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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 01-14-2014, 03:19 PM
Hurley Hurley is offline
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Need ideas on how to do something please

With all the knife making knowledge floating around this forum, this should be an easy one for a few of you, me, not so much......lol. Anyhow, for Christmas I received two damascus bowies without handles. They needed a guard to, so I ordered a 12" piece of .50" brass to make some. These are pretty husky knives.

It gets tricky here because all of the youtube tuts I saw used a milling machine to cut the 3/16 slot for the blade. I don't have access to a milling machine and I don't really want to pay to have them milled. I tried drilling them out; however, I couldn't drill the holes close enough without the bit wandering into the previous hole. I did buy a set of metal reciprocating saw blades, but I'm not sure I can cut a 3/16 slot with them.

Anywho, included with the knife picture (I have 2 of them, but since they're identical) are a few other shots of some new equipment in my shop. They were on the disk, so I thought I'd put them out there.






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Old 01-14-2014, 03:53 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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First thing take note of the fact that you are trying to do this by hand and without a mill. Acknowledge the reality of that and dump that half inch thick brass. Replace it with some 3/16 and give yourself a fighting chance.

You're going to need a #14 drill in screw machine length - this is a short, stiff drill about 5 thou smaller than the slot you want to make. These drills can be had from MSC or Enco or any machinist supply you might have if you live in a big city area, you will not be likely to find them at Home Depot or Ace.

Drill your series of holes but make sure they do not overlap, leave a web of metal between the holes. Then, a Dremel or similar tool - or, in a pinch, maybe even your drill press - with an aggressive burr or small end mill cutter or a RotoZip side cutting bit can be used to cut through the web. After that, a good sharp file can clean up the slot and open it up that last 5 thou until it fits. Yes, its a lot of very hard work, that's why us lazy types buy mills....


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Old 01-14-2014, 04:28 PM
Hurley Hurley is offline
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My mistake Ray, the bar is 1/4" thick. Dremel sounds pretty good after I drill some holes, but I think the only cutting blade for I have for it is drywall. I'll go see MSC for a price. Thanks!


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Old 01-14-2014, 05:35 PM
jemoran jemoran is offline
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Hurley,
If your drill bit is wandering, you might make a drill guide from a piece of steel. Cut your piece of brass so that the slot is parallel with the vice jaws not perpendicular. With the piece of steel flat against the vice jaw drill your first hole thru the steel and brass at the same time. Slide the guide down, keeping it against the solid jaw and proceed as Ray has described.

John
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Old 01-14-2014, 05:37 PM
jmccustomknives jmccustomknives is offline
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I don't own a milling machine. I'll scribe a line, drill small holes, then step up in bit size. After that, a lot of filing. The end goal is to have it so tight in tolerance that you don't need to fill in any gaps because there aren't any. Also, for a knife like those I would drill and pin, but since they are already heat treated you probably can't do that.
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Old 01-14-2014, 06:20 PM
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Fulmaduro Fulmaduro is offline
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Keith, 1/4" sounds a hell of a lot better than 1/2", but still making a slot without a mill is one of the most time consuming and patience trying experiences one can have.

You need a good small square needle file, a good small round needle file, and a small flat rectangular one (forgot name) to remove the metal remaining between the drilled holes and on the ends of the slot. Very labor intensive and time consuming. Took me 2 hours a night for 5 days to file out the slot on a 1/2" piece of bronze for a Puuko knife guard. My dog knows Marines are very impatient people and she heard a slew of colorful words and phrases during those 5 nights! I was even sweating at times in 60F temps!

Just be patient and take your time. If you remove too much metal you have to start over. Remember think quality and high fit and finish standards. You will have to remove the guard from your vise numerous times and check the fit.

I found some great new Grobet square and round needle files on Ebay for $4.00 each, and some round Nicholson chainsaw files at Ace, but they are probably too big for your needs. The small rectangular file was a diamond one from Jantz. Below is the link for the pics of this guard and knife, still not completed.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/93oe5r0y976436g/7kjxv-p3Tk

Tony Z
Kansas City, MO


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Old 01-14-2014, 06:20 PM
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GHEzell GHEzell is offline
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My method, for what it is worth, is to drill two undersized holes corresponding to the width of the tang. I use a jeweler's saw to remove the material in between, then finalize the slot with needle files, constantly checking the fit until it is just barely big enough for the tang to fit through. Take your time, get it just right, and no gap will be visible.


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Old 01-14-2014, 10:16 PM
Hurley Hurley is offline
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I actually got it done tonight, using a bit of advice from everyone, mostly Ray though it just worked out that way. After cursing a blue streak because it was oversized by 1/8 inch on each end! Man I was PO'ED!

So I immediately came inside, fired up the computer, went to JANTZ and bought 2 sets of guards, pre milled! I ended up cussing again though! I forgot how ridiculous their shipping is on small items. Think I paid more shipping than for the guards!


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Old 01-15-2014, 01:46 AM
Ed Tipton Ed Tipton is offline
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Hurley...I have never tried to do it with brass, but if you are using steel for the guard, try hot punching the slot. I have done this on several occasions and had good luck with it. I start with an oversized piece of material, drill two small holes where the end of the slot is supposed to be and then I made a punch with a very slight taper and ground so that the sides of the cutting edge extend beyond the center of the punch which gives the end of the punch a concave or "V" shape. I then place the extended ends of the punch into the two holes and proceed to punch out the slot. when doing this, I support the piece with the jaws of my vise while leaving enough room between the jaws for the punch to pass through the workpiece. The piece will deform slightly, but it is easily forged back into the correct shape and all the excess material can then be ground off. The work goes faster if you heat the metal with a propane torch since the piece is small and the vise will not allow the piece to retain it's heat long enough to complete the punch. From start to finish maybe 10 minutes if you have everything at the ready, and if the punch was the correct size the fit will be perfect.
I don't know about trying it with brass, but I suspect the brass may tear out rather than punch through...but it might be worth a try.
Easy peasy-fast and easy.

Last edited by Ed Tipton; 01-15-2014 at 01:58 AM.
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Old 01-15-2014, 11:55 AM
Hurley Hurley is offline
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Oh, I forgot to say, that's one cool blade Fulma! Serious chopper you have there!


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