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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 11-18-2007, 01:26 PM
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john smith john smith is offline
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just starting

I'm another rookie getting ready to start a project. It's taken awhile to find a blade shape that I want, it happens to be damascus twist 1095/15N20 steel.
The knife is a small caper. The blade is 2 3/4" and the handle is 3". I don't really know much about damascus it just happen to be the blade style I was looking for.
The handle material will be buffalo scale. As a newbie I'm not sure if I should try to attach a bolster to the knife or not, it is not drilled for one. If I attach a bolster it would probably be brushed stainless. All of my work will be done by hand and dremal tool as I'm not set up for a shop. This would be a small fixed blade that I would carry for every day use. I love the small knives that don cowles makes. The knife I carry most of the time is a Buck Alpha folder and the blade is to large for general purpose knife for me.
I would like a few opinions, thanks for your help. John
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Old 11-18-2007, 01:46 PM
DaveL DaveL is offline
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The only thing for me is that I have not had good luck with buffalo scales. They tend to move a lot. But, go for it and you will like it when it is done...
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  #3  
Old 11-18-2007, 02:46 PM
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David Broadwell David Broadwell is offline
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John,

The first thing you need to know as a "Newby" is that your name is already taken within the knife universe. There is a John M. Smith, a John W. Smith, and a J. D. Smith. It's my understanding that they claim to be triplets. Perhaps you could go by Jack or your middle name. Life's confusing enough as it is!

I take it you are using a pre-made blade. Since it doesn't have holes for bolsters I wouldn't try drilling them. If it's a good blade and properly heat treated you would need carbide and would still have some trouble getting holes through it. Using any kind of horn can be something of a problem. Horn and heat don't get along well. You can intentionally change the shape of horn by heating it (usually with steam) and molding it the way you want. If you get it hot when working your knife handle it can warp, so you need to keep it on the cool side, certainly not much warmer than your body temperature. When you prep the scales and the tang be sure your scales are flat and fit the tang closely, then rough up the mating surfaces and degrease them. Use a GOOD epoxy, not that cheap junk in the bubble packs in the grocery store. I use System 3, a marine grade epoxy, but there are some other good industrial/aircraft/marine grade epoxies. Use your Dremel to relieve the sides of the tang and under the scales so plenty of adhesive will be there, but keep it away from the edges. Since you don't have equipment like a belt grinder, I bet you can shape the horn around the profile of the blade and tang and contour the sides with files, then sand it with progressively finer grits of paper (to 600 grit), and finish polishing it with something like Semi-Chrome and a T-shirt. Then you won't have to worry about the heat.

Don Cowles is a friend and one of my favorite makers. I absolutely love his little fixed blade knives. If I wasn't a poor knifemaker myself I'd own a few. Here's an action shot of Don:
http://www.canecompanion.com/photos.htm

Good luck.

David


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Old 11-18-2007, 02:56 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David Broadwell
The first thing you need to know as a "Newby" is that your name is already taken within the knife universe. There is a John M. Smith, a John W. Smith, and a J. D. Smith. It's my understanding that they claim to be triplets. Perhaps you could go by Jack or your middle name. Life's confusing enough as it is!
To add into that kettle, there is also a maker who is going by the name of JW Smith & Sons. (Jerry Smith from Texas).

I understand your wish for a small, controlled knife. The Buck Alpha is big and clunky. With David's advice, you have one of the best in the biz guiding you. Nice.

Coop


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Old 11-23-2007, 06:28 PM
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David
Thanks for your help and comments, I really enjoy this network. I start looking up one topic then just keep going and going. There is so much good information I get lost.
I emailed System Three epoxy Co. and explained I was doing and they reccomended there T88 marine epoxy, have you used this ?Also what do you use to degrease the horn scales with. Right now I'm waiting on parts to arrive.
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Old 11-24-2007, 08:19 PM
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John,

I use T88 for almost every epoxy job. It has a 24-hour cure, and I usually leave it for 48 hours. The flip side of that is that it leaves plenty of time to adjust and clean up the excess before. I really like that ability to move stuff around if needed. Once it cures, though, nothing can move it.

For degreasing, I always use acetone - which also doubles as a great cleaning agent when mopping up excess epoxy.


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  #7  
Old 11-25-2007, 12:11 AM
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John,

I do use the T88 epoxy. You can speed up the cure time by warming it with an old hair drier (I haven't needed mine in years!). Don't over heat it or you'll set it off too soon. Many of my knives have finished parts and I don't want epoxy oozing out for a day. This time of year when it gets colder is not good for epoxy to set up. It needs to be above 70 degrees to cure properly. Also, don't clamp your scales or other parts too tightly. If you squeeze it out there won't be enough to hold. That's why I drill holes, hollow out the tang and scales, and gouge things up, so there is plenty of epoxy to hold the parts together.

Pipecrafter is right, acetone makes a good degreaser. Alcohol is usually okay as well. I still prefer common white vinegar though, especially if I have finished parts to assemble. I find it cuts the uncured epoxy better than alcohol. Don't know about acetone though.

One last thing on the epoxy. If you notice either part looking unusually thick or crystalized, sort of like honey that been around for a long time, you can warm it up in hot water until it re-liquifies. The System 3 tech guy told me to put it in the microwave, but I didn't want to risk having it blow and then cleaning it up! If it has crystalized it will fail unless you warm it. Then you'll be fine.

David


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