Burl GX6 - For the BOOK!

[SharpByCoop]

Guys,

Dennis Greenbaum and Dr. David Darom are collaborating on finishing '100 Custom Knives in the Making'. Dennis approached me with a chance to take over a spot that was unfilled. "We would like to show a nice kit knife in this book, also." Would I consider? "By the way, you have three weeks to do it all...! "

Anyway, I don't know when to say no, and this was a chance for something VERY special, so I signed up for the spot.

Let's look now:



More views:



I don't know what kind of wood this is. All I know I bought it at an ABS hammer-in and it's lovely. I have done a number of these GX6 daggers, so I am getting fairly good with them. One of the things I concentrate on is really embellishing the sharp bevels and angles around the bolster and tail. I also ground more hourglass curve into the profile.

All of the liners and edges have been high polished with a buffer, but I gave the face of the bolster a satin 400-grit finish. The blade is polished like a mirror! (carefully!)

Red party-plate liners accent the scales. I love fixed-blade knives with a swell in the handle. Why not my folder? I purposely cut the scales thick and tapered them down, but taking a tip from a chute knife, I carved the wood from the flat bolster up to the curve of the scale. It feels SOOOO good in your hands at the fingertips! Hard to see the profile in all the shots, but they are there.

I carried the wood into the backspacer and fabricated it also.

Nipped the tips off the thumbstuds for grip. Lastly, I made sure I beveled ALL my screw holes. One of my pet peeves on ANY custom are unchamfered bores.

No filework on this one, as I ran out of deadline time, and I was pleased enough.

In the book are a short series of build shots as I took in-progress photos. I have about 40 images I started with. Tough to cull out the best.

I am pleased. It's a colorful one!

Coop

[Darrel Ralph]

Coop,
What is the wood?
That is very impressive!!!

[Osprey Guy]

Coop-

You've been away from making kits for awhile...A lot of the newer guys around here might not be aware of just how good you are...Well this'll sure let 'em know!!!

Like all of your knives, this is soooooo clean! Love the wood (and the wood backspine)...love all the perfectly executed bevels...and I love the bright red spacers (gotta dig those disposable plastic plates).

Really fantastic job...and on such short notice! I've seen you're in-progress shots...and your spread is sure to be a stunner!


Dennis Greenbaum

[justice]

dam!!!! coop
absolutly beutifull work.everything about this kit is stunning!!

is the wood stabilized? and did you use the stand offs with the back spacer? meening did you press fit the original stand offs in the wood backspacer for more stability?

nice work coop!!


......justin

[SVanderkolff]

Very nice, tje wood looks like olive wood. I like the wood back spacer, never would have thought to do that.
Thanks
Steve

[Jimbo]

WOW Excellent work. It gives us all something to shoot for.

[BrB]

I have a set of spalted elm that looks exacly like the wood on the kit. Nice to have you on the book Jim! Veri nice looking folder.

[SharpByCoop]

Hi Guys,

Thank you all...! Hmmmm, spalted elm or olivewood? It's a mystery. What's important is how nice it looks!

Justin: I think the wood is stabilized. I got it from a wood vendor. I don't remember, but the four sides were nicely polished to show how nice it would look. No, I didn't press any of the standoffs into it. I drilled an accurate and tight set of holes and sanded my wood backspacer width EXACTLY to the standoff spacers width. IT has a firm surface from the blade to the butt. I'll bet it has more support than those standoffs.

Coop

[cwp]

Coop,

That is a pretty knife. This has me wanting the new book even more.

I had the same thought on olive. Hard to tell for sure though. Go to http://www.bethlehemolivewood.net/Spindl64.jpg to see some different pics of olive.

--Carl

[justice]

if the wood is stabilized it should not be a problem.
i was just thinnkin about warpage.

................justin

[BMiller]

Coop, I like it!

Can you give us some techical expertise on how you do a couple of things? I've got two GX6's on the desk complete minus a thumbgroove I wanted to add. One of them has the same swell you have but I like how you did the oblong shape of the flat spot. My question is about the bevels. What tool and method are you using? Do you finish the top side and then do the bevel last? I use the horizontal grinder from knifekits for the sides and I find the bolster and liners blend into looking like one piece when I'm done. I like that too. The bolster corners are hard to do so they end up polished with the buffer. Should I now take a small flat file, wrap my sandpaper around it and accent the bevels? What's your method?

Did you use tung oil or a polytype finish?

Dennis - I was thinking about the book the other day. When is it due to be available?

Bill

[SharpByCoop]

Hi Bill,

Without diluting all that this next book is going to show us, I will post the images I took of my in-build process. I have not given them captions, so you will have to use your imagination as to what is going on. Some are abundantly clear.

Here are 50+ images

http://www.fototime.com/inv/DE52FBC54339CCB

To answer your question directly, I also use the horizontal grinder and do the profile first, the sides next and the bevels last. I did these by hand, but in one shot you can see the angle plate I made which helps the process when you have parallel scales. These were so fat I had to cut them down and then I lost the parallel sides anyway, so I did them by hand on the 1x30 Kalamazoo. Clear as mud...

For the photos I had rubbed a furniture oil on the scales.

Coop

[Osprey Guy]

Bill-

Thanks for asking about the book, and I don't mean to be hijaking Coop's thread,...but since he's in the book I figure it's OK.

Keep in mind that these books are a huge undertaking. And this third book has far more makers participating than the first two books. With 100 makers, 100 knife-related projects and roughly 16 photos per project, and a sizeable "editorial" front section of the book,...there are nearly 2000 images that have to be edited. And a heck of a lot of text. My partner (Dr. David Darom) is the one responsible for all that work and it's a massive undertaking requiring a herculaean effort on his part (he has to take off work as the head of a large department at the University in order to make time for the book).

From Day 1, the new book (still working on the final title) has always been scheduled to premier at the 2006 Blade show. Judging from the sales of the first two books, and the buzz on this one, they'll go fast once they're made available at the show and several dealers (to be announced).


Dennis Greenbaum

[Andrew Cutt]

Almost looks like desert ironwood to me. Whatever it is it is one BEAUTIFUL knife!

[casper]

that is a real beauty Coop. Nice knife

Casper