Japan Fighter

[bullet101]

It's me again .

Finished something else today.
Encouraged by your positive feedback I advanced a love hate project once more.

Love and hate, because on the one hand I really like the blade, which worked out great during grinding and heattreating (first time HT myself) and because the fit of the guard is also very thight.
On the other hand I had massive problems getting out deeper grinding and filing scratches in the guard by hand. Thats probably because of my lacking knowledge of the craft, because it was the first time I rounded the guard sides and because I took the guard to close to final dimensions before assembling the handle.
So it was quite tricky to get a clean transition from the guard to the wood.

Next time I'll leave some more meat on the guard and grind it down after epoxying everything together.

A big time thanks goes out to Nick Wheeler, who explained me in several mails, that probably took quite some time to write, how he rounds his guards. So :thanx: Nick .

The fit of the guard is actually a thing I'm quite pleased with, one could nearly say it's a hairline fit . If anyone would have told me a year ago that I could achieve a fit like this only with files and my skill, I wouldn't have believed him. I hope it'll be the same with finishing guards in a year .
On this one I used JB weld to seal the joint and I really love that stuff, no comparison to bubbling epoxy. Another big thank you goes out to Terry Primos for his great tutorials on fitting guards and the mortised tang construction.

As you can see in the pics I did it "the mortised way" for the first time. I have to get me one of those disc sanders to get everything dead flat for the perfect fit.

Now just some specs and then I'm looking forward to your opinions:

Lenght: 28 cm
Blade: 16 cm
Steel: 1.2842 (O-2) differentialy clay hardened
Handle: SS, ebony, red mallee and SS Pin













Regards Marcus

[luc]

I'll say it here too.
That is awesome Marcus!
I like everything about it.
Lucas

[praktis]

that looks really good, love the grind...

[Florian P.]

Nice and clean work. Do you have a photo showing the whole knife at once?

[Terry Primos]

Very good work Marcus. Didn't I hear somewhere that you're about 17 years old? All I can say is wow. I'm impressed.

Thanks for the mention by-the-way. I appreciate it.

The cleanup on the JB Weld is done differently now from the way I did it in the tutorial.

I no longer wait for it to partially set. I get the excess cleaned off immediately now. It's even easier, and works just as well, if not better. The second change is that I sharpen a tongue depressor or Popcicle stick to a fine point, put toilet paper over the point, spray with WD-40, and thoroughly clean the joint (right after I've removed the excess).

With the pointy stick you can really get down in that joint. You will get a cleaner joint. In most cases it will be pretty much invisible. Of course you need to have the good snug flush fit like you got on this one. As you know, there's no cheating when you use the JB Weld. It's either right or it's not. There "ain't" no middle ground.

Again, very good job Marcus. I look forward to seeing your next project.

[severtecher]

Great piece Marcus. The blade looks superb and overall a great package. A collectors dream. Good way to start off the year. Kevin

[DiamondG Knives]

Marcus:
Super looking knife! Fit and finish looks fantastic! Keep up the good work, and post more often! Really like the grind lines !!

God Bless
Mike

[bullet101]

Thanks a lot for your comments .

And thanks again Terry for your tutorial and your tips on cleaning the joint.

I just hope to get some more time for knifemaking in the new year, that would be just great. I really have a lot of things on my mind I would like to do.

Regards Marcus