellent pictures, and great save of the tiger coral!

Hail to the CHIEF!!! :D

Dennis, that is OUTSTANDING work! I love the material selection, and the usage of both handle materials. That is a lot of individual part fitments going on with the red spacers and all the joints. Whew!!!

And then you take it even further with some very well done filework. That's a great pattern! All-in-all it's a masterpiece. You need to be proud! I'd be.

Thanks for the post! Now you got me thinkin' once again... ;)

Coop

Dennis
Great work!
On the backspine for the ddr2. The size needs to be .138 thick.
This stock can be found at most supply houses
as percision gound OVERSIZE 1/8 material.
The mills make oversize stock in most sizes!
It is .015 oversize in thickness. this would put you at .140 having to remove only .002.

Great work!

Back again. The more I see it the more I like it. :D I want you to get a lighted shot of the carbon fiber and blade, and give us a rundown of the work done to the blade and bolsters.

I edited your pics to diplay in the post. If they don't show up for anyone let me know. It works for me right now.

Coop

I swear I have seen custom knives that dont even come close to the work the folks on this forum have created!

Coop-
YOU CAUGHT ME! Actually, the truth is I'm not done yet. I felt compelled to jump the gun and show the knife as is.

So far I've done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to the bolster and blade!!!
However...I'm going to try and get the thumbstud off using Darrel's heat trick, then continue the filework onto the blade and mirror finish.

Don't get me wrong, I love the knive as it is now (I've always been partial to the beadblast), but this knife is begging for something to be done with the blade.

Give me a few days...we'll see how I do.

Dennis

PS Thanks for the kind words. This was a real education and I loved every minute!

PPS I'll get back to you with the details, but gotta run.

Good Job.
The tiger coral sets it off.
Keep up the good work.

Stunning piece of work Dennis. I want to see what happens to the blade :)

Roger

Roger-
Thanks! If you want to see what I did to the blade you need look no further than my post from last night "update to my Coral DDR-II".

The photos were taken in kind of a hurry (I was outside trying to catch the sun before it went down) but I think they're good enough for you to get the idea.

Dennis