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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 07-01-2011, 10:30 PM
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ckluftinger ckluftinger is offline
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Letter Opener

This is a letter opener I made for my mother's 76th birthday - I was going to make her a BIG bowie, but well, what's an elderly lady going to do with a fighting knife anyway... this is much more appropriate.
Forged from W-1 with stainless bolster and butt cap. The grip is turned Wenge finished with tung oil and wax, green alabaster, black leather and steel spacers. The little presentation box is walnut. Thanks to Cal Ganshorn at least my pictures are improving...
Hope you like it.

[IMG]Photobucket[/IMG]

[IMG]Photobucket[/IMG]


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Last edited by ckluftinger; 07-01-2011 at 10:37 PM.
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Old 07-02-2011, 08:16 AM
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Elegant, yet functional. Very nice!


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Old 07-02-2011, 08:28 PM
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Wow! And with a presentation box yet, really cool! I do have one comment though and that is about the filework. It looks great just as it is but I see that you followed the basic Vine style but that you didn't finish it up in the usual manner. Again, that's fine if you meant to do it that way but I met another fellow once who did the same thing on his first effort but he didn't realize there was more that could be done. So, here is a pic of some mediocre filework I did, one which is vine and another that is an offshoot of vine. The difference from yours is the rounded corners which help to emphasize the organic nature of an actual vine. If I've put my foot in it then I hope you'll just ignore me .....



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Old 07-03-2011, 10:31 AM
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Not at all, Ray, that's awesome! I have been wondering how to get a better flow in the vine - I thought it was the thickness of the spine which made it look kind of scrawny, but now I can see it's the actual shape. Thanks for sharing that! I will save your picture and print it out. Another challenge I have is getting a "natural" looking start and finish of the vine, like a base and a point which is not easy to do and still get some sort of symmetry.


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Old 07-03-2011, 10:56 AM
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BTW there are two other lessons I learned from this project: Wenge is a nice wood, but not ideal for knife handles, especially if it's a working knife: Wenge has large pores, like sandal wood which could trap dirt and bacteria - maybe stabilizing would help - and alabaster is nice on a decorative or light duty piece like this one, but I wouldn't use it on a working knife. Too soft.


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Old 07-03-2011, 11:07 AM
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All you have to do to finish out your vine is knock off each of the corners along the outer edges, you're almost there. The long narrow one in my picture is only 3/32" and required the use of smaller files.

Yes, porous wood is not ideal on knives that really get used. I always prefer stabilized woods, especially on kitchen knives...


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Old 07-04-2011, 06:38 AM
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Greets from Bavaria

Hi Chris,
I like it very well, with the file work has been right Ray, but still very good job. I also have a piece wenge from an old wooden floor, sometimes one must attempt to make it for a handle. Alabaster is very soft but has a good Ausdrucj and he fits into the work.

Reguards
Andy


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