Making my first knives :)

[SlimGrim]

hit it with a second etch thismorning now time for the scales!

[SlimGrim]

Mahogany or teak handle... Opinions needed as I'm now about to cut the scales .-.

[Tramp]

Teak, everyone goes mahogany, stand out from the crowd! Just out of curiosity, why did you put the blade on that side of the knife? Looking at the shape of it, shouldn't it be on the other side? how do you make the handle? Is it the same principle? Mark out, rough out and sand to shape before fastening, or do you attach it to the handle after roughing out and finish it in situ?

[SlimGrim]

teak it is, put it down for the night now , whtn im assuming that you think is the blade is actually the swedge, a sharpened spine of the knife, the blade is actually a full grind so the bevel goes all the way from the sharp edge ( opposite of swedge) up to the spine to make the scales (both sides of the handle on a full tang knife) I trace the knife onto my desired block of wood, then flip it and trace again, these two halves are then cut leabing about 2-3mm spare for fuck up measure.
then i clamp the blade to one scale when lined up within the traced outline and drill the two pin holes through bothe knife and scale, then clamp the third block on the other side of the knife and drill through that scale aswell, now they are all drilled i use 2 part epoxy inbetween each layer and also on my pins as i push them through the sandwich of scale/knife/scale. clamp that all up and let it harden ( dont clamp too hard or else u'll squeeze out all the shit) once hard i cut the pins flush to the scales and use my belt grinder to remove that 2mm of excess all the way round, once the tang cleanly flush to the two scales then it is time to start using sandpaper to round/shape the handle

[SlimGrim]

this might clear things up

[Tramp]

Ah, that's exactly what I mean, I assumed it would have a flat on the back of the blade, but if you want to use it for stabbing, a blade on both sides make sense, it just confused me as it was the only taper I could see and it didn't match with the notch for your fore finger. Belt sanders are great for making things aren't they? We have one at work that may have done a few homework jobs for me, although I don't get to use it as much now I don't work nights! Looking forward to seeing more updates, keep them coming!

[SlimGrim]

haha i have no stabbing agenda's, its more of a visuals thing, the bar of damascus im using is pretty chunky and the spine just looked way too bulky as it reached the tip of the knife, so swedge ftw, yeah it was so painful using files before i got my belt grinder, ideally id buy a 500 quid 2x72 knife making grinder but i cant justify 500 drinking tokens on a hobby like this haha, sammy's on the other hand...

[SlimGrim]

this would be ideal, you see how ridiculous the price is though just because of how niche the craft is :(

Click Here for Ebay Listing
im stuck using a 4x36, the wide platen makes grinding bevels a pain in the ass :/

[twiss]

I always fancied a pry knife. Figured it would be more useful in an off road tool box than a normal knife.
Also a bit difficult for a policeman to claim you were going to stab someone with it!

[twiss]

Also, you can get a cheap bench grinder with a belt on ebay for about £50. Got to be better than nothing